The Skinny August 2012

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Issue 83 August 2012

FESTIVALS THERE ' S NO ESCAPE

COMEDY DANIEL SLOSS STEWART LEE JOSIE LONG BOB SLAYER GEORGE WENDT RHYS DARBY MARY BOURKE THE LUMBERJACKS THEATRE SCOTLAND VS POLAND MIRIAM MARGOLYES BOOKS GRANT MORRISON SEAN BORODALE & WILLIAM LETFORD

MUSIC MATTHEW DEAR COM TRUISE ANTONY AND THE JOHNSONS FACTORY FLOOR MOON DUO PERFUME GENIUS SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS FILM PETER STRICKLAND JAMES MARSH ART SPEED OF LIGHT DAVID SHRIGLEY & HARRY HILL

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

CONTENTS

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PAUL KELLY Sun 26th August

Lost in the 80s (by The Assembly Rooms)

EDINBURGH Queen’s Hall

P18 HARRY HILL

P23 SPEED OF LIGHT

P32 MATTHEW DEAR

P49 SCHOOL OF SEVEN BELLS DIRTY DOZEN

Doors 6pm (show 7pm)

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THE SKINNY

AUGUST 2012

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FRONT 6 8

contents

Floor – the post-industrial techno 35 Factory fetishists invite us into their secret ware-

appearing in Edinburgh this August, from the Scots to the Aussies to the Jock to the Nerd.

Including interviews with Daniel Sloss, George Wendt (Norm!), Josie Long and Rhys Darby.

16

Stewart Lee and Bob Slayer tell us why the Fringe is a difficult place for a comedian to make a living, and look forward to a future where the dominance of the Big Four may come to an end.

factions of the Free Fringe go to war on 17 Two our pages.

18

Harry Hill brings an exhibition of his paintings to Edinburgh – we celebrate by publishing an exclusive and enlightening interview between the comedian and the hilarious artist David Shrigley.

International Book Festival 20 Edinburgh returns this August and we're partnering two of their events. Learn more about comic book maestro Grant Morrison and hard working poets Sean Borodale & William Letford here, as well as a look at our hand picked highlights of this year's programme.

22

The theatrical wing of the Edinburgh Festivals features a load of work from Scotland and a load of work from Poland. We pit them against each other in a somewhat sporting but ultimately deeply subjective way.

unique blend of art and performance, 23 ASpeed of Light herds thousands of light suit clad runners to follow choreographed routes up Arthur's Seat at night and create an unprecedented spectacle. Creative Director Angus Farquhar explains the project's genesis.

25

Theatre on the Fringe – a few select picks from the masses in the programme, including Amy Lame and The Colour Ham.

Dance! Dance! A look at some of 26 Dance! the innovative and challenging dance shows coming to Edinburgh, including Tatyana,Timeless and Uncharted Seas.

29

Com Truise – the undisputed king of cybersynthwave checks in to talk about science fiction, synthesisers, and his new rarities album, In Decay.

features 30

Antony and the Johnsons – returning with a set of orchestral reworkings from his catalogue, Antony Hegarty also curates Meltdown Festival this month.

Dear – the Ghostly International 32 Matthew founder returns with new album Beams, and tells us about love, life, and Brian Eno. hosts two film programmes this 33 Summerhall August – a look at a season of Polish cinema and a run of complementary double bills.

LIQUID ROOM T H U R S D A Y 9 T H A U G U S T

DISPATCH

Marsh talks Shadow Dancer, a psychological thriller set against the Troubles in Northern Ireland. Peter Strickland provides some insight on his new feature film, Berberian Sound Studio, and the dark art of movie making.

off our Fringe preview coverage, a 10 Kicking breakdown of the different comedy tribes

LIFESTYLE

LIQUID ROOM T U E S D A Y 1 4 T H A U G U S T

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA

HMV PICTURE HOUSE T H U R S D A Y 1 6 T H A U G U S T

FATHERSON

The irritatingly well-travelled Ally 37 Travel: Brown takes a trip round Colombia and finds

+ PEOPLE PLACES MAPS + ACADEMY STRANGERS

it to be delightful, friendly, beautiful and not at all dangerous. Well, not very dangerous.

LIQUID ROOM F R I D A Y 1 7 T H A U G U S T

Glasgow illustrator Oliver Pitt 38 Showcase: shows off his wares.

In the concluding part of our mini 41 Deviance: series on Scottish sex workers, Ana Hine's

HOWLER

+ OBERHOFER

ELECTRIC CIRCUS T U E S D A Y 2 1 S T A U G U S T

Final Thought looks at what she's learned.

Ten years on from their first meet42 Fashion: ing at Heriot Watt university, Scottish design

SANTIGOLD

HMV PICTURE HOUSE W E D N E S D A Y 2 2 N D A U G U S T

duo Obscure Couture talk inspiration, fantasy and gang-inspired fashion; Edinburgh International Fashion Festival debuts this month; Inspire the Attire 2 comes to Glasgow. and Drink: Food News takes over with 44 Food a gourmet's guide to events across Scotland; Phagomania gets a half page and duly loses the plot.

REVIEW

THE CHARLATANS PLAYING TELLIN’ STORIES

HMV PICTURE HOUSE S A T U R D A Y 2 5 T H A U G U S T

DRY THE RIVER

ELECTRIC CIRCUS M O N D A Y 2 7 T H A U G U S T

GRIMES

New releases from Nathan Fake, 47 Music: James Yorkston, JJ DOOM, and The Unwind-

LIQUID ROOM T U E S D A Y 2 8 T H A U G U S T

ing Hours.

MARK LANEGAN

An interview with dubstep don 54 Clubs: Caspa, plus previews of Substance 50, the Sensu boat party, and Carl Cox.

56

Film: A guide to August's cinematic events, plus our picks of the latest releases including Brave, Jackpot and The Imposter.

80s classic Rumble Fish gets a DVD air57 DVD: ing, plus Kosmos, Marley and more besides.

58 Art: Booby Niven's SWG3 show reviewed, New novels by Ewan Morrison, Joff 59 Books: Winterheart and Chris Dolan. Tech: All the

A T

TOOTS AND THE MAYTALS + CHANTELLE ERNAMNDEZ

all spy films feature secret lairs, giant 36 Not lasers and hover-gondolas. Director James

edinburgh festivals

M U S I C

The Edinburgh Festival Fringe

house lair to talk about their forthcoming album on DFA Records.

Shot of the Month, Hero Worship, Opinion Heads Up: A bumper edition of your daily guide to some sort of cultural life, including much of the Edinburgh Festival while still remembering there's good shit happening in Glasgow and that there Dundee.

L I V E

+ CREATURE WITH THE ATOM BRAIN

HMV PICTURE HOUSE W E D N E S D A Y 2 9 T H A U G U S T

THE VIEW

T HMV PICTURE HOUSE F R I D A Y S3O1LDSOTU A U G U S T

www.gigsinscotland.com www.ticketmaster.co.uk 24 hour credit card hotline: 08444 999 990 Follow gigsinscotland on twitter @gigscot

apps you'll ever need to navigate the Fringe, plus game reviews and news.

An interview with veteran actress 60 Theatre: Miriam Margoyles, plus previews of upcoming shows.

MON 20th - EDINBURGH, LIQUID ROOM

The vibrant Glasgow comedy 61 Comedy: scene is going to be well represented at this year's Fringe. One of the most exciting west-coast newcomers, Richard Brown, tells us what the Fringe means to him.

62 Competitions: win, man, WIN!!

A filtered guide to the best Music, 63 Listings: Clubs, Art and Books events in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Dundee this month. Plus our expert Top 5 picks of events across the Edinburgh Festivals.

BACK Selectors Moon Duo guide you 71 Guest through the perfect soundtrack to a desert road trip, or just up the M8; Crystal Baws predicts your torturous future.

TUE 21st - EDINBURGH, OUT OLD CORN SEXCHANGE

WED 22nd - GLASGOW, THE GARAGE

FIRST EVER SCOTTISH SHOW!

+ HOWS MORE SBE TO NCED ANNOU

ATION DAMN 2012 WED 22nd - ABERDEEN, MUSIC HALL THU 23rd - EDINBURGH, OUT SOLD HMV PICTURE HOUSE

MON 27th - EDINBURGH, OUT SOLD ROOM LIQUID

+ WE ARE THE IN CROWD

WED 29th - GLASGOW, THE GARAGE

THU 23rd - GLASGOW, KING TUT’S

SUN 26th - GLASGOW, KING TUT’S

+ THE LAFONTAINES

AUGUST 2012

Tickets: 08444 999 990 www.gigsinscotland.com www.rocknrolldamnation.co.uk

August 2012

THE SKINNY

5

CHAT

EDITORIAL

SKINNY ON TOUR Henrique doesn’t look that interested in our Twin Shadow article, but then his ears are made of wrought iron. Where do you think Skinny reader Gerry happened upon this odd couple?

YOU MAY or may not have heard, but there’s some sort of festival happening around here. And do you know, I think I opened my editorial last year with a similarly lame comment. Possibly the year before also. I feel this repetition mirrors the inevitable repetition of the Edinburgh Festivals experience, from the unavoidable overcrowding of our capital’s fair streets to the entire populace’s inescapable descent into month-long alcoholism in response to the dual terrors of late night licensing and the massive sensory overload of all the culture in the world being suddenly available just a couple of streets over from your flat. Good times eh?

Good times.

Luckily for you The Skinny’s section editors are significantly more positive than I am about the festivals and their attendant opportunities for cultural wonder in all its forms. Comedy editor Bernard has done a superb job in his previewing of all things LOL on the Fringe, squeezing a multitude of interviews with hilarious people into a six-page special at the front of the magazine. He and his writers have taken an analytical look at the different factions of comic, and present you with a guide to the tribes of the comedy scene, from the nerds to the Scots to the first-timers to the political beasts. Also included in the Fringe preview is a discussion of the ethics of promotion in the major venues, with Stewart Lee (The Most Respected Man In Comedy) and Bob Slayer (The Craziest Man In Comedy) offering their uniquely informed insights on how the existing system is heavily weighted against the financial success of the acts, before looking at a few of the alternatives that are now springing up.

On the visual arts side of things, we’re looking forward to the Edinburgh Art Festival with an interview conducted between David Shrigley and Harry Hill. Yes, the Funniest Man In Art and the Artiest Man In Comedy came together to talk process, influence and the importance of creativity, and we have exclusive access to the transcript.

You can see Harry Hill’s painting show, Hobby, in White Stuff from 4 Aug. For the Edinburgh International Festival, we anticipate Speed of Light, an incredible project taking place up Arthur’s Seat on nights throughout August, starting on the 8th. I have signed up to be one of the light-suit clad runners following choreographed routes to create enormous light drawings on the hillside, so I must confess some personal interest in finding out exactly what we can all expect from the event.

Great things, from the sound of it, blending sport, performance, land art and sound into one vast and beautiful whole.

For the Edinburgh International Book Festival The Skinny is once again partnering a couple of events, namely those of comics maestro Grant Morrison and poets Sean Borodale and William Letford. We take a detailed look at their respective works, as well as offering a more general view of the many many events Books ed Keir is looking forward to in this year’s programme. In Theatre, we take a survey look at the multiplicity of innovative dance productions coming to the city under the different banners of International Festival and Fringe, as well as choosing some highlights from the vast array of theatrical delights soon to be on offer.

Outside the Festivals (yes, that world does still exist) Music has some exclusive chats with Ghostly International founder Matthew Dear, ‘post-industrial techno fetishists’ Factory Floor, Com Truise, Antony Hegarty and the shy and retiring Perfume Genius. Moon Duo present a highly evocative guest selection of albums to guide you through the ultimate desert road trip, while School of Seven Bells guest review the singles and are as confused by the high level of 60s pop as they are impressed by the resurgence of 90s crooner Shola Ama. Film looks forward to the releases of Shadow Dancer and Berberian Sound Studio by quizzing their directors, James Marsh and Peter Strickland respectively, as well as ducking back into the festival headspace with a sly preview of the film strands available in Summerhall.

That’s quite enough festival chat for now. Enjoy the madness – normal service will resume in September.

THIS MONTH’S COVER This month's cover features an image by Christopher Ross, an illustrator and motion graphic artist working in Scotland under the name Verbals Picks. He lives on the Isle of Harris and is a regular Skinny contributor. You can see more of his work at www.verbalspicks.com

SHOT OF THE MONTH UNITED FRUIT THE WICKERMAN FESTIVAL

BY SOL NICOL FOR MORE ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPHY AND FESTIVAL COVERAGE GO TO WWW.THESKINNY.CO.UK

6

THE SKINNY

AUGUST 2012

Enter your guess www.theskinny. co.uk/competitions and you might win a bottle of wine courtesy of our expert friends at VINO WINES. Closing date: Fri 31 August Winners will be notified on the day of closing and will be required to respond within one week or the prize will be offered to another entrant. For full terms and conditions, go to www. theskinny.co.uk/terms and www. drinkaware.co.uk for the facts.

Going somewhere nice this Summer? Why not take a copy of The Skinny and perhaps you can be in next month’s Skinny on Tour. Submit your entries to competitions@theskinny.co.uk

HERO WORSHIP

DAVID BARRAS is making waves in the indie filmmaking world, with his Edinburgh-set debut feature Electric Man recently screening at this year’s Comic Con. He pays tribute here to one of his biggest inspirations, American indie legend JOHN SAYLES

I WAS first aware of John Sayles as a screenwriter.

Back in the late seventies Star Wars had blown my eight-year-old mind and I was slowly sucked into watching genre films, as many as I could see.

It was at that time John Sayles was working for Roger Corman, the so called King of the Bs, and the first Sayles film I saw was Piranha, closely followed by Alligator. Both are tongue in cheek riffs on Jaws but both transcend their low budget origins thanks to Sayles’ satirical swipes at the media, the military and medical experiments, which help raise them above and beyond the intelligence levels that you might expect for low budget Jaws ripoffs. And, although I was unaware at the time, this is where Sayles' career got interesting. He used the money from the Corman scripts to fund his own directorial debut, Return of the Secaucus 7. The film charts the reunion of seven friends who get together over a weekend in New Hampshire.

One of the couples is breaking up and this causes tensions and desires to emerge amongst the group. It inspired the better known The Big Chill and started the template for the career that followed.

Even though I had seen The Howling, another Sayles genre script, it wasn’t until the eighties, when I saw Matewan, that I really started to take notice of Sayles and his emerging body of literate and intelligent films. From there he had an incredible run: Eight Men Out, City of Hope, Passion Fish, The Secret of Roan Inish and Lone Star.

These films are diverse in subject, sometimes small in scale but always big on theme. He introduced actors such as Chris Cooper and David Strathairn to the mainstream, giving them their best roles in the process and along the way he’s kept working as a screenwriter and script doctor to fund his own work. Two such scripts he wrote were Night Skies, which went on to become E.T., and Jurassic Park IV, which is as yet unmade, but he has always balanced this high profile, high paying script work with his own smaller, but no less important films.

So if you haven’t seen a Sayles film whether he wrote it or directed, go do it, now, you won’t be disappointed.

YOU CAN FOLLOW DAVID ON TWITTER @ELECTRICMANFILM AND ON ELECTRICMANMOVIE.COM

The Price of Fame Bernard O’Leary

Back when I was a wee lad, living amongst the leprechauns and potatoes of Ireland, I used to hang around at comedy clubs and hear the comics talk of the magical land of the Edinburgh Fringe.

Ryanair hadn’t been invented yet, so I couldn’t come and see for myself this massive orgy of art and comedy and life-threatening licensing laws.

Now I live here, and I can see the Fringe is both better and worse than I expected. There’s a cynical, corporate side to all of this which results in the comedy element resembling what’s sometimes known as ‘the world’s biggest panel show audition.’ There’s a story on the blogosphere at the moment about one performer who’s already been told that they need to sell every single ticket in order to limit their debt to £9,000.

But the creative side of the Fringe is looking stronger than ever in 2012. The acts featured in

this issue all bring something unique to Edinburgh, whether it’s the bubbling cauldron of new local talent at the Scottish Comedy Festival, Stewart Lee’s beguiling postmodernism, or Kunt’s songs about wanking. What’s most encouraging are the number of alternatives to the commercial mainstream; the spaces where great acts can make great art without starving to death in a garrett.

Every art scene is a battleground between creative and commercial forces, and sometimes it’s this tension that makes a scene so vibrant.

Commercial forces have the upper hand because they get up earlier in the morning and know how to use Excel. But the passion, ingenuity and questionable sanity of some of the comedians at this year’s Fringe will keep it honest, and keep it entertaining.

It is the greatest arts festival in the world and long may it remain so.

Congratulations to Glasgow-based comedian Sarah Cassidy who took third place in the national Funny’s Funny competition. Cassidy and her Impenetrable Click colleagues will be appearing at the Fringe as part of the Scottish Comedy Festival at The Beehive.

The Scottish Independent Music Fair returns to Summerhall for a second year, with many a fine purveyor of independent music – including Chemikal Underground, Song By Toad Records, and Gerry Loves Records – setting up stall, plus live music from the label artists and DJs throughout the day. 4 Aug, Summerhall, 12pm-4pm

Reel Talk In Pr aise of Film Clubs Jamie Dunn

Last month, while thumbing through the GFT’s July/August programme, I let out a small squeal of delight. This was nothing unusual, there’s always something or other to get excited about in a new GFT brochure, but my response was more akin to seeing an old friend: the mighty Monorail Film Club returns on 24 August, following its annual summer hiatus, with a screening of experimental documentary Practical Electronica.

Unlike the normal repertory film audiences at the GFT, which wax and wane depending on the popularity of the title being screened, Monorail have cultivated a dedicated posse that consistently turn out each month no matter how gamy Monorail’s guest host’s movie selection, allowing it to screen the kind of obscure oddities that rarely get dusted off for art-house revival screenings.

Monorail isn’t unique, though. There are dozens of similar independent film nights throughout the country putting on edgier screenings than local art-house cinemas can justify, and, from 18 Aug to 29 Sep, several of them will be taking part in a nationwide celebration of cinema called Scala Beyond.

The event takes its named from the legendary Scala cinema in London, a dilapidated former movie palace with sticky floors and a resident cat that reputedly roamed the auditorium during screenings, which sold its last ticket stub 19 years ago but is still fondly remembered for its vibrant rep scene during the 70s and 80s. Local indie film clubs including KinoKlub, Edinburgh Zombie Club, Strange Vice and Pussy Whipped, as well as other regular film nights across the UK, will take part in this six-week film fringe festival celebrating the medium and the enthusiastic rep audiences that keep the unruly spirit of the Scala alive.

Not to be outdone, the GFT is also joining the Scala Beyond celebrations with a series of five gems that were banned on their initial release, including Frederick Wiseman’s rarely screened Titicut Follies and former Scala favourite A Clockwork Orange, which regularly played there despite the film being outlawed by its director Stanley Kubrick.

The full Scala Beyond programme can be found at scalabeyond.com

Multiply exhibition. At the end of the month design agency Multiply put on a special after hours exhibition, showing off what their crack team of designers get up to creatively in the evening.

Expect a mixed spread of 3D art, sculptures, photographs, hand-drawn typography, drawings and a few unexpected spectacles – all created on the periphery of a working day. The Wee Small Hours Exhibition, 24-26 Aug 7pm – 11pm, 128 Pitt street, Edinburgh, with a preview on Thu 23 Aug, 7pm-12am

Be an INsider with the Edinburgh International Festival: INsider is a special membership programme offering enthusiasts of theatre, opera, music and dance in their 20s and 30s a chance to peek behind the curtain of the Festival. A year’s membership costs just £25 and will open up access to preview performances, discounts on performances, INvitations to VIP parties and behind the scenes opportunities. This year, members can enjoy half price tickets for shows including the Rape of Lucrece, 2008 Macbeth and Julliard Dance, an exclusive talk by acclaimed playwright Guillermo Calderón, as well as back stage tours and an after hours party in the Jenners Grand Hall.

Go to www.eif.co.uk/INsider to find out more.

As featured in our March issue, the entries for the 2012 edition of Oràn Mór’s Billy Kelly Songwriting Award have been considered, with a multidisciplinary shortlist of bands and soloists now set to duke it out for the prize. Says co-organiser Jamie Webster: “Out of around 150 entrants we’ve managed to whittle it down to just 24 acts to progress into the Heat stages, with genres ranging from hip-hop, guitar pop, singer-songwriters male and female, all girl groups, indie and, rock n roll.

It’s going to be very difficult to judge.” Heats will be hosted by BMX Bandits’ lynchpin Douglas T Stewart and take place over the course of four Thursday nights from mid-August (16, 23, 30 Aug and 6 Sep), with finals set to take place later in the year. Keep an eye on www.theskinny.co.uk for more from the events, or simply head down for a varied night of quality free music.

Radical radio station Subcity will be broadcasting live throughout the festival from a secret location: more information will be released slowly through www.subcity.org as Glasgow’s online underground tales on the Festival, Fringe and Funny of Edinburgh.

scalabeyond.com

Critical Vortex

BMX Bandits

Gareth K Vile

The excitement of the Fringe – at least for a critic – is that it is one time of the year when reviews can persuade people to see a show. Even better, there are plenty of opportunities for critics to critique their profession, and I’ll be moaning about star ratings (too harsh or too generous), the quality of critical response and other matters of interest to at least seven people across Scotland.

As a theatre critic, I will no doubt be spending plenty of time whinging about the dominance of comedy, ignoring the way that boundaries are increasingy being blurred and that what was once easily defined as dance or physical theatre is now as likely to be getting the laughs. I would be better employed championing work from Russia (Derevo are back), Poland (The Blind is a spectacle with a dark delight), America (some great politically engaged work is heading over from New York) and even Scotland, as a new generation of Caledonian

artists get their first big Fringe (Kieran Hurley at the Traverse, Buzzcut at Summerhall).

It is a unique time, where creativity battles against financial hardship: although I’ll be sending out regular briefings of my picks, the only way to get to the heart of the Fringe is to take risks.

Reviews might be a guide, but as anyone who has read my rants about Live Art will realise, even the best critics have their own tastes. And that terrible show that disappoints is as important as the five star sell-out: they all contribute to the evolution of performance. It’s better to follow the clues in the critique than the stars at the top, and support those performers who are making work about what interests you, not me.

By following your nose, you’ll afford me the greatest pleasure, of complaining that no-one pays attention to the critics.

Competition One Penny

Londoners and London visitors should head along to the Culture Label Olympics pop-up in the Maiden shop at 188 Shoreditch High St this month. The collection of British-themed merchandise includes the One Penny print from The Skinny Shop’s very own Rabiya Choudhry. Also available through www.theskinny.co.uk/shop

Win Tickets to See Grant Morrison and Sean Borodale & William Letford at The Edinburgh International Book Festival.To win tickets to either of The Skinny’s sponsored events at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival, simply go www.theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions and tell us which event you would like to attend and why.

Competition closes Sun 15 Aug A winner will be notified on the day of closing and will be required to respond within 24 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. For full terms and conditions, go to www.theskinny.co.uk/ about/terms

August 2012

THE SKINNY

7

HEADS UP

TUE 31 Jul

HEADS UP

Starting the month on a fairytale note, Scottish Youth Theatre continue with their reimagining of Shakespeare's work, performing a unique promenade adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream in Edinburgh's Botanic Gardens. Making the most of the surrounds, they'll snake the performance along a preplanned route, allowing folk to wander as they go. Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, 7pm, £12 (£8)

thu 2 aug

Funnyman offa the telly, Harry Hill, takes to The Stand for a mini Fringe Festival run (1-4 Aug), where he'll roadtest new material in preparation of his first live tour in six years. It'll also co-incide with his Edinburgh Art Festival exhibition (yes, the man's an artist, too), where he'll take over the White Stuff shop with a selection of paintings. The Stand, Edinburgh, 1-4 Aug, 11.30am/1.15pm, £15

Myriad galleries and outside spaces come to life for the launch of Edinburgh Art Festival 2012, with highlights including an Ian Hamilton Findlay retrospective taking in many mediums and decades, an illuminating showcase of Dieter Roth's amassed diaries, and local lad Kevin Harman revealing his new installation piece – the location of which is being kept secret for now... See listings for full EAF programme IMAGE: DIETER ROTH ESTATE, COURTESY HAUSER & WIRTH

So, yes, Edinburgh Festival takes over a little this month, but, sticklers that we are, we make sure Glasgow gets a decent look-in, too – with 15 (count 'em) recommendations. And even a Dundee pick or two... Enjoy

wed 1 Aug

COMPILED BY: ANNA DOCHERTY

wed 8 aug

thu 9 aug

Edinburgh's Electric Circus add their lot to the festival madness, with guerrilla-gig rebels Detour Scotland and Edinburgh's studio-run radio station, Fresh Air, hosting a late night music party, CIRCA, which kicks off with Glasgow tropical thrash ensemble, PAWS, alongside Lady North, and that Errors lot on DJ duty.

Electric Circus, Edinburgh, 10.30pm, £5

Toots and The Maytals play a rare duo of Scottish dates – as part of their worldwide tour for new album Unplugged on Strawberry Hill – taking to Edinburgh's Liquid Room (9 Sep) and Glasgow's O2 ABC (10 Sep) for a live dose of lung-busting Memphis soul boom. Ah, Frederick 'Toots' Hibbert, we bow at your feet. See listings for full details

photo: Euan Robertson

tues 7 aug Rob Drummond (last seen by these eyes trying his hand at professional wrestling in bespoke initialled boots) presents, Bullet Catch, where modern magician William Wonder takes the lead in a stunt-based piece based on the story of William Henderson, who died on-stage performing the risky 'bullet catch' stunt.

Traverse, Edinburgh, Various dates between 2-26 Aug, From £17 (£12)

PAWS

Frederick Hibbert

mon 13 aug

tue 14 aug

wed 15 aug

thu 16 aug

Glasgow Film Theatre take a wide-eyed wander into the world of the over-eighties category of the World Table Tennis Championships in Inner Mongolia, with a screening of Hugh Hartford's Ping Pong where eight oldies (including 100-year-old Dorothy – gasp!) show the kids how it's done. GFT, Glasgow, 6.45pm, £7 (£5.50)

Performer, writer, theatre-maker, and all-round talented bugger Kieran Hurley bring his beat-led monologue piece to Edinburgh; a coming-of-age story exploring rebellion and the irresistible power of gathered youth set in the rave era circa the Criminal Justice Act of 1994. With techno. Loadsae doof-doof techno. Traverse, Edinburgh, Various dates between 14-26 Aug, From £17 (£12)

Taking to the Queen's Hall for one night only (i.e. we're pretty bloody excited) FOUND and Aidan Moffat perform a live version of their unique robotic sound installation, #UNRAVEL, at which audience members can influence what they hear by tweeting throughout the concert, determining which version of each song the said robotic instruments will play. Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, 8pm, £10

Seattle-born songsmith Damien Jurado makes his way to The Arches for a set taking in his latest album, Maroqopa, as well as tracks handpicked from his rather impressive back catalogue – his comforting, lullabylike lilt nestling down with plaintative melodies and gently-plucked guitar strings. Lovely stuff. The Arches, Glasgow, 7pm, £12.50

wed 22 aug

thu 23 aug

Camille O'Sullivan returns during festival season, this time making the move from the Fringe to the EIF, for which she's worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company on The Rape of Lucrece, Shakespeare's tragic poem of lust, rape, and politics. Get half price tickets via the INsider scheme (see eif.co.uk/INsider), which also get you into an opening night post-party. Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, 22-26 Aug, 9pm, From £10

After we featured their many faces on the cover of our June issue, the Whatever Gets You Through The Night words/music project return as part of Edinburgh Festival for a screening of Daniel Warren's film accompaniment, featuring stories (told in song) shot during the night in various locations, with live perfomances from a selection of their number. Summerhall, Edinburgh, 10.25pm, £8 (£6)

tue 21 aug

photo: charlotte rodenstedt

Sandwiched between myriad festival dates (taking them from Pukkelpop to Reading, and plenty more besides), Sleigh Bells play a duo of Scottish gigs, taking to Glasgow's Oran Mor (21 Aug) and Edinburgh's Liquid Room (22 Aug), their aggressive-styled industrial-pop beats well and truly in tow. See listings for full details

Cora Bissett & Hamish Brown

Author Rodge Glass hosts a rather fine night of spoken words and music – catchily titled (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peaceniks, Love and Understanding – where he'll be joined by some of Glasgow's finest, including Rick Redbeard, Adam Stafford, Beerjacket, Alan Bissett, and Alasdair Gray, all helping to raise funds for the Alliance for Middle East Peace. Old Hairdressers, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £5 advance Adam Stafford

THE SKINNY

August 2012

photo: ingrid mur

tue 21 aug

8

fri 24 aug Reliable plunderers of an 80s horror classic or two, Glasgow Film Theatre dig out the Kurt Russell-tastic The Thing as part of their Late Night Classics schedule, with Russell playing the whisky-swigging pilot who unwittingly saves the planet. Yer ticket also gets you free entry to Nice 'n' Sleazy's post-club. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow, 11pm, £7 (£5)

Thu 30 aug

fri 31 aug

Celebrating all things Americana, No Mean City Festival (30 Aug-19 Sep) kicks off with a trio of gigs across Glasgow, which sees Chicago-born lo-fi artist/musician/ supercooldude Willis Earl Beal play his rescheduled date at Captain's Rest, at the same time as Deer Tick take to Stereo, and Grandaddy head up O2 ABC (where Patti-bloody-Smith will also play come 5 Sep). See listings for full details

Prolific remixer extraordinaire Erol Alkan makes his Sub Club debut, for which he'll be showcasing his own label, Phantasy, and bringing along label releasee Daniel Avery, whose style sees house and techno thrown alongside cosmic drones, post-punk angles and mutant new wave. So, yes, we'll do the dancing. Sub Club, Glagsow, 11pm, £14

HEADS UP

sun 5 aug

mon 6 aug

For the latest installment of Geek Film Night – where the GFT plunder geekish guilty pleasures of the recent past – regular host Mark Millar introduces the adventure-filled Star Trek epic that is Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. Yep, indeed – it doesn't get much more geeky than that, folks. GFT, Glasgow, 7.45pm, £7 (£5.50)

There may be thousands of comedy shows to pick from over Edinburgh-way right now, but outspoken Weegie comic Janey Godley could probably shout louder that the lot of 'em. She takes to Glasgow for a one-off evening where she'll take in any and every subject she damn well fancies. At high decibels. Take that, Fringe!

The Stand, Edinburgh, 8.30pm, £10 (£8)

photo: ian west

photo: Euan Robertson

sat 4 aug Following his rather splendid Fringe gig last year, Dan Willson (aka Withered Hand) returns to the Queen's Hall with a guest-laden slice of festival giggage, for which he'll be joined by the likes of Hefner mainman Darren Hayman and Ballboy's Gordon McIntyre, with Josie Long compering proceedings. Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, 8pm, £10

fri 10 aug

sat 11 aug

sun 12 aug

During a special out-of-hours event, William Mackrell – one of the trio of artists exhibiting at Dundee College of Art's current exhibition, Infinite Jest – relights his 1000 Candles sculpture, igniting what's essentialy a flicker-fest of candelight arranged in a giant circle. Quite beautiful it is, too. DCA, Dundee, 7.30pm, Free

Scottish golden boy Hudson Mohawke brings his new project, TNGHT, to Edinburgh for what will be the 5th annual LuckyMe festival bash, where he'll be playing alongside collaborating pal Lunice (he of the hip-hop swagger and absurd dance moves), helped along by Rustie, and the joys of the 5am festival license. Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 11pm, £16.50

Kicking off their series of late night takeovers as part of Edinburgh International Book Festival, Unbound commence with a night of literary cabaret from East-London night Homework, with all four residents relocating to Edinburgh for a one-off special, an unnamed secret guest in tow. Charlotte Square Gardens, Edinburgh, 9pm, Free. See listings for full Unbound programme

illustration: david lemm

fri 3 aug Glaswegian design label Ten30 launch their new club night, High Fashion Disco Party (while a little event called The Fringe kicks off over Edinburgh way), for which they'll adopt a different fashion theme each time – kicking off with a Hells Angels-styled night, as you do.

Music comes from veteran Glasgow DJ Hushpuppy.

Berkeley Suite, Glasgow, 11pm, £5

sat 18 aug

sun 19 aug

mon 20 aug

After myriad Glasgow boat parties down't The Waverley, Edinburgh gets in on the action as the Karnival and Hush residents join forces to set sail on the Forth for an evening of house and techno fare. Yeah, as in techno dancing. On a boat. Coaches leave from Edinburgh city centre (Princes Mall and Ocean Terminal). South Queensferry, 6.30pm, £15

Reminding us just why we love Edinburgh during festival season – i.e. unique encounters in usually out-of-bounds-to-performers locations – Inchcolm Island becomes home to a new production of Shakespeare's epic tragedy, Macbeth, taking the island's twelfth century abbey for its stage. Inchcolm Island, 10/11/16/17 & 19 Aug, £25. Bus departs from Summerhall at 6.30pm

After their ten weeks of training at The Stand HQ, a 12-strong collective of young comedy hopefuls set out to prove that comedy can indeed be taught, with the graduates of The Fringe Comedy Academy showcasing the fruits of their labour at what will be their one-and-only festival date. Nae pressure, kids. The Stand, Edinburgh, 8pm, £6

sat 25 aug

sun 26 aug

mon 27 aug

photo: sol nicol

fri 17 aug The Flying Duck keep it as delightfully irreverent as ever for their 5th birthday bash, hosting a themed homage to all things Wes Anderson. For it, they'll be playing music from and inspired by the director's films (Portugese Bowie covers a must), plus cake, cheap cans o' beer, and lots of drunken dancing. Flying Duck, Glasgow, 11pm, £5 (discount in fancy dress)

Canadian musician Claire Boucher (aka Grimes) shares the love across the central belt, playing Edinburgh's Liquid Room (28 Aug), and then Glasgow's Captain's Rest the following evening (29 Aug). Deftly balancing dance beats and a supersaturation of FX-assisted vocal hooks against imperious bass synthesis, you'd do well to catch her in a live setting. See listings for full details

The Edinburgh International Book Festival's Unbound programme draws to its merry close with an evening of new Scottish writing from the winners of the Scottish Book Trust New Writers Awards – they be George Anderson, Kirstin Innes, R.A Martens, William Letford, and Kirsty Logan. Charlotte Square Gardens, Edinburgh, 9pm, Free

Kirsten Innes

photo: Gemma Burke

NYC-based comic book writer, artist, anti-folk icon, and all-round talented bugger Jeffrey Lewis takes to Glasgow with his merry band, The Junkyard, for a rare Scottish set, with Lewis incorporating low budget videos and his own large-format illustrations into the set. Support comes from The Hector Collectors, and The Middle Ones. Mono, Glasgow, 8pm, £9

photo: neil douglas thomas

The affable indie-pop chaps and chapesses that make up Kid Canaveral bring the singalong joy to Electric Circus, playing their rescheduled June date (with all members now fine and well – phew). Support on the night comes from Edinburgh drums'n'guitars ensemble, The Black Books. Electric Circus, Edinburgh, 7pm, £8

tue 28 aug

sun 2 sep

mon 3 sep

After the mouthful that was Music is the Music Language, DIY promoters Cry Parrot and Tracer Trails team up for the sequel – Music Language. Taking over SWG3, The 78, Kinning Park Complex, and The Grand Ole Opry for the weekend (1 & 2 Sep) will be a mass of talented locals, including Conquering Animal Sound, Hector Bizerk, Happy Particles, Organs of Love, and, ooh, tens-upon-tens more. See listings for full details £20 earlybird

Scottish folkstress Emma Pollock embarks on her co-headline tour with instrumental guitar virtuoso RM Hubbert, playing solo acoustically in support of their new, limited-edition collaborative EP (available exclusively at the gig), featuring new and previously unavailable tracks from both artists. Electric Circus, Edinburgh, 7pm, £8

Famously rant-y comic Rhod Gilbert arrives in Glasgow as part of his new UK tour – enititled The Man with the Flaming Battenberg Tattoo – which sees him unveil not only a mellower side, but also his new Battenberg tattoo, which he got done whilst doing work experience in a tattoo parlour for his recent BBC series, as you do.

The King's Theatre, Glasgow, 8p, £26

Organs of Love

photo: ingrid mur

sat 1 sep

August 2012

THE SKINNY

9

F E A TU R E S

festival

fringe factions: a spotter’s guide

Daniel Sloss & Ben Verth

THe Scots Interview: Cara McGuigan Illustration: sally grosart

The Fringe not only attracts the world’s best comedy talent – it also allows our local funny people to show off their talents. We chatted to Daniel Sloss, Susan Calman and Ben Verth about their plans for August “Fanny,” says Daniel Sloss.

“Stramash,” says Susan Calman. “If someone asks you how your show went at the Festival, and you say it was a stramash, it means it wasn”t necessarily bad, but messy.”

“Pure,” says Ben Verth. “I know it”s not really a Scottish word, but said with that urban vernacular - “It”s pure massive” – as if massive wasn’t big enough.”

Three Scots comedians, each with very different careers: Daniel, Fife”s enfant célèbre, with three years of sell-out Festivals under his low slung belt; Susan Calman, tiny Glaswegian ex-lawyer and panel show darling; and Edinburgh boy Ben Verth, jobbing comedian, writer and promoter.

I ask them, what”s funny about Scotland?

“We can take a joke,” says Daniel. “It’s hard to piss off a Scot. Scottish insults aren’t really insulting, they’re just a way of communicating. Like, if I didn”t call my friends cunts, they’d think there was something wrong with me. It’s a funny thing, though. If you’re, say, a Scouse comedian, people see you as a Scouse comedian, not an English one. But in Scotland, you’re always a Scottish comedian.”

Ben doesn”t entirely agree.

“I think our humour comes out of the everyday dialect from each of cities – they all have their own distinct speech patterns and brilliant turns of phrase. Like Chewin” the Fat, it’s seen as Scottish, but it’s really Glaswegian. Or Absolutely – that’s definitely central Edinburgh stuff.”

“Or Scotland the What? Or Desperate

10 THE SKINNY

August 2012

Fishwives,” Susan namechecks the Aberdonian revue and excellently-named radio show.

“I think we’re always trying to laugh,” she says. “Maybe it’s the weather. We can laugh at ourselves, and it’s as likely to be with some old guy at the bus stop as someone on TV.” I’m curious about their favourite Scottish venues outwith the Festival?

“The Stands,” answers Daniel. “Both of them, Glasgow and Edinburgh – the definition of a comedy club. Purpose built, seven nights a week, they give young and new acts a chance, and they’re very supportive. But best of all, no stag or hen dos. They don’t let you in if you act like a cunt.”

“The Glasgow Stand,” agrees Ben. “The runway juts out into the audience and really forces you to up your game, to be more physical and energetic, move your head to make eye contact all round you. You can have a good show anywhere, but the best comedy nights are in their own proper cathedral.”

“I’ve got fond memories of both Stands,” says Susan, “But I love walking up to Bristo Square in Edinburgh during the Festival. My favourite place is probably right outside the Udderbelly.”

“I love the Festival,” she continues. “It’s horrific.

After 27 days working and drinking constantly, you’re a shell of your former self. But nowhere else can you work and meet up with so many comedians. It’s the only time I get to see some people all year. Of course, by the end I’ll probably say I’m never going back.”

“I adore the Fringe,” says Daniel. “I’d have it on for three months if I could. It’s like still being at school, and it’s my summer holiday. Sure, I’m working every day, but you can”t really call it ‘work.’ Plus it’s a huge piss up.”

Ben agrees. “There’s something really heady about it. If you were an astronaut, it’d be the time you were closest to the moon.”

Do they think Scottish comedians find it difficult to get noticed at the Festival?

“I tend to do notably better,” says Daniel. “I think it’s because people see me as one of their own.”

“You

know what it means, if you’re Scottish ” Susan Calman Susan has a slightly different take: “On the one hand, the majority of Festival audiences are still Scottish, and there are a lot of acts they want to see, rather than just Scots.

“However, there’s also the fact that if you’re a comedian in Scotland eleven months of the year, people in other cities don’t know you exist, and it takes a while before they think you’re important enough to go watch. I’m doing more and more TV now, and it’s strange that people’s expectations have suddenly increased. ‘Oh she’s on telly, she must be good.’ As a new Scottish act, all you can really hope is that people will go to a lot of shows over the Festival, and if you build it, they will come.”

Ben goes one further: “Free shows don”t often get reviewed or publicised, so in that respect new Scottish acts find it hard. Media infrastructure is based in London, and the people who can’t afford to go, who have families, jobs or mortgages here, Manchester, Newcastle or wherever, don’t have the same opportunity to parade their wares in front of the people who matter. People who are prepared to make some serious sacrifices definitely benefit from it. Basically, you’ve got to tap their door before you can get a lift home.”

With this in mind, Ben and a group of others have created their own breakaway Scottish Comedy Festival at the Beehive this year, to try and get unrepresented Scottish talent noticed in its own right. “At the Festival, you get the chance to try your material out in front of Finns and Norwegians, Irish and Australians, French and Americans. It can make the most enormous difference.”

Ben reels off a string of comedians taking part, Raymond Mearns, Keir McAllister, Vladimir McTavish, Stuart Mitchell. Then I ask, “And what

women?” An expression of “Doh!” worthy of Simpson senior gawps across at me. “Er... er... er...” It transpires that Julia Sutherland is indeed on the bill, but I bet my bottom dollar there are more women next year.

Which acts are they looking forward to seeing themselves?

“Top would be Bridget Christie, this English housewife surrealist who makes me laugh like a drain,” says Susan. “And then there’s Mary Bourke, an Irish woman who’s possibly the best joke teller in the world.”

“Mark Nelson,” says Daniel. “He’s unforgiving and his writing is sublime. If I’m half as good as he is at 35, I’ll be a happy man.”

“Daniel Kitson, Stuart Lee, Richard Herring,” says Ben. “I take every opportunity to watch shows over the festival. You don’t deserve to be in this business if you don’t.”

Over the course of the Festival, Daniel will play the EICC, Ben will compere at the Beehive, and Susan will be “all over the place,” from the Stand, to Bristo Square, to the Udderbelly – three different Festival experiences which they’re equally excited about.

“It’s the biggest comedy festival in the world, people travel from all over the world to see it.

Any comedian worth their salt wants to gig in Scotland,” says Daniel.

“It’s unlike anywhere else in the world,” says Ben. “When you’re sitting in one of those cavernous Cowgate spaces, guffawing at some act from God-knows-where, and a little drip of slime from the ceiling lands on your lip. It’s a real melding of Old Edinburgh and the Fringe.”

“Haunners,” chirps up Susan. “My new wife always says it if I’m about to go into a venue I”m scared of – I”ll go haunners with you. You know what it means, if you’re Scottish. It means that someone”s got your back.”

Daniel Sloss: The Show, EICC, 2-26 Aug, 6.30pm, £15.50/£13 Susan Calman: This Lady’s Not For Turning Either, Underbelly, 1-27 Aug (not 13), 6pm, £12/£11 Scottish Comedy Festival, The Beehive, from noon every day, Free

F E A TU R E S

The Irish Interview: Bernard O’Leary Illustration: sally grosart

The Rubberbandits and Mary Bourke talk about Irish comedy and the ghost of Father Ted “James Joyce was a gas cunt. You should read his letters to Nora Barnacle, they’re all about farting.”

Blind Boy from The Rubberbandits, currently Ireland’s most popular comedy act, is tracing the roots of Irish humour. “The language of comedy is universal, jenowatimean? The assumption is that what we do is very parochial but if you look at it with a critical eye you see it’s not. Our jokes aren’t about Limerick or about Ireland, they’re about wherever you’re from.”

Mary Bourke, meanwhile, is staying true to her Irish roots at the Fringe. “I’m not doing a traditional Fringe show; there’s no narrative arc, no singing, no obligatory sad bit at 27 minutes.

It’s just jokes. You couldn’t do that kind of Fringe show to an Irish audience, Irish people are more

cynical and they can feel it coming. They hate the contrivance more than anything. If you did the obligatory sad bit for an Irish audience, they’d look at you and think, ‘What the fuck?’”

I ask both of them about Father Ted, which was Irish comedy’s 9/11 (in a good way). Mary sighs.

“Let it go, let it go. It still gets mentioned all the time. We’re like some guy who’s still banging on about some girl he used to go out with.”

Blind Boy, who was 7 when Ted first aired, is more awed. “Father Ted was perfection. It’s not that Irish comedians can’t escape Father Ted, but Irish comedians can’t escape the Catholic thing. No matter how hard you try it’s always there because you’re indoctrinated at such a young age. But I think that helps ’cause one thing Irish comedians are really good at is surrealism. If you grow up with the belief that your bread is haunted, of course you’re going to have surreal thoughts.”

The Rubberbandits, Gilded Balloon, 8-26 Aug, 10.30pm, £14/£12 Mary Bourke: Hail Mary!, The Stand, 1-26 Aug (not 2 or 13), 14.40pm/7.30pm, £8/£7 The Rubberbandits

The Americans

The English

Interview: Barrie Morgan

Interview: Simon Patullo

From last year’s Best Newcomer nominees to the star of one of the biggest sitcoms in history, a host of Americans will be washing up in Edinburgh this August Speaking of the culture clash for Americans visting Scotland, Cheers legend George Wendt says “It’s very different. Oddly enough I enjoy the climate but yeah in terms of culture, I love it.” And what of the beer and local ales, do the Americans do that as well as us? “Oh yeah we have loads of that over here. Every local community has their own craft brew. I just enjoy trying them all.”

Re-animator: The Musical is running a gruelling 27 nights at the Fringe and Wendt feels it’s the perfect stage for the musical: “Well in Edinburgh the audiences are very different as they’re really there to go see lots of stuff and have fun whereas in Los Angeles it’s like pulling teeth sometimes to get

people to go to the theatre.”

Chris & Paul took home a much deserved nomination for Best Newcomer in 2011, but how do they find the Edinburgh audience? “In Edinburgh, people responded to different bits that we weren’t used to at different times. It was definitely a good study for us to try and figure out what makes you guys laugh. So that means we can now cater a lot of material specifically for the UK audience,” adds O’Neill before theorising, “Well, what we do in our silent comedy is more universal.”

The overall atmosphere and hospitality of the Fringe wasn’t lost on them either, “We felt welcome really, really quickly. The experience alone was almost life changing for us. The day we had to leave we didn’t want to go back to the States,” claims Valenti before O’Neill adds, “Although, we’ll dance for free housing.”

George Wendt stars in Re-Animator: The Musical, 1-27 Aug (not Mondays), £14/£12. He also co-hosts The Big Comedy Gala, EICC, 13 Aug, £22 The Chris & Paul Show, Just The Tonic,6-26 Aug, 20:40, £9/£8

Jo Caulfield and John Robins are among the legions of English comics making their way north for the Fringe this year – what makes them stand out from the crowd?

Jo Caulfield and John Robins are both lured by the magic of the Festival, although neither has the prestigious Perrier / if / Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Award set in their sights. Caulfield considering that a “dangerous game” and Robins suggesting “it’s not the easiest title to say,” but they both view the Festival as the big one, with Robins calling it “the best working holiday ever.”

Although they have quite different deliveries, they do each feel confident with the Scottish crowd, and neither feels that the Scotland-England divide in itself requires any fundamental change to their shows.

Naturally, both performers consider Scottish audiences a dependable barometer of their material,

and their loose Celtic backgrounds do seem to help build a connection. Although Caulfield suggests her audiences may initially view her as an outsider, they quickly come round. Robins likes to play about with universal language – overheard quips, paraphrasing text-speak – to find the common ground, and both are polished enough to get their crowds onside.

Neither tends to stick rigidly to their script, which promises that key unpredictable edge. Both agree it’s essential to engage with the audience . “I just act like I’m having a drink and a laugh with my mates,” says Caulfield. “Who wants to hear every set opening with a Royal Mile joke?” asks Robins.

Having Russell Howard direct your show, as in the case of Robins, has got to help boost confidence and affability, while an established name like Caulfield is just looking forward to hooking up with her Twitter followers afterwards. “Some of them are really funny!” she says.

Jo Caulfield: Thinking Bad Thoughts, The Stand, 1-26 Aug (not 13), 8.10pm, £10/£9 John Robins: Incredible Scenes!, Just The Tonic, 1-26 Aug (not 14), 7.20pm, £9/£7

The Austr alians Interview: Collette Cullen Illustration: sally grosart

Three of Australia’s finest comic minds are coming to take the piss and shag the Queen Sammy J and Randy, one part comedic singer and one part potty-mouthed puppet, are set to conquer the Fringe yet again with their new musical, The Inheritance. What do they think of Scottish audiences?

“Well,” says Randy, “I thought Australians and the Scots had piss-taking in common but last year the Customs officer at Edinburgh airport was most unhappy with my attempt to take the piss.”

“How much were you carrying again?” asks Sammy J. “About 6 litres.”

“That’s a lot of piss.”

“Took me all Festival to collect it.”

“That was a quiet plane trip home.”

“I was devastated.”

Sammy J and Randy will be tasked with bringing some sunshine to the Fringe; fellow Aussie comic

John Robertson will be bringing something darker.

Robertson is best known for his wonderfully curious and surreal material but he certainly wrongfoots me with a confession about his ultimate guilty pleasure: “I have a secret collection of death threats I’ve gathered over the years and every once in a while I genuinely like to look at them.

“They range from the guy who told me ‘you suck, cancer isn’t funny’ and then tried to throw me through a window to really poorly worded and misspelled threats on The Dark Room loosely following a theme of ‘I’m going to get out here and find you and then kill you, you little bitch’,” he blithely adds John will be purveying his brand of ‘aggressive whimsy’ with two shows at the Fringe, The Dark Room based on his innovative YouTube game and The Old Whore that’s about sleeping with the Queen.

Sammy J & Randy: The Inheritance, Underbelly, 1-27 Aug (not 14), 6.05pm, £15/14 John Robertson: The Old Whore, Assembly Hall, 2-26 Aug, 10.15pm, £5 John Robertson: The Dark Room, The Hive, 3-27 August, 17:00, Free

Sammy J & Randy

August 2012

THE SKINNY 11

festival

F E A TU R E S

Rob Beckett & Chris Stokes Martin Mor & Helen Keen

The Freshers vs Sophomores Interview: Lizzie Cass-Maran Illustration: sally grosart

Chris Stokes and Rob Beckett are no strangers to the Fringe, but this year they’re back with their very own shows Chris Stokes and Rob Beckett have both been to the Fringe before, but now they’re taking the plunge and bringing up their first solo shows.

“I’ve been up to Edinburgh before,” says Stokes, “so I sort of know what to expect, but this time I’m the only person whose shoulders it rests on.”

Stokes describes his show as: “Me giving an account of myself… of my own anxieties and neuroses.” His publicity focuses on his geek-dom, but he questions how unique that really makes him. “Everybody’s a geek. It’s a catch-all term – sometimes it’s an insult, sometimes it’s a badge of honour. It’s a bit of an odd term.”

Beckett won the Amused Moose competition last year and was consequently offered his own show at the Adelaide Comedy Festival. “A woman in the audience asked if I had an hour. I said ‘Yep’.

I didn’t.”

He describes the resulting show “as a bit all over the place, ” but says he learnt a lot of lessons from it. “I feel like I’m ready to have my own hour now.” His Fringe show, Rob Beckett’s Summer Holiday, is about his family’s attitudes towards his career. “My working class family won’t call comedy a job. The show’s about them and their expectations.” He observes that there are very few working-class comedians on the circuit: “Maybe because you never thought you’d have the opportunities. All my aunts, uncles etc are plumbers, builders, taxi drivers, lorry drivers. I started talking about it, and people seem to find it interesting.”

Is it hard when you’re bringing up your first show to avoid the spectre of the Comedy Award judges? “If you’re chasing that then you’re not really making the show any good,” says Stokes “It’s the wrong frame of mind to go to Edinburgh in.”

Chris Stokes: An Opera Written on Napkins, Pleasance Courtyard, 1-27 Aug, 5.45pm, £7-£9 Rob Beckett’s Summer Holiday, Pleasance Courtyard, 1-27 Aug, 6pm, £8.50-£12

Returning to Edinburgh with that ‘difficult second show’ can be a challenge for some performers, but Cariad Lloyd and Doug Segal are full of enthusiasm “When I applied to the Free Fringe last year,” says Cariad Lloyd, “my venue wasn’t built yet. I thought no-one would see the show.” Yet Lloyd was nominated for best newcomer at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards, and this year she’s back, with The Freewheelin’ Cariad Lloyd at the Pleasance Courtyard. A couple of favourites from last year’s show make reappearances in a new line-up of character comedy. “I feel like I wanted to do a solid character show before any kind of massively avant-garde narrative.”

Doug Segal faces a similar challenge. After a smash-hit debut, he’s now “unbelievably excited” about coming back, with a show he describes as “a guy doing amazing miracles on stage, and being funny, and showing the audience how it’s done. Everyone learns a trick when they come to the show, and this year’s is really cool.”

Both Lloyd and Segal produced free shows last year, and both describe it as a ‘hard decision’ to move to a paid venue. But the lure came down to what you could control: “My mixer desk at the Free Festival had one channel,” says Segal.

“What was it mixing?!”

From a one-channel mixer desk to a fully interactive technology show and his own app, it’s been a hell of a year for Segal, who recently won Best Cabaret at the Brighton Fringe.

“I booked a gig the same night, thinking I’d never get it. Then they called me on the night and said ‘You need someone here tonight.’ It was my Bono moment, because the only person I knew in Brighton was 80s supermodel Annabel Giles. So a supermodel picked up my award!”

So does the success of awards and applause put extra pressure for a successful sophomore year? Lloyd’s not convinced. “Whether it’s year one, two, three, or whatever, you’re always going to feel the pressure to produce a good show.”

Doug Segal: How to Read Minds and Influence People, Gilded Balloon Teviot, 2-27 Aug, 7pm, £7.50-£9.50 Cariad Lloyd - The Freewheelin’ Cariad Lloyd, Pleasance Courtyard, 1-27 Aug, 4.45pm, £8-£10

The Jocks vs The Nerds Interview: Kate Russell Illustration: sally grosart

There’s a good amount of home-grown talent on show at this year’s Fringe: we take a look at two of the best, comic trio The Lumberjacks, and the marvellous Martin Mors Remember that guy at school who was brilliant at sports, but also really genuine and nice so you couldn’t hate him? Well, that guy grew up to be Craig Campbell, one third of The Lumberjacks alongside childhood friends Glenn Wool and Stewart Francis.

“It’s a stand-up show that’s a recall of what we did in 1998 and 1999. When we look back on our lives we’re in a pretty damn awesome position and we owe it all to starting out in a little room at the back of the Stand thirteen years ago.”

Campbell’s snowboarding, Wool’s “vagabond” life, and Francis’ “stratospheric” TV career keep the three separate for most of the year – another reason Campbell is so excited to be getting the Lumberjacks back together.

“I am going to be screaming at the crowd to get

12 THE SKINNY

August 2012

excited for Glenn Wool and Stewart Francis. I’ve known them forever and now we’re working together again. I’m doing a show with my buddies!”

Martin Mor is the living example of ‘hard on the outside, soft on the inside’. He once saved a man’s life by catching him and pulling him back onto the bridge with his pure man-strength. An ex-circus performer and stand-up veteran, Mor’s heart is about as big as his beard.

The show started off as “something I thought would be a bit of a laugh,” but it has morphed into a kind of psychological study. He’s commissioned several portrait artists to draw him, some sight unseen, some from descriptions by seven-yearolds, some that know him well. And he’s gone to even greater lengths than that.

“I posed for a life modelling class, you know, where you have to be naked? It’s scary! I’ve literally got about twenty- five portraits of myself.

Looking at pictures of yourself like that, it’s such a weird thing to do!”

Return of the Lumberjacks (Back by Poplar Demand), The Assembly Rooms, 2-26 Aug (not 13, 20), 8.10pm, £15/£12

Helen Keen and Jessie Cave are flying the flag for nerdy comedy at this year’s Fringe – we caught up with them to find out what makes them come over all geeky “A geek is someone who is really enthusiastic and passionate about something,” reckons Helen Keen. “You hear people say ‘Oh, I’m such a nail varnish geek’. Geek has gone mainstream!”

Keen’s nerd credentials are self-evident from her popular Radio 4 series It Is Rocket Science, adapted from her previous Fringe show. This year, Science Festival-friendly M.O. with the more personal Robot Woman of Tomorrow. “When I was a kid I had these unrealistic expectations about what the future held. I’m looking at those unrealistic expectations scientifically and personally.

“I think the problem with robots is that they are a bit disappointing, that was part of it, my disappointment in thinking that we weren’t going to have these amazing artificial creatures everywhere, and then that made me think more broadly about

what other things haven’t come true.” Expect lo-fi silliness, show-stealing shadow puppets, and one extremely loveable geek.

If a nerd is defined by their passion, Harry Potter actress Jessie Cave must have seen her fair share. In fact, the obsessions she was exposed to helped her form the idea for Bookworm, her show about an excitable enthusiast at the first meeting of her new book club.

“I get a couple of emails a day saying ‘Hi, I saw you in Harry Potter but I just don’t understand why you’re doing this.’ I find it so funny, I’m just doing it as a way to be creative. I see it as my job now, which is brilliant.”

Bookworm is a chance for Cave to showcase her life’s loves. Bringing in everything from her early promise at tennis, to her drawings, to the unavoidable behemoth of Harry Potter, she says the character “is part of me. It’s very truthful, there’s no lies. Well, there’s some lies, but it’s very real!”

Helen Keen: Robot Woman Of Tomorrow, Pleasance Courtyard, 1-26 Aug, 3.30pm, £9.50/£8 Jessie Cave: Bookworm, Underbelly, 2-26 August, 2.30pm, £10/£9

Visit the App Store to download our free iPhone App Polska Arts

To explore, engage, and enjoy all that Polska Arts has to offer in Edinburgh this year, check out:

www.culture.pl/edinburgh

AUGUST 2012

THE SKINNY 13

‘What modern dance should always be… flawless’ Le Figaro

And then, one thousand years of peace Ballet Preljocaj Featuring music by Laurent Garnier Superb contemporary dance, with a techno and Beethoven sound track in a post apocalyptic world.

Friday 17 – Sunday 19 August 7.30pm Supported by

The Bacher Trust

Charity No SC004694.

Photo: Michel Bazerbes

Book now at eif.co.uk/preljocaj1 or call 0131 473 2000

THE STORY OF WOODY GUTHRIE

14 THE SKINNY

August 2012

festival

Late night Gimp Fight

The Light vs The Dark Interview: Sarah Sharp Illustration: sally grosart

Mrs Barbara Nice and Sara Pascoe are two very different comedians, but share the same aim: to send audiences home with a smile on their face “I was reading an article about the five regrets of the dying,” says Mrs Barbara Nice. “It seems that on our way out, most of us wish we’d laughed more and cared less about what other people think.”

The two are intertwined, thinks Barbara. We become more self-conscious as we get older, less sure about laughing unless it’s in tune with others.

“Barbara’s on a mission to bring back a proper laugh. Not the head laugh, that real belly laugh.”

But she hastens to add this isn’t about being antiintellectual. “A comedy show is like serving up a good meal: you’ve got to have a bit of everything.”

The main aim, she says, is for people to come out feeling rejuvenated with laughter.

Sara Pascoe proposes this distinction: ‘Light comedy is escapism, forgetting the world; dark

comedy is holding a mirror up to it.’ That said, she does not necessarily count herself on the ‘light’ side. Her material, often coming from personal narrative, can tread into heavy territory. In honing her Edinburgh show, she found she had to tailor the way she told her stories so that they didn’t end on a ‘minor’ note. ‘At a tender moment,’ she said, ‘it could turn dark. You have to make sure there are jokes that relieve tension.’

Neither act is saccharine. Barbara may seem like a happy-go-lucky kind of girl, but she’s also a housewife who’s a bit fed up and bitter: it’s exactly this that makes her quest to find the humour in everyday relatable moments even more poignant.

Pascoe speaks to the power of flippancy that can deal with large, very powerful issues. “The funnier you are,” she reasons, “the longer someone will listen to an opinion that’s serious, so you earn the right to occasionally go ‘I think this – you should be aware of this.’

Sara Pascoe: The Musical, Assembly George Sq, 1-27 Aug (not 14), 9.15pm Barbera Nice: Mrs Nice, Assembly Rooms, 1-25 Aug (not 2,13) 2.30pm, £10/£9

Some acts like to push the boundaries of taste, but the guys from Late Night Gimp Fight and Casual Violence explain that it’s more than just Daily Mail-baiting Death, insanity and even child grooming are fair game for Late Night Gimp Fight but the aim, says Dave Moon, is not just to offend. “An audience wants to laugh at that stuff that perhaps they feel they shouldn’t. Once they do and they question themselves, that’s a beautiful moment”.

There’s a concerted effort to steer clear of the middle ground, however – he openly admits that the team enjoy stuff that “causes strong reactions” – but ultimately, funny comes first.

This desire to push things also drives James Hamilton. As the main creator of the Casual Violence shows, where the narratives run from bad to worst, he’s after a reaction that goes beyond the laughs. “I like shows that have affected me in ways other than making me laugh,” he explains.

He loves the hushed pitying ‘aww’ that people let slip when they feel sorry for the character: sympathy is the jackpot. As well as laughs, he hastens to add – “obviously I don’t think you should get one instead of the other!”

Like the Gimps, Hamilton doesn’t set out to create dark by default. “I never sat down and thought ‘I’m going to write a really bleak show,’” he says.

“You take characters and you think of the worst thing that could possibly happen to them and then do that.” Connecting with people is the backbone of both shows, but both concede it’s not for everybody. “If they don’t like it, it’s genuinely a shame,” says Hamilton. “We want people to enjoy themselves.”

It’s not all gloom and doom though. There are musical numbers in both shows, and the Gimps especially have ramped up the razzamatazz this year.

“I long for the days when it was just sketches,” Moon laments. “It’s got out of hand – costumes, songs…even if you’re not in the sketch!”

Late Night Gimp Fight: Pleasance Courtyard, 1-27 Aug, 10pm, £14/£12.50 Casual Violence: A Kick In The Teeth, Just The Tonic, 2-26 Aug (not 14 or 21), £8/£7

The Political vs The surreal Interview: Iain Gorman

'Politics

is not a game' said Winston Churchill. “It is an earnest business.” But that doesn’t mean it can’t be the subject of comedy, as Thom Tuck and Josie Long hope to prove at this year’s Fringe.

It seems political comedy and satire has never been more important, or more prevalent. Unrest in the Middle East coupled with grumblings at home and on the continent have ensured politics remains in the crosshairs of our sharpest comedians. Thom Tuck and Josie Long, both Fringe regulars, are two such performers.

Thom Tuck has been involved in Robert Khan and Tom Salinsky’s play Coalition since late last year, and from the first read through was sure he was onto a winner. “Sometimes it’s difficult to judge on paper, but it was obvious this was really funny already,” he says. Tuck plays Rt Hon Matt Cooper MP, leader of the Lib Dems (“definitely not Nick Clegg” he jokes) trying desperately to save the party in the last throes of coalition government.

As Tuck points out, it’s easier to be satirical when times are tough and with a strong supporting

cast, including Phil Jupitus and Jo Caulfield, there is little doubt this “farcical imagining of what’s going on” is incredibly pertinent.

Josie Long is looking forward to her sixth solo show, and eleventh Fringe altogether, with Romance & Adventure. Increasingly, Long has become a strong and passionate voice in the world of political comedy, quite simply because she likes to “talk about what’s important.” There is of course a challenge in getting the balance right between conveying an impassioned message and being entertaining, which she describes as “really tricky.” She maintains that balance by approaching the subject in “a light-hearted manner without being too earnest.”

So what would she do if she found herself in charge? “Reverse the NHS bill, close tax loopholes, tax high earners and be more fun!” Now that sounds like something we can get behind.

Clearly the only thing left to do now is vote Long/Tuck 2012.

Josie Long: Romance And Adventure, 1-27 Aug (not 18/19), 6pm, £12.50/£11.50 Coalition: The Play, Pleasance Courtyard, 1-26 Aug, 2pm, £14.50/£13.50 Thom Tuck Flips Out, Pleasance Dome, 1-27 Aug (not 12), 8.10pm, £11/£9.50

Rhys Darby and Paul Vickers are two men who are very serious about being silly.

Purveyors of whimsy Rhys Darby and Paul Vickers return to the Fringe for the seventh and third time respectively.

Darby’s new show, This Way to Spaceship, is a stand-up performance spawned from his book of the same name, which he describes as “a sort of autobiographical sci-fi novel.” Best known as Murray from Flight of the Conchords, his stand up persona is quite different to his TV alter-ego.

“There’s a lot of stuff that I do that you wouldn’t link to the character of Murray, so I think, rather than be disappointed, anyone coming to see me should be in for a real treat.”

It was in Edinburgh that Darby first connected with the Conchords. It clearly holds a special place in his heart and when he’s not working in Hollywood he makes a point to perform at the Fringe. “It’s the heart of everything. Comics of the world come together, like a school camp where we can share notes. It’s evolving, like a living organism.”

This is a sentiment echoed by Vickers, who only recently decided to embrace the festival after so many years of actively avoiding it. Twonkey’s

Kingdom is a continuation of Vickers’ two previous Festival outings as the story of Twonkey, the halfwitch / half-dragon, progresses. He describes this latest instalment, which he believes to be his best so far, as “Lord of the Rings mixed with Phoenix Nights.”

Vaudevillian in nature, the act has evolved into a madcap cabaret. Is there more scope to be experimental as part of the Free Fringe? “It gives people a chance to learn… you get better at adding and subtracting. A big part of art is editing.”

A huge part too is connecting with the audience.

Darby describes the comedian as “the people’s artist” and both he and Vickers bring a surreal edge to an art form that can so often take itself too seriously.

Rhys Darby: This Way To The Spaceship, Pleasance Courtyard, 8pm, 1-27 Aug (not 14 & 8), £18.50/£17.50 Twonkeys kingdom, the hive, 2-26 Aug (not 7, 21,22), 3pm, free

August 2012

THE SKINNY 15

festival

How The Fringe Escaped Its Certain Fate The Big Four venues cast a long shadow over comedy at the Fringe. Many performers walk away in debt, but why is that and what are the alternatives? Stewart Lee and Bob Slayer offer an insider’s view of how the Fringe really works.

Interview: Bernard O’Leary Illustration: sally grosart

“If you’re one of the comedians appearing under a big promoter at the Big Four, you’re either an idiot who hasn’t done the maths, or you’re desperate to be famous at any cost, or you’ve been badly advised by people who haven’t got your best interests at heart.”

So says Stewart Lee, and if you’ve read his book, How I Escaped My Certain Fate, you’ll understand where he’s coming from. This is a man who’s worked hard to battle mainstream homogenisation without slipping into total obscurity.

He’s earned his right to pass judgement on the thing that now calls itself the Edinburgh Comedy Festival and the so-called Big Four of Assembly, Gilded Balloon, Pleasance and Underbelly.

“There’s no need for people to lose as much money as they do in Edinburgh. The reason that they do is because it’s useful to their management companies, who can then keep them as indentured serfs to work off their debt through some other wing of the company. For example, if a management company sends 20 clients to Edinburgh and they all lose £10,000, that’s a £200,000 debt. If the clients then work for them to pay off that debt, they’re also making 15% commission on that.”

Bob Slayer, the least sane man in comedy, is currently recovering from a broken neck, incurred while attempting to crowdsurf in a wheelie bin. But the former band manager is also a canny businessman and, speaking to him seperately, echoes Lee’s opinions.

“The deals in Edinburgh are historically based on theatre deals and theatre involves, crews, changeovers, props. But comedy takes a fraction of the effort to put on. Comedy’s just one guy with a mic and maybe a CD player. It’s a piece of piss.

“If you’re a promoter and someone’s going to give you £100 a day for a room, of course you’re going to say yes. It’s easy money. But why are agents convincing their clients it’s a good idea?

You see acts performing at the bigger venues,

16 THE SKINNY

August 2012

worrying about how many they’ll get in today, and you just see the fear etched in their face. I wonder ‘who’s advising them?’

“I saw the same in the music industry,” he adds. “People would say, it’s unfair, but we won’t rock the boat. I worked with record labels and they used to say, ‘Oh, that’s the standard deal’. I started looking at it and saying, ‘The standard deal is shit. I’m going to make a new deal’.”

A lot of comedians walk away from the Fringe in debt, which means a bizarre situation where shows cost money for both the audience and the performer. So where is all of this cash ending up?

Slayer says, “There isn’t somebody sat there raking it all in. If there was one person it would be easy to change, but it’s just evolved into this inefficient waste of money. There’s bits going off to PR, bits going on posters, lots of bits going in unneccesary directions.”

PR is a big, black pit at the centre of the Fringe, into which comedians chuck as much money as they can without ever really knowing if it’s been worth it. Lee reckons it’s all a fix and gives an example of where this money goes.

“The Big Four venues have private hospitality rooms. At one stage, the idea of these was that performers could have a place to get pissed without being hassled by members of the public.

Now, the function of those rooms is to provide a private commercial transaction space, where big people fraternise with the talent in a secure zone. Part of the overhead at the Big Four is a tacit understanding that you have to pay to provide this place where journalists, TV people, PR types, and industry people meet to make deals with acts.

“And unfortunately, this is true. Because if you’re a lazy, lazy journalist or a lazy, lazy television talent scout, you can orbit around these places where you’re served free drinks and maybe see the odd show. If you’re going to see stuff on the Free Fringe or The Stand you have to go outside your

“I started looking at it and saying, ‘The standard deal is shit. I’m going to make a new deal’” Bob slayer comfort zone.”

It sounds like comedians aren’t even needed in this equation.

“No,” says Lee, “we’re the weak link in the chain. As is public taste, which cannot be helped.

And sometimes the public will go bonkers for something that no-one saw coming, or they’ll reject something no matter how hard you try to sell it to them. Last year, an undeniable success at the Fringe was Kunt And The Gang. He played to hundreds of people every day, no management, no PR, and for all the attention he generated he wasn’t mentioned once in the national papers.

I’m not saying that show was good or bad, but if you were looking for something that was actually popular, that was it. Yet it passed without comment.”

Kunt was one of the acts on Bob Slayer’s programme at The Hive last year. Bob is back there this year under the banner of The Alternative Fringe, a large selection of free shows with the odd paid show thrown in. The deal for the paid shows is simple: £1 goes to the Alternative Fringe, the rest goes to the act, nobody gets into debt.

Talking about his lineup, Slayer says “They’ve all got an independent spirit. These are the sort of acts who do it because it’s what they want to do, and they find an audience. Unlike acts who look around and think, ‘Right, what’s marketable?’

I hear people say ‘Oh it’s alright for Daniel Kitson, it’s alright for Stewart Lee, I can’t do that, I’ll just give £5,000 to Underbelly.’ And that’s a very defeatist attitude.

“There are lots of people watching to see how we’ll get on this year. The thing I know is: no matter how we get on, we’ll have more fun. We won’t be worrying about how much money we owe.”

Even more people will be watching The Assembly Rooms on George Street this year. This iconic venue has been taken over by Salt ‘n’ Sauce Promotions, the company behind The Stand. Lee will be moving there to head up their comedy programming, and the new venue will offer a deal similiar to The Stand, with nobody asked to pay up front for performance space. If it’s successful, this could change the Fringe as we know it forever.

So does Lee think that the hegemony of the Big Four is under threat?

“In a way, it doesn’t really matter,” he replies. “If you don’t go to Edinburgh as part of your yearly cycle and incur a £10,000 debt, then you’re much freer for the rest of the year to do what you want anyway.

“I love the Fringe more than anything. It’s great to be in that environment with other comedians.

When comics stop going to Edinburgh, they start to ossify. And you know what? The whole soap opera, the big Jeffrey Archer political epic as you watch the Big Four flailing around, it’s quite fun to watch. As long as your future isn’t in their hands.”

Meanwhile, Slayer is cheerful about the future of the Fringe. “You’ll still have the big venues but they’ll be dealing with acts who are already on TV. But developing acts, alternative acts, independent acts will be off doing their own thing. And that is the Fringe.”

Stewart Lee: Carpet Remnant World, The Assembly Rooms, 2-26 Aug (not 13 or 20), 6.05pm, £15/£12 Bob Slayer: He’s A Very Naughty Boy, 1-26 Aug (not 14 or 21), The Alternative Fringe@The Hive, 7pm, £5/£4

CLASH OF THE TIGHT YINS Free shows have changed the entire dynamic of the fringe, but at the heart of the Free movement is a bitter rivalry. What defines these two movements?

INTERVIEW: BERNARD O’LEARY ILLUSTRATION: SALLY GROSART

PBH FREE FRINGE “I WOULDN’T presume to run the Free Fringe unless I was a performer,” says Peter Buckley-Hill, the driving force behind the PBH Free Fringe. “I do what everybody else does. And that’s important.”

For performers, a key part of the PBH philosophy is co-operation, with all acts expected to pitch in for the good of the Free Fringe. How has this changed over the last few years?

“The philosophy hasn’t changed,” says Buckley-Hill, “but it’s under some quite big threats.

As we become larger, we get acts joining us who don’t understand the ethos. It’s not like working with money venues. You’re not buying a service; you’re not a customer. You don’t get to ask: ‘what are you going to do for us?’ It’s a collective.”

And what does the Free Fringe mean to audiences?

“I think the public expects a sense of shared fun from Free Fringe shows; in these informal settings, the show is something, not performed to the

LAUGHING HORSE FREE FESTIVAL

LEWIS SCHAFFER

“THERE SEEMS to be much more of a punk ethic about the [Laughing Horse] Free Festival,” says Kunt & The Gang. He’s a man who understands the DIY ethic, having caused a huge stir last year with £50 worth of penis-shaped stickers. “I had pretty much given up hope of getting to the Fringe after being rejected by all the main promoters and PBH’s Free Fringe. Laughing Horse has luckily worked out a good fit for us.”

Free Festival favourite Lewis Schaffer is almost nihilistic when asked about the Free philosophy.

“There’s no such thing as a free Fringe. Someone charges £10 a show, you don’t call it the £10 Festival. It’s just an alternative business model, it’s not the socialist, altruistic enterprise that Peter Buckley-Hill makes it out to be.

“You have to respect people like Ed & Charlie [Underbelly] and Karen Koren [Gilded Balloon].

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audience but shared with the audience.

“Laughing Horse put on shows -- not all of theirs, but enough -- which have little artistic merit, and therefore reinforce people’s belief that free equals rubbish. Now, they’re not the Free Fringe; that’s our brand name. But they seem not to make it clear enough and we therefore get some of the dis-credit caused by their bad shows.

“Free isn’t enough anymore, and indeed it never was. It’s taken us a long time to educate the public that free does not mean inferior, and every show the public doesn’t like makes our work that bit harder.”

The PBH logo has become a symbol of quality on the Fringe, with a series of strong reviews at the 2011 Fringe. And with a 2012 lineup that includes the likes of Phil Jupitus, Josie Long and Thom Tuck, it looks like this reputation will continue to grow.

PETER BUCKLEY-HILL & SOME COMEDIANS XVI, 4-25 AUG, THE CANON’S GAIT, 9.35PM, FREE WWW.FREEFRINGE.ORG.UK

They’re business people and they provide value for many of the acts they put on. It’s not suited to me, but it works well for a lot of other people.”

For Schaffer, the key element is not money but time. “People are taking time out of their lives to see your show, and you owe them something. If I was charging money, I’d feel even worse than I do.”

Kunt agrees that the bucket system is an inherent motivation to greatness. “I’ve seen some woeful stuff on Bristo Square and, if there had been a bucket system in place, I would have pulled my pants down and squeezed a jobby into it.”

Laughing Horse shows seem to just let the performers get on with it. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s not, but this seems to be where the legendary, anarchic ‘Spirit Of The Fringe’ resides.

KUNT & THE GANG, CITY CAFE, 2-26 AUG, 10.30PM, FREE LEWIS SCHAFFER, THE FREE SISTERS, 2-26 AUG, 8.15PM, FREE WWW.LAUGHINGHORSECOMEDY.CO.UK/EDINBURGH

Leith Walk's finest purveyor of speciality spirits and cask ales ~ Home of Edinburgh's Booze School ~ Open till 1am every night ~ Find us on facebook or follow @windsorbuffet on twitter

AUGUST 2012

THE SKINNY 17

F E A TU R E S

festival

The Comedy of Art

Sure to be a highlight of Edinburgh Art Festival, TV’s Harry Hill brings an exhibition of his painting to the capital for August. Notoriously hilarious visual artist David Shrigley quizzes him on his art practice

You may know him for his outsized collars and madcap comedy, but Harry Hill has spent the last couple of decades quietly pursuing a less highprofile career as a painter. This August, as well as performing a run of his stand-up at The Stand, he’s delving into the world of the Edinburgh Art Festival with an exhibition of his paintings popping up above White Stuff on George Street. The show’s curator, Cedar Lewisohn, took the opportunity of a trip to Hill’s south west London home to record a discussion between the man himself and beloved Glasgow visual artist David Shrigley on painting and creative practice. Here are the exclusive results.

David Shrigley: When did you start painting?

Harry Hill: Probably in the early 90s. I had a set of oil paints that was given to me by a girlfriend. I did still lifes, like paintings of fruit, oranges. I wanted to make pictures but couldn’t get the hang of the oil painting, mainly because the paint took so long to dry and I was very impatient – it tended to get all smeared and end up as one colour. I never had any tuition… and it was quite difficult to find out how to actually do it. What I worked out was – with watercolours where you’d paint, then you’d wash the brush, do another colour – that if I did that, and was using brown and did a red… well everything ended up sort of browny. Must use different brushes!

That’s what I do. I have a red brush, green brush…

Then the breakthrough was doing a Frank Skinner chat show. Instead of getting paid you used to get a present, and the present was some quick-drying oil paints.

Where do you paint?

I do it in front of the TV. That’s why most of them are quite small. There’ll be a piece of wood that I’ve got, you know, if we’ve done a bit of work on the house and there’s an offcut. I’ll have it on the coffee table in front of the TV. Although the thing is I don’t watch much TV since it’s become work, so I listen to the radio. I might have two [paintings] on the go.

Howard Hodgkin style.

Well the thing with me is, I’m quite tight with the paints. If I’ve got the red… you see, the problem

18 THE SKINNY

August 2012

with the Alkyd (oil paint) thing is you’ve then got to let them dry until the morning. If I’ve got a bit of red on my brush, and then I think I don’t want any more red on that painting, I’ll get the other painting and do the red on that one.

Economising on time and paint. I do that as well. Three paintings at the same time. You know Howard Hodgkin apparently has all these paintings – years he apparently took to do them, from like 1984 to 1988. You think, god that took four years to make that painting? À la Frank Auerbach, who generally does take a long long time to make a painting. What he does is, he has hundreds, literally hundreds, in his studio and does a little bit on each everyday. So it’s a bit of a mix.

Peter Blake’s notorious like that, isn’t he? He’s got paintings that he started in the 60s and still hasn’t finished.

I get the impression that Peter Blake probably doesn’t do it for sales reasons, whereas Howard Hodgkin is a little more canny.

Well, we don’t want to turn this into an attack on other artists.

I think Howard Hodgkin is unlikely to read this.

He’s dead, isn’t he?

Cedra Lewisohn: No… he just did the Olympics poster this year, didn’t he?

I suppose, in a way, if we’re going to talk about what genre these would fit into, it would be folk art. By definition, as you’ve had no training – I mean, you started from the point of view of a complete novice. It’s authentic folk art in that respect. Whereas what I do has no relationship to outsider art. It’s sort of faux outsider art.

Why do you say that?

Because I went to art school. I was taught how to stretch canvases at Leicester Polytechnic in 1987.

I see. It seems to me very difficult. Magda [Harry’s wife] didn’t do fine art, but she went to art school for seven years. She doesn’t know how to paint, she doesn’t know how to stretch canvases. If you don’t know how to do it, it’s very difficult to find someone who can actually tell you.

I bought some canvas last year. I buy these as I’m slightly obsessive compulsive. I’m

“I think Howard Hodgkin is unlikely to read this” David Shrigley obsessed by archival things, so I buy these aluminium stretchers and then I sometimes paint, and if I don’t like the painting I take the canvas off and re-stretch them. I bought the canvas from the art store and the guy said ‘Ooh, hang on a minute mate. This is how to stretch’ and he gave me a little leaflet on how to stretch a canvas! I felt slightly patronised. I gave him my Scottish Artists Union card and I said, ‘I’ve got a 25% discount on that.’ But he still was like, ‘Any problems, come back and I’ll show you how to do it.’

I wonder if people don’t want to tell you because they don’t want you to do it.

They want you to buy the pre-stretched canvases because they’re really expensive.

When you ask painters… for instance, one thing I like about Peter Blake’s painting is that the paintings are so flat. At one time I did want to paint that flat way, and I said to him ‘How do you get it so flat?’ and he laughed and shrugged, like it’s a trade secret.

Really?

I was disappointed... [laughs] Maybe he misunderstood the question, maybe he didn’t think you genuinely wanted to know.

Yeah maybe.

I don’t think it’s like, I don’t know – what’s the recipe for Coca Cola.

I think he gets it really runny – puts a lot of turps in it, layers and layers. It took me ages to find out how to do that, as when I painted them they had a matt finish, then I would go to exhibitions and they’d be all glossy. So, to start with, I used to varnish them. Then I discovered linseed oil.

What’s really nice about this collection is it’s just a record of quite a lot of your time.

My theory is this. At school, everything is

formalised so you go to your art lesson and do art for an hour. Then you produce all these pictures or pots or whatever it is. Then you leave and you never do it again, even though for most people, certainly for me it was one of the fun lessons that everyone enjoys. I think if everyone painted, then we’d all have this record, just as we’ve a record of photographs taken, or holidays we’ve been on.

Then there’s this big embarrassment about doing it if you’re not an artist. If I say to my mum, ‘Go on, draw a picture,’ she’ll say ‘Oh I can’t draw.’

It might actually be quite good! It kind of contextualises somebody’s life in a different way, a really personal, charming way. Most people, as you say, feel they can’t possibly make any art, as if they’re not allowed to. I think that’s a terrible shame. Not just for the reasons you’ve described, as it being a record, a diary, but also because a lot of people are very creative and they like to make things and it makes them happy. And sometimes they come up with unexpectedly good pictures.

Yeah.

There are a lot of other things that people do in the world that are actually pointless. They’re just a means to an end, and the end is usually just to have a house and a car, and make a living and get a pension, and to send their kids to school or whatever. People don’t very often do things just because they really want to do it, except to get drunk or play golf or watch telly.

I suppose a hobby like making artwork… well, it’s a shame that people feel that way about it.

Or it’s the opposite and you get the other extreme – artists doing it for money…

I suppose that sucks the joy out of it after a certain point as well.

That Henry Darger thing, y’know, when he’s up in his little flat drawing away.

Drawing school girls.

Yep, drawing schoolgirls, at war. No one ever saw it. To me, it’s really interesting, kind of a folk art thing isn’t it.

Harry Hill, My Hobby, curated by Cedar Lewisohn, 4 Aug-2 Sep, 10am-6pm, free White Stuff, 2nd Floor, 89 George Street, EH2 3ES Harry Hill plays The Stand 3, 1-4 Aug, 11.30am & 1.15pm, £15

Gallery of Modern Art (GoMA)

Eve Arnold|Frank Auerbach|Beagles and Ramsay|Joseph Beuys|Derek Boshier|Martin Boyce|Boyle Family| Matthew Buckingham|John Byrne| Henri Cartier-Bresson|Rob Churm|Alan Currall|Kate Davis|Thomas Demand| Graham Fagen|Hans-Peter Feldmann| Peter Fischli and David Weiss|Alex Frost|Douglas Gordon|Richard Hamilton| David Hockney|Roni Horn|Peter Hujar| Emily Jacir|Barbara Kruger|Chad McCail| Patricia Macdonald|Joseph McKenzie| David Maljkovic|Jonathan Monk|Scott Myles|Eduardo Paolozzi|Toby Paterson| Grayson Perry|David Sherry|David Shrigley|Jo Spence|Simon Starling|Corin Sworn|Fiona Tan|Daphne Wright|

Tales of the City: Art Fund International and the GoMA collection

GoMA showcases its brand new collection of world-class art purchased by the Art Fund for the city of Glasgow.

Open now

FREE Entry

Tales of the City is presented in partnership with The Common Guild, Glasgow, with support from the Art Fund.

2 August – 2 September 2012 New commissions by international and emerging artists, over 45 major exhibitions at leading galleries and free events every day. Follow us @EdArtFest.

www.edinburghartfestival.com

For further information:

www.glasgowmuseums.com 0141 287 3050 Skinny126x314ammend.indd 1

17/07/2012 15:06

AUGUST 2012

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festival

Comic Maestro

Working Poets

The Skinny’s first sponsored event will feature the nearlegendary Glaswegian comics writer Grant Morrison

The Skinny’s second event will feature two poets who hold down other jobs: Sean Borodale and William Letford

Words: David Agnew Illustration: Marco Bevilacqua

Interview: Keir Hind Illustration: Marco Bevilacqua

Legendary? Don’t take our word for it – Morrison’s book on superhero history, Supergods, comes with a cover quote from none other than Stan Lee saying that the Scot is ‘One of the great comic writers of all time.’ Now, smilin’ Stan, creator of Spider-Man, is well known to be both relentlessly positive and prone to hyperbole, but you can’t fault his statement – grinnin’ Grant is one of the greats. Looking at his CV won’t give you any grounds for doubt on that score.

What is interesting about Morrison’s CV is that it’s hard to judge where the tipping point comes.

When, exactly, did he get so big? He’s 52 now, but his first efforts which made it into print were when he was 17, so there’s a lot to cover. In the early 80s he worked for various UK publishers, including DC Thompson, and he even wrote strips for Doctor Who Magazine – in fact, a surprising number of British comics writers who made it big later did. This was by no means Morrison’s big break though.

Perhaps that came when he got to create and write a continuing strip for 2000AD, Zenith, a work that, tantalisingly, is still not completely in print today for rights reasons. Zenith led to Morrison being offered work in America, reviving old comics heroes. Many British writers were being asked to do this type of thing, following Alan Moore’s work on Swamp Thing. The most successful effort in this mode is probably Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series, but Morrison’s work on reviving Animal Man was greatly entertaining. He took a basically daft story about a man who can adopt the abilities of any nearby animals and gave it new life, first by grounding the story in domesticity – Animal Man has a wife and kids – then devising innovative superpower scenes – an excellent cliffhanger occurs when our hero is severed in two, but uses earthworm abilities to reform himself. This level of invention would have done for some writers, but

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Morrison then introduced what we’ll call metafictional touches, with things like a Wile-E Coyote analogue coming to our world to finally die, and culminating in Animal Man meeting his creator.

This figure, who looks a lot like Morrison, is used to examine the creative process in comics generally. It’s a theme Morrison is fond of, culminating, you could say, in Supergods.

Animal Man was a big break for Morrison, and a bridgehead to America, but it wasn’t necessarily the tipping point in making him quite the name he is now. Animal Man led to work reviving a superteam, Doom Patrol, on which Morrison did excellent work, and then to a Batman graphic novel, Arkham Asylum, wherein Batman examines Arkham Asylum, and it examines him, and go and read it, it’s fantastic. This title definitely helped establish Morrison’s reputation.

And yet… it just isn’t the single work that made Morrison, because he’s written so many quality titles afterwards. He was given the chance of writing the Justice League of America, which, with Batman and Superman in it, is the superteam of superteams, and at around the same time he began his own superteam, The Invisibles. Set in a world where most conspiracies are true, the 59 issues of The Invisibles became a cult classic, and the JLA didn’t do badly either. At that point Morrison could effectively write whatever he wanted and write it well. And he has done, writing for X-Men and Fantastic 4, as well as his own creations. His work on All-Star Superman has shown an affection for the character that’s proven enormously popular.

It’s the affection people have for Morrison, who’s a great live performer, which we’ll get to see on the 17th. He’s as entertaining talking about comics in reality as he is examining the nature of reality in comics.

Grant Morrison appears at the Edinburgh international book festival on 17 Aug, 9.30pm-10.30pm

Sean Borodale is a poet, but also an artist and has written about bee-keeping and geography; and William Letford, who we’ll focus on here, works as a roofer as his day job. “One doesn’t usually go with the other,” he says, “so people find it interesting.”

Interested, I asked Letford if he had a poem we could discuss, as an introduction to his work. And so here is…

Thurs hunnurs a burds oan the roofs here huw chouf wouf wee robin rid tit peejin breesty lovey dovey ruffle yur feathers show me yur plume look it that Frank nut a look nut a nut plod on then mouldy breed heed woop woop look it that fingle foogle boogaloo that’s no even a crow that’s a dinosaur thur’ll be teeth in that beak that’s fur sure ohh beady eye beady eye get behind the gable she’s fae the social wit a life Frank wit a life feedin oan scraps huntin fur crumbs bit listen tae this listen tae this we’re no dodos we kin fly forget aboot the fields Frank look it the sky

Can you describe – if you remember – the circumstances in which you wrote this poem?

I started writing the poem free hand in my kitchen, vocalising it as I was going along, the radio was on, the windows were open and the sun was out. The idea came because, well, there are lots of birds on the roofs.

Is that a typical way to write, for you? Do you have a process?

I like to vocalise a poem as I’m going along, it’s a form of editing, and first thing in the morning is good – up early, two cups of coffee, some music

then go. But I don’t have any set process. I’ll take what I can get when I can get it.

Do you write with a feeling about how the poem will go over in performance?

I do. I think about how the poem will come off the page, and I think about how the poem will come off me. I didn’t start by showing people poems. I started by telling them. I once, very politely, asked a woman working in a Maggie’s Burger Van if she would give me a roll and sausage if I told her a poem (it was late and I was caught short). She said no. I told her the poem anyway. I got the roll and sausage, and staggered away a happy man.

When does the enjoyment come in, normally?

Seeing the finished work and being proud of it, is enjoyable. The actual process of writing can be difficult. Sometimes I wonder if I’ll ever come up with another poem. The time between that thought and searching for an idea, is dark. But once I’m on it, moving toward something that I want to write, all the choices I’ve made to get me here make sense.

How do you feel about your first collection, Bevel, coming out in September?

I was proud of it, and proud of myself. Seems like a long time ago I made the decision to see this through. It took me seven years to get my first poem published. But there’s another sensation. I looked at Bevel and thought, yes. Ten minutes later I was thinking, now what. I feel like the bouncers have let me in and it’s time to start to dancing. This is just the beginning.

William Letford and Sean Borodale will be appearing at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Fri 24 Aug, 8.30-9.30pm Sean Borodale’s work is available now, and William Letford’s first Collection, Bevel, will be released at the beginning of September. You can see him performing ‘Thurs hunnurs a birds oan the roofs’ here: tinyurl.com/cr7kmkl For your chance to win tickets for either of these events, go to www.theskinny.co.uk/about/competitions

The Edinburgh International Book Festival – It’s A Funny Old Game Had enough of sport this summer? Come and read some books in Charlotte Square instead Words: Keir Hind

How to arrange a world – beating Book Festival?

Well, you’ve got to have a great mix of writers on your side. First you want your team to have a core of wily veterans, old hands who’ve experience to burn, with maybe a few awards between them.

And so you’ll find Booker Winners galore here: Hilary Mantel of Wolf Hall fame, for example, who cancelled last year but should be fresh and ready for the game this time, appears on 14 August; and her talents will be shored up by the collective experience in John Banville – he won for The Sea – on the 15th; the veteran, but still expressive and outspoken talents of Howard Jacobson – he won for The Finkler Question – on the 24th; and the double winner Ian McEwan, who won for both Amsterdam and Atonement appears on the 24th.

That’s a spread of experience all over the field.

Now, you want to mix in some youth, so there are debut appearances from first time writers Lucy Wood and Allan Wilson on the 20th – keep your eye on them. Wonderkids can turn out to be real talents, as happened with Zadie Smith – and you can see her on the 25th. What else do you need?

You need some poetry in motion. Which is why poet Andrew Motion – the first living person ever to be a former poet laureate – will arrive on the

11th (note: apologies for the ‘motion’ pun, but c’mon). Current poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy will also appear on the 24th, and if you prefer your poets without royal endorsement, Simon Armitage will be talking about his poetic journey down the Pennine Way on the 24th.

You always need great performances. You’re guaranteed some here. Sticking with poets, Alice Oswald will be performing her reimagining of The Iliad in its entirety on the 14th. If that kind of completeness appeals to you, you’ll like Ian Rankin, who will be looking over all of the Rebus books in an event on the 21st. Rankin will also be chairing Irvine Welsh’s examination of the idea of a national literature on the 19th, sure to be worldbeating. There’s also the inspired pairing of Ian McEwan talking with Alex Salmond on the 22nd.

Which should remind you – you gotta have some home grown talent. And there’s lots on display.

Janice Galloway on the 12th is followed by AL Kennedy on the 13th, and then there’s Bob Servant’s creator Neil Forsyth on the 15th. But there’s more. Christopher Brookmyre appears on the 16th, Ron Butlin, whose book The Sound of My Voice is consistently receiving new attention, appears on the 18th, followed by Ali Smith on the

19th, Iain Banks on the 22nd, and Alan Warner on the 23rd. (Note: just in writing that out, I thought ‘that is one hell of a list.’ We’re impressive, us Scots). Oh, and there’s the Kenny Dalglish of Scottish literature, Alasdair Gray, appearing on the 12th. (And making that comparison was virtually the entire point of this piece.)

Isn’t that enough? Well, a great side always needs a few wild cards. The science fiction/ fantasy/crime/children’s author China Miéville fits the bill – he’ll appear on the 20th, and another sci-fi great, Neal Stephenson, will appear on the 17th.

The always fascinating novelist/essayist/Shooting Stars panellist Will Self will appear on the 25th.

And then there’s the tactical nous of Seamus Heaney, Karl Miller and Andrew O’Hagan combining for one event on the 18th.

And even in injury time on Monday the 27th there’s great talent in evidence. You’ve got Gwendoline Riley, one of Granta’s picks of best young novelists, and you’ve got James The People’s Act of Love Meek. What do you call all of this talent together? You call that a winning team.

Full Listings can be found here: www.edbookfest.co.uk/the-festival/ whats-on/appearing-this-festival

28TH SEPTEMBER - 7TH OCTOBER 2012

‘ The sort of festival people get possessive about’ The Guardian

A literary celebration in Scotland’s National Book Town www.wigtownbookfestival.com 01988 403222

Charity No. SCO37984

August 2012

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festival

Scotland Vs. Poland

Poland versus Scotland: it might lack the clarity of a sporting contest, but theatre does bring out the national identity

Photo: Jakub Wittchen

Words: Gareth K Vile

Planet Lem

The Edinburgh festivals – Book, International, Art and Fringe – play an important role in revealing how different nations approach the performing arts. The spirit of the founders of the EIF, optimistic in the aftermath of the Second World War and envisioning a spirit of international understanding based on the sharing of culture, is powerfully represented in the willingness of countries – this year, like South Africa, Russia and Poland – to send their artists to Scotland and share their talents.

By following a particular strand throughout August, it becomes clear that even countries that share a heritage have very different approaches.

Perhaps on the back of the UK’s Shakespeare celebrations, Britain appears to have a respect for the text: Kieran Hurley’s Beats or Gary McNair’s Born to Run (at the Traverse), The National Theatre of Scotland’s Appointment with the Wicker Man and Love Letters to Public Transport, Macbeth in Scots or even the entries from Glasgow’s venerable A Play, A Pie and A Pint seasons (Slice and Casablanca, the Gin Joint Cut) all base their action on the written word, even though Hurley and McNair are more than willing to add crossplatform sparkle.

Meanwhile, the Polish programme, supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, suggests that they are equally inspired by devised or physical origins. Even when a Polish show is inspired by a text – such as Planet Lem, Teatr Biuro Podrozy’s take on the world of the science fiction master – the production relies as much on the scale, the video projections and movements of the actors as the word.

The Blind, which is based on a novel by Jose Saramago, is a fast paced, physical spectacle, evoking an epidemic of blindness through a choreography that is between dance and despair. As the victims are imprisoned in an asylum, they develop their own society, acted out on a massive set with props that become boats, cages and beds through the actors’ dexterity, The Blind explores the impact of deprivation on the way that humans evolve morality and community. Yet words are of minor importance: what is spoken in Shakespeare through a sophisticated language is expressed through the very body.

In the British corner, Molly Taylor, in Love Letters’ eloquent exploration of passion and the hidden lives that ensure that trains and buses and planes and trams take us to our destinies, uses the minimal setting of theatre: alone on stage, limited

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movement, a suggestive set and a script that is, in itself, a love letter. Tracing her journeys across the country – and chasing the men who made them possible, pausing only to tell anecdotes of how buses have brought together artists and lovers – Taylor reveals her skill as a storyteller and celebrates the beauty of the mundane. It’s in the detail that her writing is most powerful, whether describing the first flush of desire or the modesty of a champion bus driver, lending a mythic grandeur to the commuter or the public servant: a perfect example of how theatre can sanctify the apparently frustrating and irrelevant.

It isn’t that the Polish artists are unwilling to take on intimate subjects – 24hr is a durational piece that is part of Waclaw Miklaszewski’s attempt to document his entire life in a series of performances – but that the emphasis is shifted. Two versions of Macbeth give the bard a suggestive, allusive and physical workout: while Taylor or Hurley balance the demands of script and the performer’s presence to empower the words, the Polish approach seems to privilege the presence.

Future Tales (komuna//warsawa) is a rough and ready assault on both the bullshit of modern Marxism – their attack on the florid verbiage of the left which fails to turn words into action; indeed, the words replace and obviate actual political engagement – is equally a challenge to the pieties of contemporary theatre. More like a punk happening than a polite tragedy, it deconstructs the possible futures of a noted Polish thinker in a scathing cabaret of ideas and loud music. While their leftist manages to avoid attending any sex clubs, he is satirised for his willingness to substitute rhetoric for direct action: komuna//warszawa have a background in anarchism and while they have abandoned the idea of theatre as a meaningful contribution to change, they hammer at expectations and assumptions with the reckless intensity of Crass: the glamour of language that fuels much British theatre is replaced by a relentless and hilarious violence.

The joy of the Fringe is that both Scottish and Polish companies can learn from each other - Hurley’s uses of the telling phrase and sublime integration of Johnny Whoop’s DJ magic is alongside Wojtek Ziemilski’s Small Narration, which seeks to address his own family history and is influenced by the director’s time training with the UK’s Third Angel, who share a tradition with the artists who appear as part of Buzzcut’s programme.

Scotland, far more than the rest of Britain, has always been influenced by international currents – possibly because of Richard Demarco’s attempts to flavour the Fringe – and the younger generation of Scottish play makers, even those like Rob Drummond (Bullet Catch) who identify as authors, are ready to toy with traditional formats. There is also an interest in different sorts of stories in the Polish programme. Casablanca, the Gin Joint Cut and Appointment with the Wickerman reconstruct classic cinema through a wry filter: the Polish programme is marked by serious intentions.

The kabbalah is still an esoteric mysticism, but neTTheatre use it to restructure the Book of Job in Puppet: Book of Splendour. Pawel Passini

began his process by considering the impact of Polish performance superstar Kantor, but soon developed an alternative musical that takes on the problems of evil, the status of the artist as a god, the interaction between the holy and the profane: at the same time, he mixes up video projections, an exquisitely designed set, angels as gospel singers, a desperate painter, children as wise men and some of the most dense theology of the Jewish tradition.

If Casablanca is a witty play on the film and the cliches of drama, Puppet is a primal scream at the mysterious universe, deeply moral but ready to embrace degradation. Across the programme, the various national strands take on their own character: British work tends to the script, Polish to the body and the geography of the stage and set.

Thanks to the Fringe, there is no need to relish one approach at the expense of the other. The sort of fusions that mark McNair’s (watch out for the running machine), or the reimagining of Shakespeare by The Song of the Goat – a far better tribute to his genius than another predictable straight version – emphasise that although there is a dialogue between the national styles, they retain individuality. And after the interplanetary drama of Planet Lem, which alternates social satire with a stern moral warning – and cool robots – the broad humour of Wickerman or Taylor’s sweet travelogue may be the perfect combination: a reminder that theatre can range across the breadth of life’s apparently disorderly tapestry of moods.

Born to Run, Traverse, 21-26 Aug, Various Times and Prices Beats, Traverse, 14-26 Aug Rob Drummond: Bullet Catch, Traverse, 2-26 Aug The Blind, Old College Quad ,3-15 Aug, 9pm, 16-27 Aug, 10.30pm MACBETH: WHO IS THAT BLOODIED MAN?, Old College Quad, 2-13 Aug, 10.30pm Planet Lem, Old College Quad, 16-26 Aug, 9.00pm Puppet. Book of Splendour, Summerhall Future Tales, Summerhall, 15-26 Aug, 8.45pm 24H , Summerhall 22,23,25 & 26 Aug from 6.00am 2008: MACBETH, Royal Highland Centre, 11-13 August, 7.30pm, 15, 2pm, 16-18 Aug , 7.30pm www.culture.pl/edinburgh

Rob Drummond: Bullet Catch

LIGHT MOVES

Part of Edinburgh International Festival, NVA’s SPEED OF LIGHT looks set to be a performance, light and sonic art piece of unprecedented scale. Creative Director ANGUS FARQUHAR tells us what to expect

“I LIKE that form of creativity – trying to treat everyone as a non-consumer. Everyone involved is a producer, which is sort of counter to mainstream culture because mainstream culture is trying to treat you as a consumer to see how much money can be made from you. And I think there is a great subcultural history across the world, that I grew up with in Britain, which is the idea that you do work which is about taking direct inspiration from people, using their own lives.”

So says Angus Farquhar, responding to a suggestion about the impact of the latest project from NVA (an abbreviation of nacionale vitae activa, a Latin phrase describing ‘the right to influence public affairs’) on the individual lives of its several thousand participants. Speed of Light, a vast public, performative, nocturnal light and sound artwork will play out in the peaks and valleys of Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags during the Edinburgh International Festival. Epic in scale, it will take place at night and include runners in LED light suits following intricately choreographed routes, an audience of walkers brandishing speciallydesigned light sticks ascending the steep westerly edge of the hill and an accompanying sound work created by anarchist radio station Resonance.

“I’ve waited to do a work on Arthur’s Seat for 25 years. It’s funny, I found one of my old diaries and in 1986 I was sketching out ideas for a large scale performance on Arthur’s Seat. So when Jonathan

Mills, the director of Edinburgh International Festival, began talking to us about making a work, this was really the place that I wanted to be. And in a sense it’s just serendipity that it coincided with the 2012 Olympics coming to the UK.” A keen runner himself, the commission led Farquhar to look more closely at the potential of hill running. “All those other sort of subcultural sports like BMX or snowboarding are really deeply commercialised now, and hill running has resolutely avoided that. It has a certain purity because people do it for the love of it, for the obsession, for what it brings into their lives. Perhaps within its lack of visibility it contains a truer Olympic spirit – if you wind the clock back, the notion of an Olympic spirit often refers to a certain romanticism about an untainted version of sporting endeavour.”

Looking beyond the physical, the sport of Speed of Light, the work is also deeply embedded in the tradition of Land Art. The runners’ routes have been carefully mapped out by Litza Bixler, a choreographer with a background in Hollywood film, and translated onto the tough terrain of the ground by the run leaders, a team who have been grafting for a year to make the animations a physical reality.

The finished whole may sound awe-inspiring in scale, but Farquhar believes it to have a more meditative, subtle effect. “I’ve avoided using the word ‘spectacle’ or ‘spectacular’ because I don’t actually believe Speed of Light is spectacular; it’s a subtle

PHOTO: ALAN MCATEER

INTERVIEW: ROSAMUND WEST

“You’re observing energy, observing the source, observing light itself moving” ANGUS FARQUHAR accumulation of light moving at very slow speeds, like a durational sculpture viewed over a period of time. And while the space is big and the sense of darkness and being above the city has a real sense of scale, you’re really borrowing what’s there and bringing this other layer of intervention just to change the way you feel and respond to the world.”

The shapes formed by the teams of runners are deliberately abstract, circles and lines that could allude to reflected constellations, or the inside of an atom, or the deepest depths of the sea. “When you look at it as a viewing audience it really feels like time’s been suspended because patterns just

slowly evolve and they coalesce into very definite shapes, and then they dissolve and diffuse back out into abstract patterns until the next pattern is formed. It’s the idea that you’re observing energy, observing the source, observing light itself moving.

“The interesting thing is the scale shifts. So you can’t see if you’re looking at the vast spaces between particles. Or whether it’s something that’s on a planetary scale, and it’s all constellations moving. It depends what you bring – from that summit field I guarantee the festival audience will have a thousand different reactions. I like it because it’s not a directly political work, it is rooted in something larger and more abstract.

How we view energy itself, how we expend it and how we witness it.”

It is difficult to concede that this work will not be spectacular. Speed of Light looks set to be a truly once in a lifetime collision of art, performance, music and sport, tying together the physical landscape of Edinburgh with the cultural celebrations of August and even those Olympics.

WWW.EIF.CO.UK/SPEEDOFLIGHT

Philip Guston, Detail of The Line, 1978, Courtesy of the Estate of Philip Guston

Wednesday 25 July to Sunday 7 October 2012 Inverleith House Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Admission Free

PHILIP GUSTON

LATE PAINTINGS www.rbge.ac.uk /inverleith-house

AUGUST 2012

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F E A TU R E S

fringe theatre

A discerning look at some highlights of the theatre world landing in Edinburgh this August

Unhappy Birthday @ Assembly 3

Swamp Juice @ Udderbelly

The last five years have seen a revival of clowning and vaudeville, with the likes of The Boy With The Tape On His Face, Piff The Magic Dragon and Ridiculusmus subverting the form – but all too often it seems like an adults-only concern. Swamp Juice, created by Canadian Jeff Achtem, redresses this.

Using very little dialogue, his demented Dr Bunk, who has the wild-eyed menace of Tom Waits presenting CBBC, projects shadow puppets onto the screen, showing nature’s cruel hierarchy – man versus beast in a fight to the death – with lots of pantomime sadism, cute animals and fart gags. Accompanying Achtem are an excellent raggle-taggle band whose percussive soundtrack heightens the old-fashioned circus thrills.

The Colour Ham @Just the Tonic

The Colour Ham does something new with the sketch show and an unpredictable mixture of illusion, mind-reading and comedy is fun, fresh and very, very silly. The raucous atmosphere means jaw-dropping magical feats don’t quite have a home here. Save for a neat disappearing bottle trick through the stomach, the magic itself is nothing remarkable, instead there’s more emphasis on the comedy and boyish joviality of our Scottish trio.

There’s an energy and irresistible comaraderie between the performers as they stumble through their show, which goes delightfully wrong at every turn. Kevin McMahon is our magician, Colin McLeod a mind-reader and Gavin Oattes our comedian.

While McMahon and McLeod are highly skilled

Initially, the show starts off seeming slow-paced and inconsequential, with Achtem’s puppet of himself cackling and chasing the Birdie puppet around to no avail, but subtly, unexpectedly,it builds in momentum, culminating in an audacious 3D finale which is as hilarious as it is jaw-dropping.

Achtem’s puppets are brilliant, particularly his avatar, and he taps into the feeling of child-like wonder and magic – the sense that anything is possible.

Kids and adults alike squeal with delight – even the cynical old sceptics who balk at the thought of puppet shows. [Lorna Irvine] Swamp Juice, Cow Barn, Tue 14 – Mon 27 Aug, 4.30pm, tickets £11/ £9 Conc. Age 7+ www.scamptheatre.com

illusionists – having performed at the Magic Castle in LA – Oattes provides the comic relief. He is funny, naughty, rude and scathing about his pals and takes every opportunity to thwart their routines and slag them off. At one point he pretends to be hypnotised and as Colin briefly exits the stage he smiles vacantly at the audience, telling them “I fucking love being hypnotised.”

The Colour Ham offers variety to the more traditional child-friendly and clean-cut shows filling the rest of the Magicfest calendar and its mischievous atmosphere, adult content and bizarre turn of events make it a good choice for comedy (and a spot of magic) at this year’s Fringe. [Rebecca Paul] The Colour Ham will be on at Just The Tonic @ The Caves 2-12 Aug, 9.15pm, various prices www.magicfest.co.uk

Last time Amy Lamé came to Scotand, she handed out ham sandwiches and pretended to be Mama Cass’s adopted daughter. For the Fringe, her celebrity ambitions are closer to home, as she invites Morrissey to celebrate her Unhappy Birthday.

“No ham sandwiches, but I do start Unhappy Birthday with a jam sandwich!” Lame chuckles. “I think it may be my ‘signature’ – like, when you come to see an Amy Lamé show you know a sandwich will always make an appearance. Reassuring in a way, don’t you think?”

As curator of legendary club night, Ducky, Lamé has become a player in the cabaret revival, but this time, she has a personal tale of woe. “I have the worst birthday in the entire world, out of any day of the year. It’s the 3rd of January, which means everyone’s skint, everyone’s three days into not eating, drinking or smoking, none of your friends want to celebrate, it’s usually the first day back to work or school,” she complains. “And my whole life I feel that I’ve squished my friends and family into being happy on a day that they’d much rather spend under the duvet. The show plays with the idea of enforced fun.”

“I’d been wanting to do a show about my Morrissey obsession. I invited my friend, the performer extraordinaire Scottee to my 40th birthday; he said he’d direct it. That The Smiths have a song called Unhappy Birthday seemed like too much of a fabulous coincidence... and now it’s a reality, baby!

“When the audience come to the show they play the role of mates at my party; I’ve also invited

Mark Macnicol: Why am I taking my play to the Fringe?

I can’t speak for other writers but I’ve had a complex relationship with how I measure success (and failure). I’ve been writing full-time for three years: despite being forty, I’m described as an ‘emerging’ writer. When the biggest arts festival in the world lands on my doorstep, not going would be a wasted opportunity.

What’s the worst that can happen? Everyone says my show’s rubbish? There was a time – not long ago – when this would have terrified me.

Now, I’m in a place were finding my voice and the emotional truth within it is more important.

All of my industry contacts told me not to go to the Fringe. Not one person suggested it was a good idea. The majority of productions fail to

Morrissey, and while we are waiting for him to turn up we play pass the parcel, let off some party poppers, eat cheap snacks full of E-numbers, and have a sing-a-long... and lots of other surprises that shall remain secret! The audience help make the show – which means it’s different every night.

“I discovered The Smiths just before they broke up, which was a cruel Morrissey-esque twist of fate!

I was 17. My entire life since has been spent trying to make up for the fact I’ve never seen The Smiths live. Morrissey speaks to anyone who has ever felt like an outsider – the nerds/fatties/geeks/gayers – Moz taps into that feeling of lonesomeness.

He’s also nostalgic and furtively romantic, which is extremely appealing. I love him unequivocally and unconditionally, even though he’s said some questionable things over the years. I deal with that in the show... oh, the challenges of being a Morrissey fan!”

On the vexed matter of audience participation – always part of Lamé’s shows – she is apologetic.

“I totally destroy myself in Unhappy Birthday, so I think the audience understands I’m not into trashing them, just myself. I never make an audience member do anything they don’t want to do. On the other hand, we’ve had plenty of over-enthusiastic audience members... I love that! Seventeen years of Ducky, my spit & sawdust performance club at the Royal Vauxhall Tavern every Saturday, means I can handle just about anything an audience throws at me. Literally.” [Lorna Irvine] Assembly Three, George Square, 2-26 Aug, 6.40pm, £8-12

break even. I decided to ignore the well-meaning advice and go for it. In my experience, the higher the risk the higher the reward, besides I don’t write for profit, which is just as well.

There is of course uncertainty in our camp about what is in store for us. Myself and the rest of the team may end up scarred financially (and emotionally). But one thing I do know for certain: come September we’ll have given it our best shot.

Serve Cold, written and directed by Mark MacNicol at Gryphon Point Hotel 1-11 & 20-27 Aug, 3.30pm www.edfringe.com

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F E A TURES

festival

Fringe 2012: Dance

This year’s Festivals offer a plethora of innovative and challenging new takes on the artform of dance - we take a look at some of the most exciting shows on offer Words: Gareth K Vile

Pair Dance

Timeless & Uncharted Seas @ Royal Lyceum Theatre Although Aditi Mangalas’ choreography and company are based on the ancient Indian form of Kathak, her double bill at the EIF is determinedly a contemporary work. “If Kathak is the seed, and you water it with contemporary sensibilities,” she says, “then the plant that grows has a contemporary feel, although the roots are Kathak.”

Mangalas is conscious that Kathak, and its heritage as both a Hindu temple dance and an entertainment at the Mughul courts, make it a rare example of a dance that has Hindu and Muslim connections: yet she rejects the notion that she makes religious work. “I make a distinction between religious and spiritual,” she notes. “I have no interest in the religious.” Instead, Timeless and Uncharted Seas ponder perennial questions, in a way that does not need a specific understanding of either the origins of Kathak or the religions of India.

“We are talking about issues that are human

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Although the Dance and Physical Theatre section of the Fringe brochure remains around the same size every year, more companies are acknowledging movement as the foundation of their theatre. Dance Base has expanded its programme, while Greenside seems to be gathering more dance into its pastoral venue: Zoo, Summerhall and Universal all maintain healthy physical theatre strands. Most excitingly, dance is regaining the confidence to address serious issues (Smallpetitklein wrestle with 9/11, the Grumpy Old Dancers rail against the dying of the light) and incorporate other arts (Curious Seed artistic director is duetting with writer and musician Luke Sutherland towards a comic choreography, Ballet Preljocaj mix classical ballet and techno).

The Fringe also marks other physical theatre styles’ increasing influence. Lecoq, once only vaguely known in the UK as a “clown school” is heavily represented. Rhuma and Clay, back after last year’s success, sing A Strange Wild Song that delves into personal history and respects Lecoq.

“Lecoq inspires creativity,” they explain. “A testament to this is the amount of companies that have come out of the school. From Complicité to last year’s hit company Theatre Ad Infinitum, who

emotions, not geographically confined,” Mangalas insists. “Uncharted Seas talks about a search for a higher energy, while Timeless is a whole set of questions about ‘what is time’: there are no answers.” Since Kathak dance encourages use of abstractions, Mangalas has found, across the world, that audiences have very individual responses.

“The different interpretations are what one is looking for, but I don’t think they are separated by countries,” she concludes. “I don’t like to put a full stop in my work: I would feel energised if the audience would transform it in their minds according to their life experiences.” [Gareth K Vile] Royal Lyceum, 18-19 Aug, 7.30pm, various prices www.eif.co.uk/aditi Part of the Edinburgh International Festival. To find out how to become an EIF INsider and receive 50% off selected tickets, and invitations to exclusive events go to www.EIF.co.uk/INsider

are also returning this year, success from Lecoq companies is carried by the quality of the work.”

Even choreographers more clearly in a dance tradition are admitting outside influences. Luke Murphy, visiting Dance Base with Driftwood, was trained at the Legat School – a very classical, Russian system – but adds “I was able to study theatre simultaneously, while working in New York has definitely opened up both my aesthetics and my interests.”

Murphy is unwilling to pin his work down to a category: “I guess I don’t know what camp I’m in. But I don’t really know what camp anyone’s in at this point. Dance, physical theatre, dance theatre – I think the lines are blurring. I feel like you can pitch your tent anywhere you want if that’s the place that’ll help tell the story.”

Ponydance, arriving from Ireland on the back of storming Adelaide and Edinburgh in 2010, share Murphy’s enthusiasm for getting past the expectations of dance. They prefer to perform in nightclubs rather than on the stage: “The original reason to get out of the usual spaces was to try and reach audiences that don’t go to theatres or to see dance,” they laugh. With audience participation, a sharp, satirical eye for social absurdity,

Tatyana @ Edinburgh Playhouse In Tatyana, Deborah Colker’s reimagination of Puskin’s Eugene Onegin – famously made into a classical romantic ballet – the opposing stereotypes of Brazil and Russia combine to reignite the story of young love thwarted and revenge best served cold.

Yet Colker has not simply adapted the classic, and is less interested in relocating the action than getting back to Pushkin’s original. “I didn’t bring the story from Russia to Brazil: I didn’t place the story anywhere,” she insists. “I love the way that Pushkin wrote the book: it is a poem, it is so sensitive and beautiful. I felt that the words and the sensations I could bring to dance because I love when the audience follow the story but more than the story, the feelings, the intensity, sensation!”

At the heart of the story is the romantic battle between Tatyana and Onegin. “I fell in love with the characters and the transformation of these

and an efferevescent sense of fun, Ponydance savage preconceptions about dance’s inaccessibility or elitism.

Down at Zoo, Pair Dance examine the gap between the real and the illusions caused by technology: Duality adds a bespoke soundscore and integrated 2D and 3D media to the company’s distinctive, frenetic energy. “Duality is actually what the work is – Dance and Technology,” says artistic director Harriet Macauley. “It brings two states and pulls them together. Both the physical and virtual dancer are presented, then elements including sound, digital live feed and movement gestures highlight their characters and abilities.”

Even in this tiny cross section of the physical theatre programme, the diversity and ambition of the sector is clear: although physical theatre has often been seen as a European form, its presence in Edinburgh is influencing Scottish companies and the Fringe presents the oportunity to explore how the art is moving. www.lukemurphy.org www.ponydance.com www.curious-seed.co.uk www.pairdance.org www.dancebase.co.uk

characters,” Colker remembers.” Tatyana begins this story as naïve girl from the country, a dreamer and by the end of the book she is totally different – a mature, amazing woman. Onegin is fascinating: he has everything, but he doesn’t understand friends, love, relationships. He is always bored!”

While the telling is contemporary – and Colker’s sensibilities, as revealed in previous work Cruel, are unashamedly modern – her choreography consciously uses ballet as a foundation. “If a dancer has a strong, intelligent ballet technique,” she affirms, “he will be free to create different ways to dance.” And ballet’s affinity for the romantic perhaps makes stories like Onegin a natural choice.

Yet in avoiding imitation of the opera and dance versions, Colker informs this nineteenth century Russian tale with a sharp relevance and sensuality.

[Gareth K Vile] Edinburgh Playhouse, 11-14 Aug, 7.30pm various prices www.eif.co.uk/tatyana

A dance “festival within a festival” at The Fringe

One Week Only!

AUG 15 - AUG 19 2:15PM DAILY Venue 150 @ EICC www.bookingdance.com

ON TOUR WITH THE

AUGUST 2012

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FESTIVAL OF POLITICS 17–25 August 2012

POLITICS. CULTURE. CREATIVITY. A FORCE FOR POSITIVE CHANGE Politics is about our everyday lives; it influences the choices that we make and the society we live in. It is at the very heart of who we are and what we do and has the potential to be a force for positive change. Can politics be creative? Can creativity be used as a means of making a real difference to our culture? The 2012 Festival of Politics at the Scottish Parliament seeks to explore some of these issues through debate, discussion, drama and art.

CONTACT US www.festivalofpolitics.org.uk,

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@FoP2012, info@festivalofpolitics.org.uk

festival

F E A TU R E S

days of future past

As Com Truise releases his rarities compilation and prepares for a return to Scotland, he talks to The Skinny about sci-fi, synthesisers and his home at Ghostly International INTERVIEW: Bram E. Gieben

Seth Haley, aka Com Truise, first came to prominence after the release of the EP Cyanide Sisters on AMDISCS, a well-respected underground and largely net-based label. This EP caught the attention of Ghostly International, home to the likes of Gold Panda and Matthew Dear, who signed Haley and released his debut album, 2011’s Galactic Melt.

Although Com Truise was the first of Haley’s aliases to make a big impact, he had already been DJing and producing tracks for over a decade, with several namesakes for different styles and sounds; his multiple aliases akin to the ‘scramble suits’ in Philip K. Dick’s science fiction classic A Scanner Darkly. The Com Truise persona brought out still more science fiction resonances – the synths of the achingly beautiful, bass-propelled Brokendate recalled Giorgio Moroder and Vangelis, while the video took visual cues from Bladerunner and Neuromancer. Galactic Melt was a hit with fans and critics alike, and saw Com Truise become one of the most hyped artists in the then emergent chillwave scene.

His reliance on analogue synths, tempos and styles from classic 80s synthpop, led Haley to describe the Com Truise sound as “mid-fi synth-wave, slow-motion funk,” eschewing the lo-fi aesthetics of some chillwave artists for a more polished, slicker sound. Subsequent tours, aided by live drummer Rory O’Connor (of the band Tycho) gained him a reputation as an unmissable live act, and in the lead-up to his as-yet unnamed follow-up to Galactic Melt, Haley is in demand as a producer, composer and performer. Ghostly have just released In Decay, a collection of early songs, rarities and exclusive tracks, and the response to the album has been one of fevered enthusiasm. “I didn’t expect this response, you know? It’s pretty crazy,” says Haley, just now returned from the final leg of a worldwide tour.

Is it strange, releasing older tracks before new material? “For the most part, they are older,” says Haley. “There are only three or four new songs. I was with a friend yesterday, and we were talking about phase two, and with In Decay, I feel like it’s the final part of this chapter. Now I can start to experiment more, because I was feeling a little

trapped for a while there, after doing a bunch of touring and stuff. But then Ghostly said, ‘Well, you’ve got all these songs,’ which I’ve put out on mixtapes and on the Komputer Kasts, and stuff that was just on Soundcloud.” The Komputer Kasts [comtruise.com/kc], a series of mixtapes Haley produced for his website, are still available and contain many of the tracks from In Decay, but the tracks have never been released officially.

How far back do these tracks go? “Some of them, I wrote even before Cyanide Sisters,” Haley explains. “I went on this weird tangent; I’d have an idea, but then I started to write Cyanide Sisters music. I got a little bit more experimental, so some of the songs that ended up on In Decay, like Climax for example – it’s very electronic, and it’s not deeply experimental; it’s got a steady beat, it’s kind of condensed – feel polished and light.

Whereas with Cyanide Sisters, that was me saying: ‘Okay, I’ve been doing this semi-structured music for so long, maybe I’ll just kind of.... move it around a little bit.’ I’d just gotten into the whole chillwave scene, so I was kind of thinking, ‘What can I bring to the table?’ So some of those tracks are maybe a continuation [of the themes and sounds on Galactic Melt], and there are parts of them which follow the same path. But there are others which are pretty old, at least to me. It feels different.”

The follow-up to Galactic Melt, which was featured heavily in many magazine and website end-of-year top tens for 2011, is in the works: “I’m maybe seventy percent of the way – I’m working on the next EP, and then I’ll have to do the album,” says Haley. “I’ve been touring and doing interviews for a while, so I haven’t really had the right amount of time to really focus, I haven’t really come up with a nice concept. But it’s starting to piece itself together, which is nice. I finally got home yesterday, so I’ve been writing all morning.

I just got a bunch of new equipment, so I’m pretty stoked about that.”

Ghostly International seems like the perfect home for Haley’s music, in that it prioritises pop sensibilities over straight-up dancefloor appeal. What have Ghostly been like to work with as a label? “It’s been pretty amazing, to be completely honest with you,” he says. “It was

“I do like to pretend I’m at NASA Control, launching space shuttles when I’m working ” Seth Haley very unexpected, for it to happen the way it did.

It came out of the blue. I had no expectations for this project, and then they contacted me and we hit the ground running. Everything’s been amazing, it’s a great team at Ghostly. I’m happy to be in that family.”

Haley has spoken before about a desire to produce music for films. One of his remixes was featured on the Tron Legacy: Reconfigured release. Is he any nearer to making this dream a reality? “I’ve been getting some offers coming in for independent short films, which would definitely be a good start,” he says. “I had a couple of meetings with Sony Pictures out in Hollywood a while back; we had some handshakes and some smiles, some talk about my goals and stuff like that. So if that’s fruitful, that’s great, if not... it’ll happen eventually, I’m not too worried about it.

But yeah, producing for other people, and scoring films, that’s what I would like to do. But until then I’m just gonna keep doing what I’m doing.”

Haley’s retro-futurist approach often leads to a reductive description of his music as ‘80s’ – is it a term he is happy to embrace? “I don’t really mind, because I definitely strive to use that equipment, and those recording techniques, for the most part, and kind of put my spin on them,” he says. “I don’t really mind, it doesn’t bother me.” At least part of this comparison stems from his love of science fiction from that era, in terms of aesthetic, sound design and thematic concerns: “Bladerunner is probably my favourite science fiction film,” he says.

Newer films which also fetishise this era of film-making also hold appeal: “Beyond The Black Rainbow has definitely been my new kind of go-to movie to watch if I’m feeling a little bit uninspired, just because it’s so visual and beautiful, and the sound design is ridiculously good.” The sound design of classic 70s and 80s science fiction films is something he is always returning to: “I’m a big fan of THX1138, Robocop, Terminator, everything from that era.”

“I feel like I was just born with this love of sci-fi,” Haley continues. “I don’t really remember a point where I was like: ‘I’m a sci-fi fan.’ Neuromancer is one of my favourite books, and I’m reading Mona Lisa Overdrive right now. So that’s my draw, it’s definitely sci-fi. I guess what is inspiring, for example in Bladerunner, is the way they made the technology look. All the machines and cars.

Somebody had to come up with that – it came from somebody’s mind, and that fascinates me.

I draw from the way the computers work, the technology in the movies. Same in Aliens – the set design, all the computers, all the little noises. That totally blows my mind.”

With In Decay set to close the first chapter in the Com Truise saga, Haley returns to his subterranean control-room, populated with banks of twinkling diodes and chrome and black machines, ready to imagine more retro-cyberpunk futures, and explore the synth-funk of the spaceways: “I do like to pretend I’m at NASA Control, launching space shuttles when I’m working,” he laughs. Picture him amid a chaos of deconstructed equipment, panels removed to expose the wiring, like Forge from the X-Men, creating new hybrid machines and sounds: “I’ve always been into electronics ever since I was little – I used to build little remote control cars out of other remote control cars; take everything apart and then put it back together,” he recalls wistfully.

“That’s definitely one of the reasons I do the things I do.” He’s a technological dreamer; a visionary building the digital future from analogue parts, and the future’s bright. The future’s Ghostly.

Playing Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh on 16 Aug. In Decay is out now on Ghostly International. Read the unabridged feature online at www.theskinny.co.uk www.comtruise.com

August 2012

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photo: mark seliger

music

Features

Future Feminism

Antony Hegarty on his new album, curating Meltdown and his notion that we still have time to save ourselves as a species Interview: Paul Mitchell

“I was a caterwauling child that loved music and was tolerated; and found by sheer persistence I developed a voice. Probably by imitating other beautiful voices, until I slowly developed a tone that people responded to. I think at college, when people started saying that they were having an emotional reaction to what I was doing, that came as a surprise. That was when I started to realise, maybe there’s something here I could move forward with.”

Thus Antony Hegarty describes the remarkable, heart-rending instrument which came to global acclaim with the second Antony and the Johnsons album, 2005’s I Am A Bird Now, which cantered away with that year’s Mercury Music Prize. The Skinny catches up with him on the eve of his fifth LP, Cut The World, ostensibly to discuss that album and his forthcoming curation of this year’s Meltdown event in London, and finds an artist whose intriguing, at times awe-inspiring music cannot be separated from his persona.

The album is a collection of symphonic ‘reinterpretations’ of his back catalogue (the title track is the only original song on there), recorded live in Copenhagen last September. “It was a culmination of what I’ve been doing for the past couple of years in my live shows around the world,” he says of his motivation for the project. “I’ve been slowly accumulating these alternative arrangements of my songs and performing with symphonies around the world. It got to a point where I felt I wanted to record the work which had undergone the biggest transformation. I have been approaching songs from the past two albums with symphonic arrangements. And so they sounded similar to the studio recording when played live, but some stuff from the earlier albums had really been transformed by this approach, so I decided to record them and document them.”

As it turns out, there is a little more to the album than documentation for the sake of posterity. The second track, Future Feminism, is a wry, often humorously-delivered Hegarty monologue, where he addresses a live audience on the concept of moving away from “virulent, patriarchal” notions of society towards something more feminine. But what exactly is ‘Future Feminism’? “My notion of feminism is probably almost like a creative idea more than a practical definition,” he says. “I’m almost appropriating the word and from my point

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of view, as someone who is tremendously concerned about our environment and the ecology of our planet. I’m dreaming of a shift towards a more feminine collective consciousness and when I say that I mean things that people might argue are stereotypes but are borne almost of the biological reality of our different natures. Oestrogen-based systems are naturally more geared towards craving a safe space for children to be raised in so it’s less aggressive and based on a circle for the family to prosper. This is a concept which can be extended into the community, into society, into the whole species.”

While he is aware that all this sounds like a flight of fancy, the fact is that Hegarty’s whole body of work is now geared towards representing this view, and he elaborates more on his perception of the planet we live in. “I wanted to provide some context for the music I was performing – a lens through which to interpret some of the songs. So it was in that spirit that I included parts of one of the speeches that I gave in Copenhagen. I hadn’t planned to originally but I just decided to throw caution to the wind and try it out.

“I know it’s semantic in a way because it ultimately means that I believe in reality, that’s where my faith lies. In the tangible world and the mysteriousness of this elemental. And I value it, I’ve put all my eggs in that basket, whereas a lot of people are parading around in this delusion that they’re living in wait for some fantastical world that a bunch of old men invented and wrote down in a book 2000 years ago. They’re even being manipulated by the corporate world. There’s this insidious collaboration between fundamentalism and capitalism. Our theological differences are being used to distract the masses as if that was a real issue. People vote on the basis of these fake moral or fundamental differences and their idea of what constitutes their ‘own’ religion... like in America for instance, people are against gay marriage or abortion so they’ll vote Republican, when really what they’re doing is voting for Texaco. The religious right are constantly being manipulated by monied interests.”

But Hegarty refuses to take sole custody of the concepts he espouses, rather, including an array of artists with whom he has worked, or would like to work with, as having just as much stake in the philosophy. “I was really coming from the

“It’s

an interesting time for artists to point out that we are still capable of radical change” antony hegarty point of view of trying to define what I was seeing amongst the artists around me. A lot of the female artists that I felt were really pushing the frontier.

That’s why we coined the phrase. They weren’t necessarily affiliated to an organised strand of feminism; they were just looking at the world in a panoramic way. People, like my friend [avant-garde theatre artist] Kembra Pfahler, [CocoRosie’s] Bianca and Sierra Casady, [performance artist] ´ people who are visionary in Marina Abramovic, their way of describing the lay of the land, and whom, as artists, who have carved out these really unique solitary trajectories for themselves within our culture. Our idea, to name it, as a group, was in the hope there might be something empowering about it.”

And so Hegarty has coaxed an array of these artists into showcasing their vision at the forthcoming Meltdown in London’s South Bank. Others to appear include Hegarty’s childhood hero, Marc Almond along with Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Fraser, as well as long term collaborators Lou Reed and Joan As Policewoman, and John Grant from Hercules and Love Affair, to whom Hegarty has lent his voice with thrilling effect.

All these former collaborators across a wide diaspora of artistic and cultural endeavour all agreeing to perform, suggests compelling evidence that Hegarty is a rewarding person to work with. Of course he is much more self-effacing about this notion, preferring to dwell instead on the opportunities that will be presented to him.”I just got really lucky in that so many of the people I love are available to do it. It’s a really special line-up in my mind and I can’t wait to be there. I’m ˇ really looking forward to seeing Selda Bagcan, the Turkish revolutionary singer. She’s one of my

absolute favourite performers, an incredibly emotional singer and I have been waiting to see her for years. It seems like a miracle I could find Liz Fraser and bring her in. I really want to see everything so I’ll be bouncing between theatres as there are quite frequently two shows at a time.

Hegarty is also fully aware that his opportunity to express himself in such a personal fashion comes as a consequence of his artistic ‘success’ and the reach that this affords him. His motivation now is, as he admits; “How I can use it in a way that’s most meaningful to me and how I can share the things I care about. I’ve certainly done it very clumsily and falteringly but I want to participate and this is my attempt to do that. I’m aware that it’s quite rare to have access to the media or in being a cultural programmer in this instance. Collectively, there’s a power to that beyond each individual.

Each of us has our own point of view but there is strength in numbers and an alchemy from being in the group. I really see it as the opportunity to create an alternative perspective.

A feminine perspective – one which is empowering. Of course that includes male perspectives but a lot of the most powerful singers in this group are women and you won’t see many festivals like that.

“I know it seems outrageously idealistic but it seems like a really good time for us to dream in that way. There’s not much optimism as to how the world might look in 50 years or 100. It’s a really interesting time for artists to point out that we are still capable of radical change in our ranks. Shifting the paradigm, pointing out that virulent capitalism is not more permanent than nature itself, that we still have it within our capability to change the trajectory of our species. Paradise is this insane place that gave birth to me, where I realised I was a sentient being, gazing out into a world of colour and light. I don’t want it to end. I really love this place and I think a lot of people feel the same. I have used the opportunities presented to me in the past couple of years to talk from the heart about what I care about, and in doing so; maybe I can encourage other people to do the same thing.”

Cut The World is released on 6 Aug via Rough Trade Records. Antony Hegarty’s Meltdown takes place Aug 1-12 at South Bank, London. www.antonyandthejohnsons.com

music

Features

Android Of Love

As Ghostly founder Matthew Dear prepares to release the follow up to the critically-acclaimed Black City, we caught up with him to talk about Brian Eno, the tempo of ‘real life,’ love, and Elton John.

INTERVIEW: Bram E. Gieben

Ever since his breakthrough hit, 1999’s Put Your Hands Up For Detroit, Matthew Dear has been on the cutting edge of electronic music. Co-founder of the Ghostly International label, whose roster boasts some of the finest electronic artists of the last ten years, including Com Truise and Gold Panda (to name but a few), his own musical journey has seen him progress from dancefloor-smashing, boundary-pushing techno, often under his aliases Audion, Jabberjaw and False, to wonderfully skewed electronic pop.

Dear’s songwriting abilities have continued to evolve and mutate, culminating in 2010’s critically acclaimed Black City, a journey through a dystopian metropolis which he describes as like “slipping into a black hole.” The anticipated follow-up, Beams, is released this month on Ghostly, and it sees Dear heading in a contrasting but equally fascinating direction.

Speaking from his new home in upstate New York, Dear elaborates on the differences between his two most recent albums. Lyrically, Beams is a very different album to Black City – it feels more personal, almost confessional. What group of influences led to this evolution, and is there an overarching theme or story that binds the songs together? “I like to keep things cryptic and twisted when it comes to the narrative,” says Dear.

“Beams is the outward momentum; the back end of a black hole, where all the light is rushing out the other side. But it’s still a very twisted, hard-todefine experience.”

The lyrics of Up & Out, a Talking Heads-esque punk funk workout, are full of oppositional imagery. One line that stands out is: ‘Like burning underwater’ – Dear seems to enjoy playing with contradictions, asking questions, almost Zen-like parables. What intended effect is he trying to achieve with lyrics like these, if any? “It’s funny, because when you quote me on the lyrics, it’s like, ‘Okay, yeah, that makes sense,’” says Dear.

“I think love is always a very current theme in everything I write about. Up & Out is about love in a certain sense, and the drastic opposites that can be involved in love. Even successful love has very many ups and downs.”

The lyrics of lead single Her Fantasy contain references to machines and ‘good design,’ all sung in a robotic tone. It conjures similar associations as the story of Michael Fassbender’s character

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from Prometheus, asking questions about machine intelligence and the nature of consciousness.

“Yeah, I mean, I could even take it a step further,” says Dear. “I’m always questioning ‘Am I a grown man?’ Am I: ‘..not a great design... Do I feel love like all of the others...’ I could totally apply that to Fassbender’s character. Does feeling love, buying into the idea of love, allowing yourself to feel love and to be loved – is that a conscious decision? Are each of us just androids of love? Are these things real, or are they just a pedigree, a program which has been instilled within you?”

It’s the central question of consciousness – what is real? “It’s just what I think about all the time,” says Dear. “My songs are just my anecdotes, my brutal way of dealing with those questions, which everybody asks themselves. I’m not special, everybody thinks about these kinds of things. I use my art and my music as a way to have fun with those ideas. I’m not looking for the golden truth, I don’t think that they’re going to tell you the answer, but I think it’s a good way for me to experience some sort of release.”

Dear multitracks his vocals on Beams, giving a marvellous robotic feel, sometimes playing subtly with dissonant harmonies – how did he evolve this technique? “I’ve listened to music with a critical ear since my early teens; I’ve always been obsessed with figuring out the way they did something,” he explains. “With the vocal doubling, immediately I knew that it had just had such a huge impact. I was just in the car today, and an Elton John song came on, called Razor Face, which I wasn’t really familiar with. He’s got a very thin voice if you really think about it, but if you put two Elton Johns on top of each other, that’s when you get that very thick, seventies, choral Elton. Then he goes up into those high runs that he does, and it’s just like... woah.

Nobody else sounds like that. If you have a voice like mine, where it wavers a bit – I’m not a trained singer by any means, I could barely sing a scale if you asked me to, but that’s my way of fitting into my music, which I like to keep a bit off-kilter. So I usually do three takes, I do a low pass, a middle pass and then a falsetto high pass. If you listened to them alone, they might sound very strange, but together, they make all of me.”

In a recent video, Dear takes us into his studio, and out and about in Brooklyn to do some field recording, gathering found sounds. Did any of

these recordings end up on Beams? “I did that video after Beams was done,” says Dear. “I didn’t just want to sit there and do nothing in the studio, so that was my idea, to take the tape recorder that I had sitting around and do what I’ve always wanted to do with it. So unfortunately, no, none of those recordings made it onto the album, but I do use samples in a very similar way. I also have some old field recordings laying around – air noise, city street sounds. The rhythms of the world are so much better than rhythms which are intentionally created. There’s a tempo in everything – you can just loop it.”

“The

rhythms of the world are so much better than rhythms which are intentionally created.

There’s a tempo in everything ” Matthew Dear Dear has mentioned elsewhere that Brian Eno’s production for the likes of Talking Heads and Bowie was an influence – what is it about Eno’s approach that inspires him? “With Eno, it was like... I was fourteen, and I was collecting multi-track tape recorders and drum machines and effects pedals, and just slowly working my way out, and wanting to just mess with sound; play with sound, just record anything,” he says. “There was no judgement on myself, there was no fear of doing anything wrong.

I wasn’t trying to be perfect – I was just trying to be. So I did this for years, and it evolved into what I’m doing now. So, I was always a bit late when it came to discovering certain kinds of music, or trends, until the internet finally hit me over the head like a sledgehammer, and I figured out: ‘Okay, I should probably use this thing to my advantage.’

“So that’s when the floodgates opened, and that’s when I found Brian Eno’s work. It was like finding something that was just so validating... I

mean, I love the sound of the music, and I love the music itself, but it was also just a moment where I realised: ‘Holy shit, this is what I do. This guy is doing exactly what I’ve been doing since I was fourteen, and he made a whole life out of this.’ So I think it was that idea – the one-man studio, using the studio as an instrument, treating music as this all-encompassing blanket... all the different ways you can use it; whether it was the ambient works, producing for a band like James or Talking Heads, doing collaborations with other artists, doing soundtracks... All of a sudden I was just hit with the realisation that this guy was very much the creator of this model of working. It was a flash of brilliance – I was just like: ‘Yes! This is it. I totally understand.’ It was just this perfect blend of science and art.”

The Beams tour is shaping up to be a big event, with Dear planning to introduce more theatricality into the live shows: “We’re tight,” says Dear of his band. “We got tight on this last tour, and now I’m thinking some theatrics would be fun. I don’t like doing things in haste, and I don’t like doing things just for show. They have to mean something. I mean, performance is for show, it’s creative entertainment, but I feel like there’s a necessity and an urgency to give people something more than just five guys on stage playing instruments. So I’m not quite sure what it’ll be, but I think theatre is good, and I think opening people’s imaginations is good, making people think while they’re watching the show is good, making them question, ‘What did I just see?’ So whether it’s visuals, or stage design, lighting, or a combination of everything – costumes, whatever... I want to give people their money’s worth. We’ll be in the UK in December.”

This is Dear’s fifth album under the moniker – is he afraid of running out of ideas anytime soon? “I am literally hearing the sounds of hammering and sawing in the background here – they are putting up the walls of my first real recording studio, with soundproofing, a recording window with a live room on one side and control room on the other... so for me, it’s like I’m fourteen all over again,” enthuses Dear. “It’s going to be interesting. I think I’ll be busy for the next ten years. This is just the beginning.”

Beams is released on 27 Aug via Ghostly International.

Read the full interview online at www.theskinny.co.uk. www.matthewdear.com

film

Features

film at the festival: double bills and polish cinema

The moving image continues to be conspicuous by its absence from Edinburgh’s August arts festivals. But if you make your way to The Royal Dick you’ll find a Summerhall summer programme bursting with cinema. We preview two of its film strands Words: Jamie Dunn Art of Freedom

Double Take: For film fans, there’s nothing more indulgent than a double bill. Okay, apart from maybe a triple or quadruple bill. Sadly, though, specially curated double features are about as easy to track down nowadays as a Wimpy hamburger. The idea of back-to-back screenings was once the norm, but in the fast-paced 2010s the average cinema-goer seems unable to sit through a movie’s closing credits, let alone hang around for second helpings. But they should be cherished. Something special happens when you see two movies in one sitting: they seem to speak to each other across the interval, revealing themes and ideas that would never have been disclosed if watched in isolation.

It’s not just a matter of throwing two classics together, however, as Summerhall’s meticulously programmed Double Take season demonstrates. The films have to complement each other; they have to be tuned to similar wavelengths. Take its Lost in the City double bill, which screens Chain, experimental filmmaker Jem Cohen’s look at modern urban living, with Patrick Keiller’s masterpiece London, an ironic visual essay looking at the UK capital complete with a

sardonic voice-over from Robinson, its fictional disembodied narrator. Both films are wonderful, but hopefully these two great works of cinematic psychogeography will be even more revelatory when watched in succession.

Another must see in the series is Wanderlust, a tantalising pairing of Agnes Varda’s Vagabond with Lynne Ramsay’s Morvern Callar. Both films are from ballsy female directors with poetic eyes and both deal with haunted women taking to the road. Varda’s extraordinary film traces the last few weeks of a nomadic traveller and the people she meets as she wanders across rural France. Ramsay’s sophomore feature, meanwhile, is a dreamy knockout based on Alan Warner’s cult novel about a quiet young woman who escapes her humdrum west coast port town home in Scotland and becomes lost in a heady blaze of music and hedonism in Spain.

Other double bills in the season include Dark Days, which pairs rarely seen Czech New Wave black comedy The Cremator with Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove; Film on Film has 60s experimental film David Holzman’s Diary and avant garde Soviet masterwork Man with a Movie Camera; and

Mardi Gras is a screening of The Order of Myths with Easy Rider, films with different takes on the legendary New Orleans festival.

Polish Programme: Realism and surrealism collide in a season of Polish cinema at Summerhall this month. The surreal element comes from the Adam Mickiewicz Institute’s programme of films from the country’s visionary animators. Walerian Borowczyk is celebrated with a selection of his hugely influential short films, as well as a screening of Boro in the Box, Bertrand Mandico’s cinematic re-imagining of Borowczyk’s life, which takes in the filmmaker’s birth and death and all his colourful adventures in between. Little Black Riding Hood & Other Surreal Stories, which includes works from Jan Lenica, Stefan Schabanbeck, Zbigniew Rybczynski and Zofia Oraczewska, promises a night of political subversion and strange worlds; while If You See a Cat & Other Animal Tales provides a less nightmarish slice of Polish animation with a programme of animated shorts suitable for audiences of all ages.

Three contemporary documentaries, part of a series called Guide to the Poles, also screen at Summerhall in August. These films look to explore

the mood of the nation during Communist rule and focus in on the people within Poland who strived for a freer and more open society during this time.

Art of Freedom details how a small group of dedicated Polish mountaineers defied their government by circumventing strict international travel restrictions to scale the highest peaks in the Himalayas. Music, meanwhile, is the source of defiance in Beats of Freedom, which explores the passions of Polish rock-nuts over three decades.

Fashion can also be an act of political dissent, and Political Dress looks at fashion as a subversive art during Communist-era Poland. Clothes on the high streets were utilitarian, government approved and hideous. Judyta Fibiger’s film looks at how personal tailoring and brightly-coloured apparel became sources of liberty for many Poles during Communist rule.

A full list of Summerhall’s August screenings can be found at summerhall.co.uk Double Take (£7 // £6 conc) Polish Programme (£3 // £2 conc) Full listings at www.summerhall.co.uk

August 2012

THE SKINNY 33

L I F E ST Y L E

Courses for Adults September 2012 The Centre for Open Studies (formerly DACE) offers many and varied learning opportunities including day events, short courses, certificated courses and Access to university study.

We offer an exciting range of over 300 daytime and evening part-time classes on campus including Creative Writing, Egyptology, History and International Affairs, Geology, 16 Languages, Marine Mammal Biology and Psychology, to name a few.

Come and meet us on Saturday 18 August 2012, 12.00pm - 3.00pm Waterstone’s Bookshop, Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow Many courses eligible for fee waivers (for people in receipt of state benefits) and ILA (www.ilascotland.org.uk) • • • • • •

For further information or advice call us on 0141 330 1835 To request a brochure call us on 0141 330 1829 Email: openstudies-enquiry@glasgow.ac.uk Visit us at www.glasgow.ac.uk/centreforopenstudies Check our website for details of a Celebration Launch event Follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/universityofglasgowcentreforopenstudies

The University of Glasgow, charity number SC004401.

34 THE SKINNY

August 2012

www.glasgow.ac.uk

music

F E A TU R E S

Industrial Complex

Factory Floor have dragged industrial music kicking and screaming into the twenty-first century with their blend of techno, experimental noise and improvised performance Interview: Bram E. Gieben

London three-piece Factory Floor are one of the most notable live bands to come out of the big smoke in some time; their brooding, cathartic, often heavily-improvised sets combine the hypnotic pulse of techno and electro with post-punk aesthetics, experimental vocal cut-ups and the sheer physicality of extreme noise and drone.

The band are often described as ‘post-industrial’ – vocalist and guitarist Nik Void’s collaboration with Chris Carter and Cosey Fanny Tutti of Throbbing Gristle as Carter Tutti Void has given them the seal of approval from their industrial music progenitors, while their track R E A L L O V E was the first fruit borne of a collaboration with producer Stephen Morris, of New Order. Recently signed to New York’s DFA Records, they have released the epic, celebratory single Two Different Ways, and are currently working on a full-length album.

The band live and work together in a studio space in North London, an arrangement which enables them to work quite literally as a factory for making music. “It’s an old warehouse,” explains Nik Void. “It used to be an office. The rooms are divided like an art studio, with MDF boards painted white. The studio is soundproofed – there’s a live space where we play.”

This close-quarters, gang mentality has its challenges: “It’s quite an intense living / working area,” says drummer Gabriel Gurnsey. “We are going into the studio a lot, recording the album at the minute, so the living space is kind of our effects room, our studio...” The space is far from luxurious: “I have to use a ladder to get down from my room,” laughs Nik. “It’s kind of DIY!” The warehouse’s location also has an effect on their music: “Living in London does influence our sound,” says Nik. “Where we are is in North London, and it’s not the nicest place... It’s like The Bronx of London. I’m not saying it’s a great place to live, but in a way it is kind of inspiring.”

“It’s not far from the centre of London, but it just feels like a million miles away,” says Gabriel. “It’s like you’re in a different world. We wake up to the sound of the sewing machines next door going on

repeat, and that lasts until ten o’clock at night; it’s kind of weird.”

The music of Factory Floor is heavily dependent on improvisation, and the band have been embraced by both gig-going audiences and club kids.

Third member Dominic Butler has spoken about rave soundsystems, and the live electronic sets he witnessed at free parties and house parties when he was young, being a huge influence. The minimal structure inherent in techno, with builds and crescendos and drops, is a big part of what Factory Floor do – what made them move away from the more ‘verse-chorus-verse’ structure? “When we first started rehearsing together, it was almost like we couldn’t lock it down in those sort of ways, but we learned to accept that, and learned that it could go in various different ways when we played live, or in the studio,” says Gabriel.

“We’re still totally unsure of what we do, it’s still exploratory. I think if you work within a structure of ‘verse-chorus-verse’ it doesn’t give you the freedom to experiment with sound,” says Nik. “In that kind of structure, in a live performance, it’s easy enough to think ‘Okay, that’s where the next bit comes in,’ but where we’re at right now, it’s just a kind of... continual expression, if that makes sense? We all know our instruments really well. It’s quite intense, repetitive and rhythmic.”

This spirit of sonic adventure is firmly rooted in the band’s warehouse. “Our development has really grown since having this space,” enthuses Nik. “We’ve had it for a year and a half, and that’s really affected our sound, because we’ve been able to spend as much time as we like moving our live performance forward.”

The physicality often found in the work of noise artists is a component of the Factory Floor sound: “I think the building blocks and dynamics within our sets, the physicality of it, comes from it’s organic nature, the intensity,” explains Gabriel. “The elements are kind of divided up into quite organic components. Nik’s stuff is quite organic in its own way; my stuff, although it’s quite kind of rigid, it’s still organic in terms of the way it builds and drops;

photography: Emilie bailey

and then Dom’s input is more synthesised. So, although it’s all linked up, it’s definitely got a kind of organic feel to it.”

How does it feel to be in a position to collaborate with some of their musical heroes, and what was it like working with them? “The feedback we get is amazing,” says Gabriel. “We feel very lucky getting feedback from Chris Carter and Cosey on certain elements of our album. And working with Stephen Morris on that track [R E A L L O V E, released on Optimo Records]... it’s amazing really.

I mean, obviously their bands are big influences.

Just their way of working, their approach, is important – they are a massive part of what we do.

They’re almost mentors, in a way.”

“We’re

still totally unsure of what we do, it’s still exploratory ” Nik Void Their first album-length work will be released on DFA Records early next year. “It’s been a long process, says Gabriel. “We don’t view it as our debut album – it’s another body of work which Factory Floor have done. It’s like with all these collaborations – each one of them is a project, and in my head, they’re quite separate.”

How did the band get involved with DFA, and why are they such a good fit with the label’s more upbeat, disco-influenced artists? “It was actually through a friend of ours; he sent them the track Two Different Ways,” says Gabriel. “The track had been kind of floating around, and I gave it to someone who had worked with DFA before. And then Jonathan [Galkin, label manager] at DFA was like, ‘Okay, we’ve got to do this – we’ve got to get this out as a single.’ So we did that, and it was quite an organic thing with them. We did the single, and there was no talk of an album at the

time, and then it kind of grew... We went over to the States to play a few shows, Jonathan came down and really enjoyed it. It fits; I mean, we’re a lot darker than some of the bands he’s got on the label currently, but it’s still got the essence of that danceability.”

The band have worked with JD Twitch of Optimo before. Do they have a particular fondness for Scotland as a place to play? “Glasgow has a similar feel to New York,” says Nik. “People just let go, ”elaborates Gabriel. “It’s very cool. In terms of our relationship with Twitch and Optimo,” Nik says, “they have an interest in bands like Liquid Liquid, Peter Gordon [of Love Of Life Orchestra]...

We’ll be putting a single out with Peter Gordon on Optimo’s label in September or October.” It is a relationship the band hope to sustain: “Twitch is great, he’s got such amazing taste in music, and he just puts interesting stuff out,” says Gabriel.

By now, the sense of Factory Floor as a hermetic, sealed unit, akin to an experimental music production line, is starting to become clear. Their music – sometimes heavy and brutal, sometimes euphoric and uplifting – sets the bar very high for any artist or band attempting to meld electronic music with live, organic performance.

Their creative interactions with other musicians, visual artists, gallery spaces, warehouse parties and music festivals speak of a band concerned not just with process, image, or reductive attempts to define genres or scenes, but with art as a totality. Like the labels and movements who share their name – Warhol’s Factory, Factory Records – they locate their art in rigorous, replicable experimental process. In a world of microgenres, faddish trends and disposable fashion, they offer something solid, independent and real. “We’re not really in any scene, and we don’t really care about that kind of thing,” says Gabriel. “We just do what we do. We exist purely as a band and the music we create.”

Factory Floor play Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh on 25 Aug www.facebook.com/factoryfloor Read the unabridged feature online at www.theskinny.co.uk

August 2012

THE SKINNY 35

F E A TU R E S

Subdued Suspense

film

Not all spy films feature secret lairs, giant lasers and hovergondolas. Director James Marsh talks about Shadow Dancer, a psychological thriller set against the Troubles in Northern Ireland Interview: Becky bartlett

James Marsh likes a challenge. Best known for his Oscar-winning documentary Man on Wire, the director is discussing the opening sequence of his latest film Shadow Dancer, a slow-burning spy thriller set against the backdrop of the peace process talks in Northern Ireland in 1993. A master class in understated tension, it features an extended scene in which Colette (Andrea Riseborough), carrying a large bag, appears to be acting rather suspiciously in the London Underground. “In the original [screenplay] it was a big epic car chase with motorbikes and all sorts of stuff going on, and I knew we couldn’t afford to do that. You can achieve the same, maybe even more interesting, levels of suspense just by keeping it real and making the audience gradually discover what might be happening in the underground sequence,” Marsh reflects. “That, to me, is more interesting as a director because it’s actually harder to do that than it is to blow things up and do car chases. There’s no idea in a car chase, it’s a technical exercise, whereas the way we did it was much more a psychological exercise, which is harder to do.”

Based on a novel by former news correspondent

Tom Bradby, Shadow Dancer is about a family torn apart by the Troubles. More specifically, its focus is on Colette, an IRA member who becomes an informant for MI5, and her relationship with her British handler Mac (Clive Owen). While it is assumed that viewers will have some kind of knowledge of the events that shape the story, Marsh is less interested in the politics, and more interested in how the politics affect the characters. “It’s a thriller based on real, interesting, human choices.

It definitely has the conventions of a thriller, I think, conventions of what happens when you deceive people, betray them, and the treachery in the film is very believable given the situation. There are many examples of things we now know of, moles in the IRA being run by MI5 for this reason or that reason, so you get conventions of a thriller through a very realistic situation, and I liked the idea of it being set in a domestic environment, the spying, the snooping.”

Marsh may be moving away from documentary films, but even this fictionalised account is rooted in reality, and a very recent reality at that. Yet the director is not afraid to broach a subject that, for many, still evokes painful memories. “Time has

not healed that situation and it may be another hundred years before it will, but at the same time it’s part of our collective recent history and I think we should be able to make dramatic stories.” So did he feel accuracy was important in his retelling of historical details? “I think that the facts are not the same as the truth, and the truth in the dramatic sense is not the same as the real truth... I don’t think filmmakers have responsibilities beyond trying to find the truth in a situation dramatically, and if they don’t then you kind of know it really quickly, so hopefully we’ll pass the test of it being psychologically and dramatically truthful as opposed to it being enslaved by real events,” he states. While Shadow Dancer received critical acclaim at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival, perhaps more telling was its reception following a screening at Belfast Film Festival in June, when it was given the seal of approval by both a “very feisty woman who was a member of the IRA” and “a former hunger striker.” How did Marsh feel about this? “That was about as good as we could get,” he laughs. “It was brilliant.”

Shadow Dancer is released nationwide 24 Aug

Smashing Pumpkins (and other fruit and veg)

Peter Strickland speaks to The Skinny about his new feature film, Berberian Sound Studio, and the dark art of movie making Interview: Jamie dunn

The central character in Berberian Sound Studio, Peter Strickland’s 1970s-set sophomore feature, is Gilderoy, a crumpled English sound engineer played by Toby Jones, who is invited to the fictitious Italian post-production house of the title to add the soundtrack to a grizzly horror film, preposterously titled Equestrian Vortex. The tools of his trade: enough fruit and veg to open a Covent Garden market stall.

When a scene requires a nubile young woman’s head to be smashed in, Gilderoy reaches for a watermelon and a sledge hammer. You need a torture sequence where a witch has chunks of hair ripped from her scalp? A clutch of radishes and a quick twist of the wrist will do the trick. We, the audience, never see the film to which Gilderoy is adding sound, although the hilarious scene descriptions his colleagues read out (‘a dangerously aroused goblin wanders the tunnel’) give clues to its debauched content.

Berberian Sound Studio is both a tribute and a sendup of giallo films, those violent whodunit thrillers that were the staple of Italian cinema in the 60s and 70s. It’s a period in filmmaking that Strickland has an affinity with. “I guess it was unique in cinema. There’s this combination of these incredibly advanced, melodic soundtracks with very exploitative cinema,” Strickland told me at this year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival, where Berbarian Sound Studio had its world premiere. “Usually with exploitation they don’t take

36 THE SKINNY

August 2012

too much care with things, they just thrash it out, but you could feel that so much love went into these films, especially the sound.”

Playing with genre is nothing new for Strickland.

Katalin Varga, his Silver Bear-winning first film, was an austere, eerily beautiful rape-revenge fantasy set in Transylvania, which upended every cliché the sub-genre has to offer, stripping it of its lurid brutality and blood lust. Violence and its consequences are clearly themes that intrigue the Reading-born filmmaker. “I’m definitely interested in exploring the way filmmakers use violence and their attitude towards it. The question is, Can you responsibly show violence? You can have your film’s protagonist hate it, like Toby’s character does, but how can you control how an audience perceives your film?”

A visual motif that runs through Berberian Sound Studio seems to hint at Strickland’s preoccupation with this dilemma. Prior to each scene in which Gilderoy is subjected to the violent images, which appear to be slowly turning him insane, we cut to the projection booth to see the film being switched on. We never see the projectionist’s face, only his hands, which are clad in black leather gloves. It’s a neat in-joke: a black gloved killer is a recurring image in gialli, particularly the films of Dario Argento (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Deep Red, Tenebrae). By giving his projectionist character a giallo murderer’s getup, Strickland is inviting us to question the responsibility of those who deliver

the violent images. Is this why he never shows the onscreen violence that Gilderoy is witnessing?

“I think that if you show the violence you end up being guilty of what you want to explore. I’m not trying to be didactic, I’m not trying to criticise, but I am being a bit satirical. As soon as you show violence you’re the butt of that satire in a sense.”

What’s so impressive is that while taking these pot shots at horror cinema he’s also drawing us into Gilderoy’s nightmare and chilling us to our bones.

The curtains are pulled back on the dark art of sound design. Like the opening of Brian De Palma’s masterful Blow Out, we’re shown how ridiculous movie making can be. “I wanted to demystify the process and reveal the mechanics of it all,” explains Strickland. “It just seemed very weird to me that behind all these terrifying films there’s this ridiculous image of grown men hacking vegetables.” Strickland reveals what’s up the magician’s sleeve and invites us to giggle at his crude methods, only to use these same cheap tricks to make our hairs curl a few scenes later.

“As ridiculous as it might be, you’re still confronted with what the images are because you hear the announcements, which are quite extreme, so you’re dealing with those two opposites. You’re having a laugh but at the same time the most horrific things are happening. So, hopefully, it kind of screws with people a little bit.”

Berberian Sound Studio is released 31 Aug by Artificial Eye www.artificial-eye.com

travel

L I F E ST Y L E

The Skinny On Colombia Our fearless expeditioneer enlightens us as to the improving situation in South America’s most notorious state – either that or he’s showing off again...

Words and photography: Ally Brown

For much of the latter part of the 20th century, and the first three years of this one, Colombia had the highest murder rate in the world. Such an awful and recent claim to fame is hard to forget; for ordinary Colombians, it’s a persistent source of shame.

But after a decade of improvements that rate has now halved, other violent crimes are becoming rarer, and the country is opening up to tourism.

Now, backpackers across South America are quietly raving about Colombia. They’re enthusing about the genuine warmth of the people, the relative lack of other tourists, and the huge variety of places to go and things to see and do. As the shadow of violent crime lifts, it reveals a country brimming with attractions.

Of course, any visitor to Latin America needs to pay more attention to their personal security than any traveller in Europe or Asia. It’s not wise to be drunk and alone at night in Bogotá, to wander into any of the poorer parts of Medellín, or to venture into the FARC-controlled jungles of the south-east. Colombia is off-the-beaten-track; don’t push it. Keep your head screwed on, follow any advice you’re given, and understand that the overwhelming majority of Colombians are good and the overwhelming majority of tourists will go untroubled.

Bogotá is Colombia’s capital, its largest city (pop: 8 million), its cultural and educational centre, and the main entry point for anyone flying in from Europe or the US. The weather is often chilly and overcast, there’s not a lot for tourists to see, traffic congestion is a problem, and downtown is often hectic, strewn with litter, and full of beggars. Many people don’t warm to it and quickly plan their exits, but if you have time, Bogotá is a grower.

La Candelaria, the near-downtown old colonial quarter, is full of charm, thanks to 17th century buildings, stunning street art, the students of the nearby universities, and the shops and bars that cater to them. Nightlife in Bogotá is as exciting as in any city of its size, and it’s a good idea to meet some locals to show you around. It’s easy

to enthuse about ‘friendly locals’ anywhere in the world, while indulging in generalisations based on brief meetings with tourist-trained locals. But the warmth of ordinary Colombians, especially apparent if you speak a little Spanish, is inspiring.

Go to La Villa’s Tuesday language-exchange night, or any of the regular Couchsurfers’ meet-ups or parties, and you’ll meet young Colombians who appreciate that you’ve looked past Colombia’s bad reputation, and are keen to fill your open mind with reasons to love their country. Don’t miss the Museo del Oro [Gold Museum] either.

Two hours outside of Bogotá is Zipaquirá, where the owners of a massive salt mine have built a dramatic underground cathedral into the salt, more for religious tourists than for the miners, as it happens. Three hours from Bogotá is beautiful Villa de Lleyva, founded by Spanish colonialists in 1572. Don’t bother with the tour of nearby dinosaur prints; just relax in the beautiful gardens and coffee shops of the village itself.

Colombia’s second city is Medellín, nine hours from Bogotá by bus. Medellín’s recent history is dominated by Pablo Escobar, the extraordinarily wealthy kingpin of the Medellín drugs cartel until his death in a police gunfight in 1993. Medellín enjoys better weather and prettier community parks than Bogotá, some of the latter funded

by Escobar’s cartel. Tours of the city based on Escobar’s life and influence are popular, but you’ll be supporting his family if you take the expensive tour run by Pablo’s brother. Medellín used to be the most dangerous city in the world, and its murder rate is still more than 30 times that of Glasgow. Almost all tourist accommodation is concentrated in the rich area of El Poblado, a short walk from the main nightlife zone, Parque Lleras. There’s a bewildering variety of bars and clubs around Parque Lleras, and you’ll spot a few dolled-up, plastic-enhanced (ass implants are not uncommon) girls fawning over suited, sunglass-wearing men. Escobar has gone, but the entourage has not. Be sure to save a few days

“ It’s easy to enthuse about ‘friendly locals’ anywhere in the world, but the warmth of ordinary Colombians, especially apparent if you speak a little Spanish, is inspiring” for Guatapé, a gorgeous village 90 minutes from Medellín surrounded by rivers and lakes, where you can also climb a 200m high monolithic rock to see magnificent views of the area. It has to be seen to be believed.

West of Medellín is the Zona Cafetera [Coffee Zone], roughly surrounding the line drawn by Manizales, Pereira and Armenia. Close to the latter is the picturesque village of Salento, where it’s easy to get stuck for longer than you intended, because of the beautiful setting, gentle way-of-life, the atmospheric old bars, and the cheap and comfortable accommodation. From Salento a day-trek in the Valle de Cocora is a must, where you can first arrive at a jungle hamlet surrounded by flocks of hummingbirds, before ascending to a glorious valley full of 100m-high wax palm trees.

South of Salento, the nation’s third biggest city Cali receives mixed reports: it’s no more than functional by day, but its salsa-based nightlife is world famous. Popayán is a beautiful and quiet old colonial town, entirely painted white, like Bolivia’s Sucre.

Further south, right on the border with Ecuador, is a magnificent church called Santuario de las Lajas, built 60 years ago in an extravagant gothic style and

perched 100m above a dramatic ravine.

On the north coast, on the Carribean sea, is Colombia’s biggest tourist destination, Cartagena.

Tourists don’t see the vast majority of this 1 million population city, because the walled old town, founded in 1533, is so beautiful. A long beach on the mainland is backed by soulless modern hotels, but a much better beach is easily accessed by boat. Ignore the painfully slow and expensive tourist boat to Playa Blanca in preference for the local jetboat-taxi which leaves from behind Mercado Bazurto. On arrival, turn left towards the less-developed end of the beach for a quieter and cheaper stay. The water is warm and crystal clear and you’ll be surrounded by little yellow fish just a few metres out; it looks a lot like paradise.

Further east along the coast is Santa Marta, which again features a pretty historical centre, but is mainly used as a jump-off point for the nearby Tayrona National Park. The NY Times advise getting there with a $50 taxi; The Skinny suggests you jump on a bus for $2.50 instead. From the entrance it’s a two-hour walk to the best beaches, through lush coastal jungle where spider monkeys and giant blue butterflies live. La Piscina is, as its name suggests, the best beach for swimming, but the double arch of El Cabo is the most spectacular, and you can sleep in a hammock or a tent just yards away.

Lots of travellers talk of under-budgeting for time in Colombia, because there’s a huge variety of places to go, and everyone seems to get stuck somewhere. I unexpectedly spent two weeks in Bogotá, and could’ve easily stayed longer in Salento, Guatapé and on the Carribean coast.

The beautiful ancient village of Barichara and nearby adventure capital San Gil will have to wait til next time, as will gringo diving resort Taganga, the remote Carribean islands of San Andrés and Providencia, the six-day jungle trek to La Ciudad Perdida [The Lost City], and many more places. Few countries on earth can offer so much; Colombia’s reputation will soon soar.

August 2012

THE SKINNY 37

Showcase

Oliver Pit t Oliver Pitt is an illustrator based in Glasgow.

Biography by Phoebe Amis, based on the titles of Oliver's works.

The A-side (The Apilogue) The Narrator: Aaron, in these AASB photos, apon an afghan rug. Alan Silva with double alchemy alters then alters anan. As above, the astral plane atals Atila and Atlas apon the latter’s own bit map.

Bio (Oliver Pitt) Baboon: Back, Background!

Bambooman: Disk. Disk. Disk 2. Bananas. Ban as beach. I’m BIG and I’m new.

Bird the Set Designer: Black 1. Now, blackness.

(Beckoning to the Gods) Blackscreen. (Gesturing left stage) Blackscreen 1. Blackscreen 2. (Halting motion). Bloackkk!

Board: I am, I am once, twice, twenty one times, thrice… I am thirty two and I become a body, body with a head, body with a head done, upon the website we agreed, a body with a head and then I finish. (How Morbid.)

Cartouche: I, cartouche, am a case in a cave.

A cave… (coughing cee- dee) , a caseback… (coughing cee-dee) for the Colin Front.

The Colin Front march on now singing as a chorus and heralding the arrival of the Chronicular Miscellany, a band of merrymen of a strict chronicular type.

The Colin Front: Chapbook. Chapbook. Chapbook. Chapbook. Chapbook. Chap-Chap, Book-Book. In chirch we are choral. Cock. Cock side. Cock side once, cock side twelve times, two cocks, in a coffin, in a coffin in black and white, in a coffin twenty one times over. In a coffin in black and white, then Colin Wesbter. Colin once, Colin the Bee, Colin the F, the Collograph, the Cosmos.

38 THE SKINNY

August 2012

SHOWCASE

August 2012

THE SKINNY 39

vintage Market

OLD TOWN

TATTOO CUSTOM TATTOOING BODY PIERCING MODIFICATIONS 49 BLACKFRIARS STREET, EDINBURGH EH1 1NB

0131 556 0345

WWW.OLDTOWNTATTOO.CO.UK 40 THE SKINNY

AUGUST 2012

deviance

L I F E ST Y L E

Scottish Sex Work: Concluding Thoughts In the concluding part of Deviance’s brief investigation into the Scottish sex industry, Ana Hine looks at what she’s learned Words: Ana Hine

Over the past few months I’ve spoken to a number of different people involved in the sexworking business. It’s difficult to get them to open up. Most people have a preconceived opinion about the sex trade, usually along the lines of a woman crying into some fat guy’s pubic hair as her pimp/abusive boyfriend screams in her face. Noone I’ve met or talked to over the last few months denied that people are exploited in the industry, but most of them were keen to stress that many choose to have sex for money of their own accord.

The problem seems to be ideology. Middleclass women sitting in universities try to picture themselves in such a line of work and imagine it to be distasteful and demeaning. Many of the charities who work with sex workers in Scotland have the foundational belief that all prostitution is exploitation. For instance, the Scottish Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation believe that, ‘Sexual exploitation eroticises women’s inequality.’ They scoffed at the idea that anyone could choose to enter into the profession.

Jenny Kemp, a member of the Coalition, told me: “People have to say to themselves and to others they’re okay, happy even, when they’re involved in prostitution – it’s only after exiting that they can acknowledge they were not happy. But even if there were a few individuals who were happy to be involved, it doesn’t make it alright. We don’t tell women who are in abusive relationships who accept it as part of the relationship, ‘Well, that’s fine, that’s your choice.’ We see domestic abuse as a societal and public health issue. Prostitution is the same.”

Here we get into the issue of consent. Can adults be trusted to enter into sexual contracts of their own free will? Or would those who are exclusively anti-prostitution, in all its forms, say that no women (or indeed person) can ever be trusted to

Illustration: Nick Cocozza

make such a commercial sexual contract?

I spoke to an Inverness-based escort named Amanda Redfern who questioned whether it was truly feminist to deny her to make her own decisions regarding her body and her livelihood. While she felt that any work done to prevent trafficking was a good thing she offered up the same analogy as Jenny Kemp, but in the reverse direction; “Trying to ban all prostitution because of the dark side of the industry is like trying to ban marriage because some people are victims of domestic violence. It’s using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.”

No-one is denying that being a sex-worker is an unsafe occupation. That even one experience of commercial sex gives you a lifetime ban on giving blood via the NHS shows that something is going wrong, but could the problem not be the underground, semi-legal nature of the profession?

If two or more sex workers operate from the same premises they can be accused of brothel keeping and taken to court, like Sheila Farmer (a London based sex-worker) was in January. Yet using legislative restrictions to force people to work alone puts them in a much more dangerous situation. A number of the sex workers I spoke to said that they were the only person working in the industry that they knew. They were afraid to talk about their experiences for fear that their friends and relatives would find out and react badly.

Some were worried their kids would be bullied at school if they were outed. This all suggests that the stigma, and the resulting isolation, could be causing much of the harm.

There are small ways that escorts (the main group of sex workers I talked to) are getting around the issue. Support and Advice for Escorts (SAAFE) have a ‘Warnings & Wasters’ room on their forums, something that is found on many of

“The

sex industry is still very much directed at heterosexual men, as if their sexualities are the only ones that matter.” the escorting sites. This is just a modern incarnation of the ‘ugly mugs’ idea and gives the escorts an opportunity to identify potentially dangerous ‘punters’ (customers/clients) and hopefully prevent other women from having similar trouble. Of course all sexual violence should be reported to the police too.

The problem with SAAFE and many of the other online resources for escorts is that streetwalkers and those who work from saunas, or more isolated brothels and shared houses, may not have as easy or private access to the internet. My research into the issue has been mostly internet based (conversations over e-mail, private messaging, text messages from phone numbers found online, ‘real world’ interviews arranged with people ‘met’ online). It’s easy to forget that private internet access is a privilege and that I may be communicating only with the top tier of those in the industry.

Rebecca, an Edinburgh-based worker, spoke candidly about the contact she has with more disadvantaged women. She says, “Of course I do see women that are not as blessed as me, uneducated, foreign and young who have no respect for themselves and are often, to be honest, quite ill.

Some Polish women have told me how they have had passports stolen, been beaten and made to sell themselves for a pittance etc. I know that I am very lucky, if I wanted to stop tomorrow I could. I am in control and that is the main thing.”

Here at the end of my small investigation I am as conflicted about the issue of prostitution as I was when I started, although I hope I am much better informed. One worry I have is that the sex industry is still very much directed at heterosexual men, as if their sexualities are the only ones that matter. I spoke to a man who claimed to be an escort offering services for women, but he turned out to have never had a client (despite advertising for the last two years). The male for male escorts didn’t seem to have much contact with the female escorts, at least at the independent escort level. I didn’t come across a transsexual worker.

It may be that those at the higher levels would indeed benefit from more legal rights and the removal of social stigma. I believe that talking about our sex lives openly and honestly will improve our society, somehow. Shame and secrecy can’t be the way to having healthy and happy sex lives.

However, I would warn anyone who reads this and sees an invitation to become a sex worker (or those who, over the course of this project, have accused me of encouraging prostitution) to bear in mind Amanda Redfern’s parting advice; “Know what you are getting into. When you have done that, go to the main street of your town and count the passing men. Could you have sex with every tenth man you see? If you think ‘Ugh! He has a beard/is fat/has bad teeth’ or whatever, then think again. Part of this job is being able to look past all that and find something attractive in every man who walks through your door as long as he is clean, polite and respectful.” www.saafe.info

August 2012

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L I F E ST Y L E

fashion

Introverted extroverts Ten years on from their first meeting at Heriot Watt university, Scottish design duo Obscure Couture talk inspiration, fantasy and gang-inspired fashion Interview: Rena Niamh Smith

Jenn Coyle and Lyndsay Pagan of Obscure Couture are the kind of girls I, and possibly you, really want to be, but probably never will. Glamorous to an almost defiant degree, they have a ballsy sense of style, all loud prints and in-your-face accessories. They are also warm, witty and know how to party. The rhinestone studs of Glasgow’s cosy fashion micro-scene, they are the kind of chicks who light up a room upon arrival with a fizzy energy that is entirely their own. Fearless, independent and original, it’s the kind of cool that takes no prisoners.

The ethic that they live out in real life is more than reflected in their design. Clashing tartan, glitter and sweeping, dramatic shapes are all part of the nine to five of Obscure design that has won them nominations for the Scottish Fashion Awards two years running. Their work has been picked up by top stylists, such as those from the X Factor working with Little Mix and Amelia Lily, and more recently on Kreayshawn, Aggro Santos and Usain Bolt in FHM. But apparently it didn’t start out all slick teamwork, and they too suffered pangs of something akin to insecurity. “We met in 2002 in first year Heriot Watt Uni in Galashiels, for the first three days we kind of hated each other, eyeing each other with total suspicion and disdain,” explains Jenn. “Then one night I was out smoking and Lynds came out and asked me for share-sies. We bonded closely after, living in one tiny room in the halls together, and causing a two woman hell for everyone else for the next ten years.”

Their combined creativity, along with a dash of raw honesty and bona fide edge, makes their designs some of the best of what Scotland has to offer right now. Described as ‘stage and streetwear for the introverted extrovert’, they offer both bespoke couture and a ready-to-wear line full of unique pieces. “We were both lucky enough to

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do year-long placements with insanely creative and inspiring people”, says Jenn. “Lyndsay spent time working with Dr Noki in Brighton and I was with Fee Jones of Mrs Jones in London. Both were true creatives who refused to conform or bow to any kind of social pressures, wonderful people to be inspired and influenced by.”

Their Autumn 2012 couture collection, which they showed during London Fashion Week, was themed around the idea of a 24 hour binge, titled The Lithium Party. Models showed pastel brocade mini-dresses with maxi-studs, colour-popping furs, sheer blouses with nought but a cheeky sequin love-heart to protect their modesty and a sweeping dress coat with layers of frills on a sculptural proportion over a tiny leather body. Pink wigs under headpieces by Jennivieve Berlin Millinery, like a huge glitzy pink heart pierced with a needle emblazoned ‘Love Is The Drug’, were the perfect icing on the cake.

It’s a show-stopping aesthetic. They describe the Obscure girl as “the woman you want to be.

Your secret fantasy. As long as there is a vision and a dream we will go for it. We prefer it when someone turns up at our studio crazed and blearyeyed demanding a mermaid tail and a unicorn horn.” Lovers of all things glitzy, they look to the likes of Alice Dellal and Yo Landi Vi$$er as ideal spokespeople for the brand. “We are inspired by everything and anything, from pure unadulterated beauty to disgusting slag heaps, in essence there is beauty everywhere!”

But don’t be fooled by their punk glam exterior.

As bespoke artists, they are at the antithesis of fast, disposable fashion. “Our motto is more is more, but we are not cheap,” they say. “We want it all, we want drama AND we want elegance!”

Their couture work features secret details only the client will appreciate and they have a penchant for expensive fabrics, which perhaps explains the

Photo: Liam Dixon

“We are inspired by everything and anything, from pure unadulterated beauty to disgusting slag heaps” division between the one-off and more commercial lines. ”We use a lot of Kobe leather, these bad boy cows are from Japan and they get massaged every day with beer. The leather they produce is butter soft.” For them, Obscure is about “taking a stance against mass-produced, faceless fashion,” and with a high street awash with carbon copies, it is a bold but necessary statement to make.

The ready-to-wear line, available on ASOS Marketplace, offers a bit of that crazy Obscure philosophy at a much more accessible price-tag, which they describe as “more fun and street,” while the couture creations are “design based and intricate.” But each is generated from the same place. “The two have a symbiotic relationship. Our ready-to-wear ranges fund our couture habits.”

They also offer a range of jewellery designed in conjunction with Glaswegian designer Bonnie Bling. Something for extroverts of all budgets, then.

They were nominees for Scottish Young Designer of the Year at the Scottish Fashion Awards for the second year running and were thrilled. “How else could you feel? The awards are such a huge part of Scotland, they bring so much to our country right now. Tessa Hartmann is actually leading the way single-handedly, she gets very little help from the government at the moment,

hopefully that will change.” They also took part in Scotland Re: Designed, a part government, part privately-sponsored project this year. A spotlight for up-and-coming Scottish designers, Obscure Couture made a fabulous orange gown that they entered for the fabric store Mandors’ competition. They believe platforms like this offer designers like themselves a “mindblowing” opportunity.

Scotland plays an important role in their brand identity, “Scotland is our home – there is all this breathtaking scenery, our amazing history and our coveted textiles. One of the oldest trades and we are lucky to have it backing us up, really. The new wool tartans we used in our latest collection were a complete joy to work with. Thinking about tartan and what it meant, what it represented to the clans is something very magical in itself.”

Having said that, it is an influence rather than the sum of their raison d’être. Instead, they can be said to represent a Scottish take on streetwear and the international urban experience. They riff on the Scottish thing, but not with too much pomp and ceremony. After re-locating to a new Barras studio, their Spring Summer 2011 collection was a product of their Glasgow East End environment. “Our two ‘opposing’ tartans were there to represent gangs! The two gangs who fight every weekend even though they are, essentially, from the same seed. Clashing colours and styles.” It is a tongue-in-cheek take on perhaps the seedier international image of Scotland, but it definitely works.

It was with some surprise, then, that they were invited to take part in the the Royal Highland Show, one of the most conservative and typically ‘Scottish’ dates on the calendar, but they were flattered.

“Being associated with the ‘Sheep Association’ at the Royal Highland Show was a highlight for us. We don’t ‘fit’ that kind of scene but we are almost being accepted – accepted to shock.

It’s a dream.” And with two inspired and brilliant creative minds at stake, the Scottish establishment are wise to embrace the likes of Obscure Couture and nurture upcoming talent as best they can.

Their combined creativity is proving an unstoppable force. An ideal partnership, they prove that two heads really are better than one. “We work so well together, sometimes we say we have half a brain each.”

Their creative process involves discussing ideas, starting with the grandiose, and ending with the finer details. “Then we head off individually and draw. Nine times out of ten when we reunite our sketches are identical.” It is a symmetry many creative types would kill for, and the symbiosis doesn’t end there, and when asked “What keeps you going when the going gets tough?” their immediate response was “each other.” They joke that “we take turns at being complete psychos and emotional wrecks. We are what the other needs; mother, father, sister, brother, angel and demon. We also have really supportive families.”

It seems a good emotional grounding is a golden ticket in the current economic climes, when young designers face an unglamorous and largely unpaid start. They have big ambitions for the future, including a menswear line, expanding their readyto-wear goods and even an Obscure Couture app which will allow fans to stay abreast of news, shop the collection or pre-order their newest pieces and post pictures of themselves in Obscure Couture pieces. It certainly is a long way from the two young freshers in Heriot Watt who first bristled at the thought of another introverted extrovert on the scene. You know when these girls describe their work as “a labour of love,” they mean it. www.obscure-couture.com

LI F E ST Y L E

Edinburgh International Fashion Festival

Words: Adeline Amar

Words: Emma Segal Photo: D.N. Anderson photography

ITA 2:Inspire The Attire

So you like fashion? Cool venues? A noble cause? And good music?

We hope so (if you answered no to that, why on earth did you pick up this paper!) and we have exactly what you need: ITA 2, aka Inspire the Attire 2.

This exclusive fashion event will take place on Friday 17 August on board The Tall Ship at Riverside, one of only five Clyde-built ships still afloat today, with designers showcasing never-seen-before collections on professional models, in order to raise funds for DiabetesUK. The evening will feature 16 independent Scottish labels including Catriona Clark, David Black and Coryn Dickson (who, by the way, are all nominees of The Scottish Fashion Awards 2012) as well as Euphemia Sydney-Davies, Amber Hunter and Mue. Or, as Adele Robertson, CEO of G2E Events, puts it: “some of the best up-and-coming designers” for a showcase that sounds rather promising.

There will also be music provided by Glasgow’s N.E.D., Nika and Hipstar (a resident DJ at The Garage), and a raffle in aid of charity, with goodies like Riptinka Accessories, Once Upon A Time, Love & Ayes or vouchers for Glasgow’s Browns Bar & Brasserie to be won.

The show will take place on Fri 17 August from 7.30pm-midnight, leading on to what promises to be a pretty cool after party on board the ship. The dress code is evening gown and black tie. Tickets are £10; note the after party is for over 18s only.

To buy tickets: g2eevents.bigcartel.com

‘If Paris, London and Milan can, why not Edinburgh?’ We at The Skinny imagine this is how the conversation that will result in the Edinburgh International Fashion Festival (EIFF) began. Set in mid-August, the event should benefit from the general buzz and tourism of the Fringe; indeed, it seems that fashion is the only cultural art form not yet represented in its vast programme.

EIFF’s organisers (the people behind Edinburgh’s successful Noir! events) seem to share this sentiment, calling it ‘an overdue addition to Edinburgh’s International Festivals.’ As with Noir! events, the idea is to showcase fashion as an art form, and to explore the connections between it and the fields of science, architecture and design.

The line-up includes a host of exciting names, from Stella Tennant to Hussein Chalayan, and Rankin to Pam Hogg. But, perhaps more interestingly, rather than straightforward catwalk shows, the four day festival will feature a mixture of shows, masterclasses, exhibitions and talks. Set at Summerhall, Harvey Nichols and The National Museum of Scotland, this gives the event a truly academic and inclusive feel.

We’ve managed to obtain a programme taster which demonstrates the tone of the festival beautifully. Talks include an unmissable discussion of the connection between Art and Neuroscience by Professor Ludovica Lumer, entitled ‘Who Are We, and What Makes Us Who We Are?’ (in Summerhall’s Dissection Room from 12pm on the 16 August). Another tenet of Noir! events is to expose the public to the creative process, to fully immerse them in the art. EIFF Exhibitions, like Syn/Aesthesia, aim to do just that. Featuring photographic work by Juergen Teller, as well as Chalayan video instillations and an exclusive instillation by Pam Hogg (featuring Rankin photography), the aim is to ‘examine the synaesthetic genesis and expression of the creative idea.’ This exhibition runs throughout the Festival season, until the 6 September, at the Animal Hopsital in Summerhall.

Judging by the taster, it seems EIFF will add something truly and uniquely interesting to Edinburgh’s established festival season.

EIFF runs from 16-19 Aug at Summerhall. Some exhibitions run until the end of the month For tickets and more information, visit www. edinburghinternationalfashionfestival.com

DISCOVER THE DRAMA SCHOOL DIFFERENCE

BURSARIES AVAILABLE Interviews available at the Edinburgh Fringe with the Principal To book please email: marketing@bruford.ac.uk

www.bruford.ac.uk +44 (0)20 8308 2600 enquiries@bruford.ac.uk Twitter: @rosebruford Facebook: /rosebrufordcollege August 2012

THE SKINNY 43

L I F E ST Y L E

food & drink

Food News: Fringe Special August is here, and it’s brought company. So for one month only, we devote the Food & Drink section to helping you through the cultural jungle of the Fringe as well as making sure non-Edinburghers aren’t left out. You’re welcome.

Words: Peter Simpson

August is always a jam-packed month for us lovers of food and food-related events, so we thought the best thing to do was to hand over this month’s section to our Food News column, and run you through 20 of the top culinary-themed events, performances and pop-ups to see across Scotland. And we will be running, people, so get your trainers on.

We’ll begin in the early morning with artist Anthony Schrag, as he takes you on an early morning tour of Edinburgh, then provides you with a free breakfast and a cup of tea. Explore the city as you’ve never seen it before, interacting with the landscape of a snoozing metropolis, whilst also subtly ramping up the group’s walking pace to get to the breakfast before you remember what time it is. Edinburgh Art Festival Pavilion, St. Andrew Sq; 19 Aug, 7am Breakfast moves us neatly on to eggs, and An Eggcellent Adventure. It feels odd to type the following sentence, but here goes: This is a part-musical, part-theatrical look at the trials and tribulations of the egg. Yep, that’s a thing that exists. Lauriston Hall, Lauriston St; 7-9 Aug, 4.15pm While that egg-based play may attract your ire, the work of Spanish restaurant El Bulli is nearly as odd, yet met with universal acclaim. It’s cultural snobbery, is what it is. Anyway, El Bulli: Cooking in Progress is a new documentary taking you deep inside the bubble of Ferran Adrià for a rare look at how the Michelin-starred chef operates.

Does he use a kettle? Does he like crisps? Is he just joking most of the time and can’t believe he gets away with it? Answers to some of these questions and more await! Glasgow Film Theatre, Rose St; 17-19 Aug, times vary Ferran may run one of the world’s top restaurants, but to our knowledge he’s never combined dinner service with a two-hour improvised comedy show. On that point at least, an Australian dressed as Basil Fawlty has Ferran’s number. The Faulty Towers Dining Experience combines the twin joys of a slap-up dinner and the violent slapstick abuse of waiters, returning for a fifth straight Fringe of improvised comic theatre in a real, proper restaurant. Expect a three-course meal, plenty of laughs, and some accents that were first devised in the 1970s and are therefore fine to laugh at.

B’Est, Drummond St; 2-28 Aug, times vary If you’d rather have priest-based teatime entertainment, then head along to Ted & Co. It’s basically the same concept as the Faulty Towers show, but with Father Ted! It’s improvised, so you

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can try and throw the actors off their marks by asking why three priests and their housekeeper would invite so many heathen strangers round for dinner!

There will be three courses! Grosvenor Hotel, Grosvenor St; 10, 11, 24, 25 Aug, 7.30pm And if you’d rather go for a more avant-garde dining experience, head down to La Concepta.

Head Chef Simon Munnery awaits to serve up a menu of art, dance, music and general oddness, ably assisted by Messrs Munnery, Munnery and Munnery. Be ready for an array of entirely-convincing disguises, and a feast of surreal comedy you can fit in your lunch break. Whitespace, Randolph Pl; 4-25 Aug (Not 14), 12.10pm/1.10pm If any Edinburghers are looking through this article and getting ready to whinge about all their free space being snaffled by ‘performers’ and ‘creative people’, we have some news for you: Innis & Gunn are opening a pop-up bar for the Festival.

It will be the first place in the world to stock their complete range under one roof, as well as hosting beers and spirits from across Scotland. There will be daily tasting sessions, and the whole lot is shambling distance away from the venue for that telly comedian you like. So stop your complaining.

32 Potterrow; 11am – 3am all month Now, cheese. The Guild of Cheesemakers extend an invite to an evening of fine wine, bread and various dairy products. There’s also something here about...“a mysterious, supernatural cheese”?

Yes, this is a clever and haunting piece of theatre about cheese, with the added bonus of getting to eat the stuff alongside the drama. Summerhall, Summerhall Cres; 14-18 Aug, 10pm From cheddar-based theatre to whisky-based storytelling, and seeing as it’s August you’ve got two options to choose from. In the red corner, we have Villains, Heroes and Adventurers, set in the resplendent Board Room at Jenners. There are uncommon whiskies to try, stories of ill-fated polar explorers to be regaled with, and the whole thing is led by an advisor to the Monte-Carlo Whisky Society. Not a word of a lie, the Monte-Carlo Whisky Society. Valvona & Crolla Foodhall, Jenners, Princes St; 7-13, 16-25 Aug, various times And in the blue corner, we have a stand-up comedian in a pub basement. Alan Anderson is the man in charge of Whisky For Dafties, and he’ll aim to take you on a whistle-stop tour of the national drink armed with nothing more than six single malts and his natural wit. Whether or not he’ll discuss the art of exploration is unclear, but it couldn’t hurt to bring it up. The Tron, Hunter Sq;

Illustration: Daniel Seex

“A part-musical, part-theatrical look at the trials and tribulations of the egg. Yep, that's a thing that exists” 2-12, 15-26 Aug, 9pm Sticking with alcohol, we feel it’s important to point out that one should always drink responsibly, especially at this time of year. With that in mind, Shit-Faced Shakespeare, ladies and gentlemen!

A straight piece of Shakespeare, given added oomph courtesy of the demon booze. The press notes warn that it will be ‘raucous’, but we’d hedge a fiver on ‘shambolic’ and/or ‘enlightening.’ C Venues, Chambers St; 1-27 Aug (Not 13), 10.20pm We can’t have wasted actors getting all the attention and ruining the fun for everyone, so as a corrective measure we’ll highlight The Thinking Drinker’s Guide to Alcohol. The title alone suggests a show that’s refined, civilized, and well-heeled. Oh, what’s that? Six free drinks to get through, while our hosts run through a brief history of recorded society and invoke the memories of Ernest Hemingway and Adolf Hitler? Excuse us while we book our tickets right this moment.

Assembly Rooms, George St; 2-26 Aug, times vary Right, we’re back, and aptly moving from heavy drinking to war. Opal Lounge’s Bar Wars competition sees barmen from four of the Edinburgh’s top bars fight it out to impress a cadre of judges with their cocktail-making skills, while the public watch on and try not to salivate all over themselves.

We recommend forming your own ‘alternative’ judging panel and providing ‘helpful’ advice to the contestants. War shouldn’t be easy, after all. Opal Lounge, George St; 27 Aug, 8pm Life can be pretty cruel sometimes. You sit all year waiting for a food-themed piece of theatre to come along, then two arrive at once. The first, Salt and Pepper, centres on an infatuated restaurant patron and his relationship with one of the waitresses, scoring points for awkward relevance to a large section of the audience as well as frightening the bejesus out of coffee shop people everywhere.

Spaces, North Bridge; 6-16 Aug, times vary

The second is all about a door-to-door meat salesman, and not in a euphemistic sense either.

US Beef weaves a tangled web of deception, corporate greed and animal slaughter. It is, apparently, both “musical” and “comical”. If you’re a little confused right now, it’s OK. So are we.

Pleasance Dome, Potterrow, 1-27 Aug (Not 15), 12:20pm Next, sausages. Stop laughing at the back.

Mary Contini of Valvona & Crolla fame has written a book all about the most hilarious of Italian meat products, and will be discussing said book alongside a bit of a chit-chat and some other surprises at this Book Festival event. Don’t go if you have a low tolerance for innuendo, as you may end up hyperventilating while trying to stifle a snigger.

Charlotte Sq Gardens; 11 Aug, 12pm Elsewhere in book-land, Alys Fowler and Steve Benbow combine the dual pleasures of wild food and urban beekeeping as they plug their latest tomes in this collaborative talk. Learn some tips to pick up free grub, find out how you can start your own bee hive without attracting more stings than Sven Goran-Eriksson, and prepare to feel bad for chasing insects around your flat with a rolled-up newspaper. Charlotte Sq Gardens; 22 Aug, 3.30pm Finally, here are some outdoor events to make up for the fact you’ll be spending most of your time indoors this month. Foodies Festival has a whole host of stalls and demonstrations, and offers the chance to nab some samples and then throw them at Tim Vine as punishment for his terrible punning. Holyrood Park, 10-12 Aug Best of the West Festival at Inverary Castle offers local produce, live music and a lovely setting that the press notes allege to be haunted. It isn’t, because ghosts don’t exist, but it’s nice to see they’re trying to drum up interest. Inverary Castle, 15-16 Aug But the king of this month’s outdoor events takes place in Dundee. The annual Food and Flower Festival (Camperdown Park, Dundee; 31 Aug-2 Sept) has the usual mix of people off the telly and free stuff to pilfer, but holds two trump cards over the opposition – the presentation of the World Jam Awards, and a Chilli Village complete with talks, growing seminars, and (to quote the press notes) ‘stalls selling Chilli-related products.’ And as we said at the start, we don’t just love food, we also love food-related events. We hope that’s apparent, as we’re off for a lie down and will see you back here in September.

PHAGOMANIA BIZARRE FOOD FESTIVALS WORDS: LEWIS MACDONALD

FOR THOSE east-siders, welcome to Edinburgh in August. It is ‘THE’ festival. That’s what we call it, because see all those other festivals you’ve been to, they mean nothing now you are in the midst of THE festival. There’s plenty of fine food to sample, but this month we take the festival vibe and look at some pretty crazy stuff that is not happening in Edinburgh.

The Waikiki Spam Jam (April, Honolulu, Hawaii) So hands up who knew that Spam’s biggest market is in Hawaii? Ah, those who know their history on the WWII meat supply issues. They frickin’ love Spam. So much so that they present us with this challenge: ‘Are you a SPAM®-jammer? Do you like SPAM® so much you’d consider trying it in just about any form? If so, the Annual Waikiki SPAM JAM® Festival is for you!’

Yuma Lettuce Days (March, Yuma, Arizona) Coming at ya from The Winter Lettuce Capital of the World, it’s those crazy Yanks again, honouring the humble lettuce. I mean, lettuce is pretty good in my book – it’s in burgers – but a whole festival?

Well... expect lettuce sculptures, celebrity chef challenges, cabbage bowling, microbrews (lettuce not mentioned), Jazz of Yuma, ‘Drinks With A Twist’ (could it be lettuce?) and ‘Toss It Up’ Interactive Salad Bar. Despite research, imagination can only fill in the gaps until we all flood to Yuma next year. Stop off in state to visit Tool singer Maynard James Keenan’s vineyard, Caduceus Cellars.

Battle of the Oranges, (February, Ivrea, Italy) La Tomatina (August, Bunol, Spain) Ah, those fiery Mediterraneans just can’t keep it together long enough to enjoy their fruit and veg, can they? They’re all kicking off everywhere. The Italians sound like they are having a whale of a time putting on what seem to resemble paint ball shoot outs, including organised combat groups, only with oranges. I don’t know what’s worse, I’d take a paint ball over an orange hurled by a burley Italian. There’s an in-depth role play involved, reenacting and commemorating the liberation of the northern Italian town.

Meanwhile, our Spanish compañeros in the small town of Bunol, near Valencia, triples in population for what they claim is the largest food fight in the world. Take that Italy. It starts when some loco climbs a two-storey greased wooden pole to fetch a ham. Just like Edinburgh's Cowgate on a Saturday night. And then it just gets pure mental.

MENTAL. No-one is going to obey the rule of presquashing the tomato before flinging it to reduce impact. But orange you glad it was only a tomato?

Roadkill Cook-off (September, Marlinton, West Virginia) Well, what did you expect? Previous Cook-offs involved bear sausage pizza, sloppy does, squirrel gravy over biscuits, armadillo BBQ, and curry goat.

If you are thinking “not too bad, actually” you are not alone. And because we are in hill billy country, you can enjoy all this and more to a back drop of live Bluegrass music. Just don’t confuse your Ma or Pa for your other half.

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THOSE OF you who are regulars of this joint are in for a treat. Remember the Japanese guy who ordered 1050 pieces of bacon on his burger to take advantage of a Burger King offer? Well, he’s back, and this time he is cheesed off and tackling the possibly more outrageous 1000 slices of cheese burger. Yep, behold and think of the dreams he must have had: WWW.EN.ROCKETNEWS24.COM/2012/07/13/THIS-IS-WHAT-AWHOPPER-WITH-1000-SLICES-OF-CHEESE-LOOKS-LIKE/

CHEESUS CHRIST

AUGUST 2012

THE SKINNY 45

O2 ABC Love Music Column

Coming up at the fringe at the Queen’s hall mr mCfall’s Chamber Fri 3 & Sun 5 August Withered hand/darren hayman/ gordon mCintyre/josie long Sat 4 August skerryvore Thu 9 August loveboat big band Sat 11 August found the band & aidan moffat Wed 15 August peatbog faeries Fri 17 August suggs Tue 21-Fri 24 August king Creosote Thu 23 August treaCherous orChestra Sat 25 August tiCkets & information WWW.theQueenshall.net 0131 668 2019

46 THE SKINNY

AUGUST 2012

For the best part of three weeks, No Mean City – the festival that has its musical roots deeply entrenched in Americana – descends upon Glasgow from late August to mid September with a confluence of emerging talents such as Justin Townes Earle and Frank Fairfield (Sat, 8th September), to giants of our age like Billy Bragg and Patti Smith and, towering above them all, a celebration of the immortal folk figure that is Woody Guthrie.

In the last few years political protests around the world have been rediscovering their voices, imbuing the centenary of Guthrie, the original protest songwriter, with a deeper resonance. As one of the most important songwriters of the 20th century, his influence can still be heard today. Both Billy Bragg and KT Tunstall will be celebrating his music on Fri, 14 Sep at O2 ABC. Carrying Guthrie’s torch, for the last twenty years Bragg himself has been an unwavering believer in the moral and political power of music, so much so that he has become embroiled in a movement to ensure that his American counterpart’s musical legacy continues to endure. Alongside Wilco, Bragg has undertaken the Mermaid Avenue sessions, writing new music to some of the hundreds of unaccompanied lyrics left behind by Guthrie. A staggering proposition, see some of the results at this gig.

Further proof that Guthrie’s influence continues to permeate through the generations, Justin Townes Earle follows up his father Steve Earle’s recent Woodyfest when he comes to No Mean City (Tue 4 Sep, O2 ABC). For a musician barely into his thirties, Earle junior has already had enough life experience – through addiction and a long touring life – to suffuse his “southern music preservationist” songs with real gravitas. Having gotten clean with his father’s help, his recorded output has found a greater purpose, garnering critical success most notably with 2010’s Harlem River Blues.

The festival also welcomes the majestic tour de force that is Patti Smith (Wed 5 Sep, O2ABC), still vital after all these years and in town to promote her charged eleventh album, Banga – which reunited four of the original players from her classic 1975 debut, Horses. Banjo and fiddle playing balladeer Frank Fairfield (Sat 8 Sep, O2 ABC2) also joins the roster, as does Kent born Pete Molinari (Sun 9 Sep, O2 ABC2 with Gemma Ray), another singer songwriter indebted to the spirit of Guthrie and Dylan who combines rich narratives with a soaring voice. Two acts playing the festival from opposite sides of the Atlantic are the recently reunited Grandaddy (Thu 30 Aug, O2 ABC), who always sat as comfortably astride electronic pop as Americana past, plus those Scottish mariachi disciples Woodenbox (Thu 13 Sep, O2 ABC2).

For city-wide festival line up and info on all participating venues, please visit www.nomeancity.co.uk

LIVE MUSIC HIGHLIGHTS

The Metal Column

Grimes

Summertime, and another Pixies gig at Meadowbank probably wouldn’t go amiss, but without huge corporate umbrellas like ‘T on the Fringe’ or ‘The Edge’ to bring the monoliths this August, you’ll find Edinburgh’s smaller venues doing very well on their lonesome this year, thank you very much. Kicking off Electric Circus’s nourishing Fringe bill, the soulfully sedate Lanterns On The Lake stop by (3 Aug) to remind us that there’s more to modern folk rock than a gang of yodelling trustafarians dressed as Dickensian peasants.

Over in Glesca, space lord mothers (and self-proclaimed ‘Scotland’s foremost Hawkwind tribute act’) The Cosmic Dead seek to raise funds for album recording and their forthcoming UK tour with a date at The 13th Note (8 Aug). In the meantime, check their website (thecosmicdead. blogspot.co.uk) for more detail on how to find their elusive debut, finally granted a CD release last month .

Righteous contenders for the inaugural Scottish Album of the Year Award (pipped by Wells & Moffat, this time), Happy Particles swing by Sneaky Pete’s for what’s guaranteed to be a mighty fine night for disciples of starry-eyed guitar rock.

Sneaky Pete’s (10 Aug). Don’t sleep.

Toy

From the ashes of Joe Lean and the Jing Jang Jong (AKA Mudd off of Nathan Barley’s band) come psychedelic wonders TOY (all caps y’hear, like DOOM, KLF, TLC, OMC – all the greats), who look and sound as though they’ve just escaped a gas-huffing party that started around the west coast garage scene in 1966. Having spent a fair chunk of the last year touring in the company of Primal Scream and The Horrors, this should come as no surprise. Introduced to the world with the sublime free single Left Myself Behind late last year, the London quintet have a lot to live up to with their self-titled debut (due this September).

We’ll tell you now; it’s a thing of rare splendour.

Away and hear some at Electric Circus (14 Aug).

If you, like us, still get lost in mclusky’s timeless attitude, and it’s a hefty line in energised, delirious post-hardcore and the odd solid Jesus Lizard cover that gets you through the day-to-day, Dundonian trio Fat Goth are without a doubt your esteemed Huckleberrys. The Artist Formerly Known As Uncle Fritz and a few of the minds who brought you Perineum, Alamos and Laeto return to Electric Circus (16 Aug). Steel Trees and Vasquez bring their own kind of ruckus.

Photo: solen collet

Words: Johnny Langlands

Claire ‘Grimes’ Boucher puts in her Edinburgh debut at The Liquid Room this month (28 Aug), followed by a return to Glasgow (The Arches) the very next night. There’s a reason we put this talented prodigy on the cover back in March; expect chaotic electro pop with hooks for days.

DIY promoters Cry Parrot and Tracer Trails join forces as Music [is the Music] Language returns with a less unwieldy title and another bounty of characters from the Scottish underground.

Pitching itself as a celebration of ‘the exciting creativity and diversity’ of our eccentric land, the two-day festival’s bill continues to swell as we go to print, boasting nigh on three dozen bands, ranging through modern folk master Alasdair Roberts (joined by Concerto Caledonia’s David McGuinness), Leith’s lead-heavy sledgehammers Muscletusk and Glaswegian schizophrenic guitar pop mavericks Die Hard, to single out only a few potential highlights for your weekend (1-2 Sep). For a full breakdown of bands and venues participating see our listings.

Kylesa

Churches

Photo: gemma burke

Do Not Miss: DETOUR PRESENTS... CIRCA: CHVRCHES Electric Circus, 22 Aug On the basis of one song, CHVRCHES (yes, that’s precisely how the bairns are typing it) have generated more hype overnight than any other Scottish band in some years. To fly this high so soon could burn a newcomer, but with a pedigree that brings members of Aereogramme/The Unwinding Hours and The Twilight Sad together to rock ‘roided up synths to the versatile tones of Blue Sky Archives frontlass Lauren Mayberry, you’d best have faith they can keep writing rugged pop anthems like Lies.

Playing as part of guerrilla gig duo Detour’s fringe club night CIRCA (look, should I just leave this fucking caps lock on?), they’re joined by post-punk disco Weegies par excellence We Are The Physics, Twilight Sad DJs and the promise of a ‘ROCK ACTION LABEL ROOM.’ Check listings for more details on CIRCA nights running throughout the festival on 8, 15 and 29 Aug).

[Johnny Langlands]

Right, simmer down now; we know August isn’t looking as fruitful as last month, so as usual you’ll be needing us to point you in the direction of all the filth, scuzz and general debauchery likely to be going down at a cesspit near you across the next four weeks. There’s a few big players coming to your town, as well as some ripe local talent, so take note...

Classic rock devotees A Fable for the Curious promise to bring riffs by the dozen to the Garage’s Attic venue (2 Aug), but if you’re searching for something more eclectic, there’s a bountiful lineup the next day at the 13th Note: Punto the Feef, Black Tara, Blue Nova and Empty Avenue all look set to satisfy with a generous helping of psychedelia, classic rock and riff-led jams.

Oriental metallers ChthoniC blend their native Taiwan’s traditional influences with their own bizarre take on symphonic metal, so if you like your music heavy and culturally enlightening, head down to King Tut’s (7 Aug). Kylesa remain one of the Georgia scene’s most prolific sludge metal bands, so don’t forget to bear witness to their drop-tuned psychedelia at Ivory Blacks (8 Aug). Next, retrothrashers Iced Earth gallop towards King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut (9 Aug), but we certainly won’t judge if you’d rather catch former Dio members axing it out as Dio Disciples; that’s at The Cathouse on the same night.

Photo: Dave McCourt

In the absence of ‘The Edge’, Auld Reekie‘s alright

Photo: gemma burke

music

R E V I E W : L ive M u s i c

If you missed him earlier on in the year, hardcore Godfather Henry Rollins is giving you three opportunities to witness his hilarious spoken word set at The Queen’s Hall on the 8, 9 and 10 Aug as part of his Long March tour. Don’t screw this one up, kids.

Do you find yourself fighting an insatiable bloodlust? You’ll want to get yourselves down to Ivory Blacks – they’re hosting a relentless mid-month deathgrind extravaganza fronted by Cattle Decapitation and Incantation. Danish death-thrashers HateSphere and local boys Scordatura will be providing amoral support (15 Aug).

If you can’t get enough of 80s no frills hard rock, female-fronted Edinburgh natives Firebrand Super Rock are playing over at Bannerman’s with Ashes of Iron and Dog Tired (18 Aug). Don’t miss Orange County punk vets Social Distortion a few days later either; they’re still going strong after 30 years – watch them do their thing at The Garage (22 Aug).

Seeing the month off are long-standing Auld Reekie stoner-drone disciples Lords of Bastard, who will be unleashing their new album at Bannerman’s (25 Aug). Definitely worth a punt if you like yer slow, brooding riffs juxtaposed with thrashier sections.

We’re told they even like to experiment with “quiet bits” anaw. Ooft – that’s next month’s listening sorted as well, then.[Ross Watson]

August 2012

THE SKINNY 47

photo: ross gilmore

R E V I E W : L ive M u s i c

Tune-Yards / Muscles of Joy Òran Mór, 11 Jul

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Muscles of Joy’s art-folk melange isn’t one for dipping into half-heartedly: for best results, immersion is recommended.

This puts them at a disadvantage tonight, with their theatrical grooves only gradually accruing the attention they deserve; once hooked, however, their appeal is gravitationally strong.

Likewise the headliner: the inimitable, the captivating, the slightly dotty but evercharismatic Merrill Garbus, aka Tune-Yards. Her last Glasgow show was pretty much perfect; tonight marginally less so by comparison, but a nano step below flawless is fine by us.

Fans of second album w h o k

Meursault The Queen’s Hall, 7 Jul

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The ornate Queen’s Hall is more usually host to choirs and string ensembles. Tonight, Sparrow and the Workshop’s Jill O’Sullivan and Strike the Colours’ Jenny Reeve pave the way for our headliner with a pleasant set of new songs, sitting at the quieter end of Sparrow’s rootsy output. The duo – calling themselves Body Parts – have a promising dynamic. Meursault’s label (and sometime band) mate, Lancastrian native Rob St. John also provides a dark and funereal half hour with highlights from last year’s Weald album, including the death march of Domino, leaving the room with an oddly gloomy sort of euphoria.

48 THE SKINNY

August 2012

i l l are spoiled rotten, with all but one of its tracks trotted out for Òran Mór’s delectation tonight: Gangsta is particularly electrifying, in part thanks to the two-man sax section, who flesh out key numbers throughout the set, but mostly down to their ringleader’s dextrously wild vocals.

Further props are levied at Killa’s playful sorta-rap and the righteous My Country, while Real Live Flesh is a timely reminder of debut Bird-Brains’ more dialled-down attractions. There’s no new material to report – a shame, since a taste of the inprogress third album would have introduced a welcome note of the unexpected – but hollering along to Bizness fully suffices in the meantime. [Chris Buckle]

If there’s one glaring factor that might stand to soil the Wu-Tang Clan’s legacy, it’s a no-show. Here tonight under the ‘Wu Legends’ banner as a compact touring unit, it seems the 90s rap monoliths (or at least their booking agent) have finally realised the damage the arbitrary absence of constituent members has done to both the expectations of fans and their diminishing currency as a live act.

With Meth and Deck AWOL, it’s on GZA, Ghostface Killah and Raekwon to stroll through a 50 minute set of classic bangers (dwelling heavily on Liquid Swords) and obscurities from their collective vault. “There’s too many joints,” says Rae, almost apologetically. From his own Criminology and Ghostface co-hosted Ice Cream to the Clan’s Mystery of Chessboxin’ – for which GZA steps out of the shadows to respectfully handle his late cousin ODB’s verse – the trio dole out five hits in as many minutes. “Where the fuck am I

www.facebook.com/meursaultmusic

Mono, 19 Jul

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When not recording solo or infrequently gigging with Bis, Manda Rin likes to paint.

Tonight’s show launches her Cover Versions and Other Hits exhibition, which takes 15 of her favourite albums and reworks their sleeves in her distinctive Manga-esque style. Sleater Kinney, X-Ray Spex… we spend the time between bands trying to decide which will fit best in our living room, opting for a Le Tigre print but coveting several others.

We Are the Physics initiate the evening’s musical attractions in typically manic fashion: a flurry of synced poses, cheeky patter and noisy Devo-influenced art-pop. It transpires they’ve recently filmed a scene for Stuart Murdoch’s God Help the

www.wutang-corp.com

www.tune-yards.com

Something for the Weakened feels like a game changer for Meursault; the sheer volume of new songs Dull Spark and Dearly Distracted is now simply too much for Edinburgh’s tiny club venues, and a well turned out string ensemble (see, told you!) adds the necessary grandeur to a band that have come a long way from their electro-folk roots. With three roaring guitars onstage for much of the set, big single Flittin’ prompts a tentative singalong, whilst a bizarre stage invasion adds some surrealism to the joyful atmosphere. There’s a sense that this is a huge moment for a band finally on the cusp of throwing away the shackles of its local scene [Stu Lewis]

Bis / We Are the Physics

Girl flick, and so invite their handsome French co-star Pierre to perform the song in question, before noisily letting loose with their own material again for the final stretch.

It’s fun, but not half as much fun as watching Bis revive their finest hyper-pop moments: from sugar-rush breakthrough Kandy Pop to the shiny surfaces of Eurodisco, they’re significantly better than our niggling cynicism led us to expect. Singing of School Discos and Sweet Shops with sky-high energy seemed like it should be a kid’s game, yet here they are, sounding as fresh as ever (though “the gaps in between are longer than they used to be”, notes John Disco with a smile). What’s more, a new song suggests they’ve plenty to offer yet. Stick around this time guys, you’ve been missed. [Chris Buckle]

Photo: gemma burke

Photo: gemma burke

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at?” frowns Ghostface, stopping the set to demand the crowd up their game.

In a measured performance, Duel of the Iron Mic is the one incendiary moment where all three MCs gather center stage and throw the gloves off. The tempo eases as Ghost pulls up a chair, leaning forward to tell stories from Supreme Clientele, before they turn the bass up for Crash Your Crew – a buried gem from GZA’s Beneath the Surface – and take a slightly dubious stab at Rae’s more recent crackslanging anthem Rock’n’Roll.

An all-too-brief flash of C.R.E.A.M., Can It Be All So Simple and Wu-Tang Clan Ain’t Nuttin Ta Fuck Wit reiterate the timeless soul and diversity of their debut, before the sprawling Triumph recalls a Clan at the height of their powers. “That’s the best rap group you’re gonna git, it’s been written,” insists Rae with ruthless confidence; Ghost, meanwhile, gets caught up in hawking t-shirts before the curfew sees them out. Hustlers to the end. [Johnny Langlands]

Photo: gemma burke

O2ABC, 12 Jul

Photo: kenny mcColl

Wu Legends

School of Seven Bells / Churches Stereo, 22 Jul

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One song, one official gig – it’s been an economical route to the top of the hype pile for Churches. Lies proves to be just the tip of an already impressivelyproportioned electro-pop iceberg, as waves of readyformed earworms affirm the trio’s mettle – some audacious, shiny alt-hits-in-waiting, others more low-key and textural. A chockfull Stereo laps up the lot, and if we’re not mistaken, empties out a little when they finish.

School of Seven Bells’ own impressive ascent took a slight knock ahead of third album Ghostory, with Claudia Deheza’s departure thinning the heavenly vocal pool that had been a big part of their appeal. But the

subsequent album’s resilient, spectral beauty proved that, on record at any rate, Benjamin Curtis and remaining Deheza twin Alejandra are undiminished by the severance.

Live, their recovery is initially less clear-cut, but vital signs are strong: while tonight’s subtle performance never quite envelopes the room like it seems it should, it’s nothing a bit of extra volume wouldn’t fix - and certainly, the crowd seem unfazed, judging from the noisy encore-clamouring. A couple of extra musicians fill out stage and sound as the duo whip up woozy melodies that have eyes closing in veneration, with Windstorm still a lofty peak; it may no longer showcase the sisters’ interlinking harmonies as it once did, but it remains a joyous highpoint.

[Chris Buckle]

Baroness Stereo, 10 Jul

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Tonight’s been a long time coming; when Baroness last rolled through Glasgow some two and a half years ago, Sleazy’s patrons stood witness to their progressive ability to merge heavier sounds with feel good rock ‘n roll. If first impressions of new material are anything to go by, imminent double album Yellow & Green yields sufficient potential to solidify the Georgia quartet’s status as one of the finest propositions to emerge from their booming native metal scene in some years.

Still, to push fresh offerings too hard this early would be risky; instead they blow Stereo’s door open with an airing of treats from 2009’s much-loved Blue

Record. Leading in, A Horse Called Golgotha is vigilantly performed, sending arms up and energy levels higher. “Holy fuckin’ shit, Glasgow!” barks frontman John Baizley with an appreciative grin, faith evidently restored after a less than adequate crowd response in Manchester the previous evening. “It got so bad at one point I had to tell a joke,” he confesses.

The band’s zeal is reflected in the urgency of their playing as lead guitarist Peter Adams and new bassist Matt Maggioni give it their all, ploughing through crowdpleasers like Jake Leg and Isak with absolute precision.

Maybe Madchester didn’t dig it, but tonight every gut rumbling bass throb and noodly solo hits the mark. [Ross Watson] www.baronessmusic.com

REVIEW: SINGLES

records

The Dirty Dozen Veering from constructive criticism to outright disgust, Alejandra Deheza and Benjamin Curtis of School of Seven Bells have a good cop/bad cop gander at August’s sixties-indebted promo pile.

Interview: chris buckle

Toddla T & Shola Ama – Alive (Ninja Tune, 13 Aug) A: I love her vocals.

B: I’ve already forgotten what the chorus goes like though – that’s not a good sign for a pop song.

Great singer though, Toddla.

The Skinny: Shola’s the singer…

B: Shit, Shola, Shola… So who’s Toddla? [laughing] What the fuck kind of name is Toddla?! Who would call themselves that?

A: I’d give this 4.

B: That’s generous, but Shola seems cool. She’s singing her ass off…

The Heavy – What Makes A Good Man? (Ninja Tune, 13 Aug) B: Is this sixties soul thing big right now or something?

The Skinny: This is soundtracking a Miller ad campaign in the States, apparently...

B: Oh, this song is made for a beer commercial.

It’s junk food.

A: It seems like they know they’re making junk food too, you know? It’s very marketable.

B: I give them props for that, because that’s smart – they’re going to make a lot of money if they’re halfway intelligent, but… er… the other 98% of me just thinks this is fucking vile [laughs]. Sorry. 10 out of 10 for marketability. The rest is disqualified for being completely horrible.

Noisettes – That Girl (Mono-ra-rama, 13 Aug) Benjamin: This is one of those songs that’s really hard to critique – if you like sixties music you’ll like this, and if you don’t, you won’t. I don’t think it’s necessarily creative; it’s more like wallpaper, or putting up a picture of Diana Ross in your bedroom. It just seems like decoration.

Alejandra: But then I think that’s probably what they were going for – if you wanted to create a new sound, then you would.

B: This is why it’s so hard to be a music critic, I mean, what are we critiquing on – whether they did a good job or not, or whether or not it’s worth a shit? In the job of recreating – 10 out of 10. But otherwise, 6.

General Fiasco – Bad Habits (Dirty Hit, 6 Aug) [An initial look of bemusement gives way to laughter. Alejandra looks a little lost for words] B: People still make music like this? I really, really hope that in 50 years there isn’t a fucking band recreating this.

A: I… er… this is really not my thing. But I can understand why people might like it – it’s got melody, and the dude has a lot of emotion.

B: This kind of music should feel like it’s going to fall apart, whereas this sounds very comfortable-4.

The Cult – The Wolf (Cooking Vinyl, 6 Aug) B: Oh shit, I’m so excited to hear this!

[The track starts and their grins get wider] A: Well, it’s doing what they do best…

[Suddenly, the smiles disappear] A: Wow, this took a turn.

B: Yeah, that went very wrong at about 45 seconds… very, very wrong. I give the first 45 seconds 9 out of 10, but the rest is disqualified. I like that they’re bringing the cowbell back though, there’s some extra credit for that.

Garbage – Big Bright World (STUNVOLUME, 6 Aug) B: Not that they were ever particularly intellectual, but I feel like this song is extra lobotomised. I’m not saying they were ever like Yes or something, but Jesus… What I don’t like about it comes from the extreme respect I have for them. Does that cushion it at all?

The Skinny: Depends on the score you give…

A: Oh brother… ouch. It’s hard because I really like her. 5?

B: I’ll say 6, just because it’s Shirley Manson and she’s cool.

Tamara Schlesinger – Again (Tantrum Records, 6 Aug) B: There’s that sixties sound again – what’s going on around here?

A: This is good – the fact that she can keep a song this interesting with just what she’s using is pretty awesome. I’d be really curious to pick her brain – I think it would be fun in there.

B: It needed a bridge, though.

A: I didn’t feel it was lacking anything, I think it was really good.

B: But that’s the single – if you put out a single, I think you’ve got to respect the form…

A: I don’t agree, this is good the way it is – 8.

B: Yeah, I’d have probably fucked her song up.

Don’t listen to me, Tamara, you’re good.

FaltyDL – Hardcourage (Ninjatune, 20 Aug) A: This bassline reminds me a lot of, like, 96-ish jungle, but it kinda just makes me want to listen to that instead. [Benjamin skips the track forward a minute]. Oh, this is throwing out all the tricks.

B: Yeah, but for a dance single it’s understated in a way that’s kind of unfortunate.

A: I wouldn’t really hear that in a club – it sounds like something you’d hear at a restaurant or hotel.

B: Yeah it’s kind of a hotel lobby jam. I’m sure FaltyDL is a great fellow, but I’m hoping Hardcourage is not his best – 5.

Caned and Able – I’ve Got You Now (PSB Music, 27 Aug) B: Oh man, have you seen what they’re called? I’m so mad at that name. [Alejandra reads and visibly cringes] B [in response to the chorus]: He does not have me yet…

Skinny: Well he’s running out of time…

B: Oh shit, this song’s almost over! You gotta be fu… See, what colours my judgement is, you’re not just playing us some random song: this is the fucking single, this is their best song right now. So you can’t just think, ‘oh well, maybe I’ll like another’ – this should be the best one. Then again, that’s not really fair ‘cause most of my favourite songs weren’t singles, so maybe… I just think they should have worked a bit harder on that.

A: Yeah, it was premature to end it there. I’d give it an ‘incomplete’.

Eugene McGuinness – Harlequinade (Domino, 6 Aug) A: This is very mild.

B: Medium spicy at most. It sounds like Robert Palmer.

A: I don’t want to give this a low score, because there’s a lot of work and some good ideas in there.

B: But it’s hard to give anyone a good score when you can hear Portishead playing on the PA next door… If Portishead is a 10, what’s this?

A: Oh man… No, that’s too hard! That’s not fair to anybody! Ok, 5. I was going to go higher, but you put Portishead in the mix.

B: He’s just a victim of circumstance…

Mina Tindle – Bells (Believe, 20 Aug) A: She has a really soulful voice, you can tell that she’s feeling it.

B: It’s a bit too cute though.

A: I don’t know, there’s something in her voice that’s really sad. She sounds like she sings with her whole body. Can we rate her, rather than the song?

B: Yeah, we give Mina a 9, and if you were gauging cuteness, it’s extremely cute.

A: On the cute scale, definitely 10, but for the song, 5, because a good idea is worth a lot, and that was a good idea.

Single of the Month: Lower Dens – Candy (Ribbon, 13 Aug)

A: I like her voice a lot – it’s a like an exact mix of Siouxie and T-Rex. B: Man, that guitar player is getting himself some…

A: It’s really moody – it sort of reminds me of that opening scene in Mulholland Drive, where all you see is the pavement, and it’s really dark and the car’s driving along... This is spooky.

B: Yeah, it has a really good vibe. A solid 8. www.sviib.com

Why?

Sod in the Seed EP City Slang, 13 Aug

rrrrr While still keen on Eskimo Snow’s more sedate direction, it’s a thrill to hear Why?’s Yoni Wolf in full flow for Sod in the Seed’s title track. Their first new material in almost three years, it’s a vibrant showcase for his sharp wordplay, so verbosely enmeshed that it’s impossible to quote from without spoiling the effect.

Musically, the trio continue to eschew conventions, pioneering some peculiar but rewarding genre syntheses across the EP’s tight duration: For Someone is a woozy blend of xylophone, recorder and bongos; Probable Cause a minute of calypso presets; Shag Carpet a sort of liturgical hip-hop, and so on. A superb return that’s both familiar and exotic, the only real complaint is that a full album remains months away. [Chris Buckle] Why? play SWG3, Glasgow on 12 Oct www.whywithaquestionmark.com

Lightships Fear & Doubt Domino, out now

rrrrr For those Teenage Fanclub fans who have always held a torch for Gerard Love’s songcraft, his Lightships project holds great potential, allowing his gorgeously dreamy melodies to take centre stage. The four tracks on this EP have the same intoxicating quality of his earlier work, but Lightships eschew Teenage Fanclub’s guitar-heavy sound, opting for a

more washed-out, ethereal approach.

The end result can sometimes feel slightly lacking in definition, particularly on the reverb-soaked Cavalcade; Lightships are most effective on Silver and Gold, which juxtaposes verses of wispish fragility with a robust, stomping chorus, laced with fuzzy guitars. Love remains one of the most melodicallygifted songwriters around, and as the highpoints here demonstrate, he’s still capable of embellishing his compositions with new ideas. [Sam Wiseman] www.lightships.tumblr.com

August 2012

THE SKINNY 49

records

RE V IE W : A L B UMS

ALBUM OF THE MONTH: Matthew Dear Beams

Ghostly International, 27 Aug

rrrrr With Beams, Ghostly International founder Matthew Dear wears two of his strongest influences firmly on his sleeve. David Bowie and the Talking Heads loom large, in the louche, chopped punk-funk of tracks like Up & Out, the detuned space disco of Get The Rhyme Right, and in Dear’s vocal performance, which has more than a hint of both laterperiod David Byrne and the Thin White Duke about it.

Looking beyond that, we see the electronic legacy that Dear holds equally close: Detroit techno, classic synth pop and experimental electronic flourishes are fleshed out in fine, fat swathes of sound from his impressive array of analogue synth gear. But what makes Beams such an instant classic is not just the way it moulds – Hot Chip-like

– classic dancefloor sounds with precise, inventive songwriting and challenging, puzzle-box lyrics.

It’s not just the slick, exquisitely-produced warmth and depth of the music; it’s the way the whole package works together, the attention to detail. At once incredibly forward-looking and reassuringly familiar – a hard trick to pull off in itself – Beams will feel like an album you’ve already spent a lifetime with, and can only cement Dear’s reputation as one of the finest songwriters in modern electronic music.

[Bram E. Gieben] www.ghostly.com

Serengeti

Ned Collette & Wirewalker

Opossom

Anticon, 13 Aug

Fire Records, 6 Aug

Fire Records, 6 Aug

C.A.R.

rrrrR Credited to Serengeti, but featuring a three-way collab between the rapper and Anticon mainstays Jel and Odd Nosdam, C.A.R. is a deliciously loose and accessible album from the awkward artistic leaders of the US underground hiphop scene. Clocking eleven tracks in a little over thirty minutes, it’s heavy on strange sonic ideas and grooves but light on head-mangling concepts or approaches, which is part of its broad appeal.

Serengeti’s rhymes are humorous and deceptively throwaway, delivered with a slouch and swagger all his own. Talk To Me, with its refrain of ‘Where you been, baby...’ has the loping stoner appeal of early Beck. Jel drops a verse and some serious beat-juggling technique on Nice, while Geti Life feels like a freestyle, with Edan-esque humour.

The whole project feels thrown together and improvised, but therein lies its strength – three friends with years in the hip-hop scene trading ideas, techniques and silly shit over beats. Neither a challenging nor particularly groundbreaking record, it’s still enormously satisfying.

[Bram E. Gieben]

2

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Electric Hawaii

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The second album from Ned Collette’s Wirewalker project, and the first since the Melbourne-born songwriter relocated to Berlin, subtly augments his brooding vocals and Spanish guitar with nostalgia-soaked 80s synths and drum programming. 2 is a record composed with spartan tools, centring around repetitive, lurching rhythms, that nonetheless betrays startling emotional depths. This is particularly true of the two centrepieces, The Decision and Long You Lie, which conjure a melancholy intensity reminiscent of The Blue Nile, both in tone and texture.

Elsewhere, Collette eschews the dramatic chord progressions of these songs for the insistent, bassy murk of tracks like Il Futuro Fantastico and The Hedonist, which instead recall the atmospheric gloom-folk of Gravenhurst. This ebb and flow between the record’s emotional crescendos is astutely paced, and 2 showcases a mature songwriter; one who maintains a quiet confidence in the cumulative impact of his austere, yet deceptively complex approach.

[Sam Wiseman]

On Electric Hawaii, New Zealand’s Kody Neilson has honed an infectious strain of Motown-inspired psych-pop. It’s a densely-layered record, combining bruising guitar, heavily-processed vocals and a mixture of drum loops with live percussion; the end result often sounds like a more feelgood, poppy take on Thee Oh Sees’ deliriously overdriven garage, particularly on the stomping, surfy Cola Elixir. Quieter tracks, like the closing Inhaler Song, are closer to Animal Collective’s sunny, echo-laden psychedelia.

Having spent eight years fronting Auckland’s Mint Chicks, however, Neilson has developed a distinctive songwriting style, ensuring that Electric Hawaii always retains an individuality that transcends its influences. There are plenty of instantly catchy songs here, particularly the bass-driven power-pop of Blue Meanies; if the album has a flaw, it’s simply that the heaviness of the production means the subtleties of Neilson’s songs don’t always register. At just half an hour long, however, it never outstays its welcome.

[Sam Wiseman]

www.nedcollette.com

opossom.bandcamp.com

www.anticon.com

Bailter Space

Yeasayer

Franz Nicolay

Fire Records, 20 Aug

Mute, 20 Aug

Self-released, 6 Aug

Fragrant World

Strobosphere

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Strobosphere sees New Zealand indie-noise pioneers Bailter Space return, after a 13-year hiatus, to a markedly different musical landscape, in which neoshoegazers like Deerhunter have honed new variants of guitar-based melodic noise. It’s all the more remarkable, then, that the quartet’s sound is still utterly distinctive. The secret lies in simplicity: where Bailter Space’s successors have developed an increasingly intricate, multilayered variant of 90s underground rock, Strobosphere retains faith in the emotional power of walls of dreamy, unprocessed ringing guitars.

Opener Things That We Found is essentially centred around an addictive two-note riff, while Blue Star buries the vocals beneath an avalanche of My Bloody Valentine-style atonal chords. Strobosphere, in fact, could easily have been made twenty years ago; and yet, the richness of Bailter Space’s sound has endured, such that its rugged simplicity actually serves to set them apart from their more technically-minded followers. A triumphant return. [Sam Wiseman]

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Yeasayer, that most postmodern of American bands, can never be trusted to stay in one place for very long. From first to second album, their previously tribal sound morphed into something altogether more danceable and lovestruck.

For round three, they’ve shifted again, returning with an album indebted to the pop and R&B of the 1980s and 90s (Reagan’s Skeleton is a dead ringer for Beloved’s 1993 classic Sweet Harmony), but which manages to sound as fresh as anything they’ve produced to date.

Fragrant World is as dense and layered as we’ve come to expect from a Yeasayer release but it’s also the first time the Brooklyn trio have come close to what might be described as a formula. The best songs on here (see Henrietta, Fingers Never Bleed) tend to start out on a nebulous, swirling tangent, before crystallising in an inevitably glorious hook that’ll lodge itself in your cranium for days. As grand designs go, it’s one that endures. [Finbarr Bermingham] Playing The Arches, Glasgow on 28 Sep www.yeasayer.net

Do The Struggle

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Anyone who ever saw him play with The Hold Steady would never have doubted whether Franz Nicolay had the cojones to be a good frontman. And so it has transpired. On his third album, the Kickstarter-funded Do The Struggle, he is strong of voice and character. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he’s of the Craig Finn school of songwriting, rich in tale and sleight of phrase (“trees are cannibals / they eat their own” – Frankie Stubbs’ Tears).

There are times when he apes some of those he no doubt helped inspire in a previous light (The Hearts of Boston is a fine opener, with more than a whiff of the Gaslight Anthem about it), and others in which he nods to more traditional influences (as in the folkish The Migration of the Cuckoo). It makes for an entertaining, if not wholly fulfilling record, proving for the second time this year that life after The Hold Steady can be almost as fruitful as life within it.

[Finbarr Bermingham] Playing Cerberus Bar, Dundee on 22 Aug; The Admiral, Glasgow on 23 Aug; Henry’s Cellar Bar, Edinburgh on 25 Aug; www.franznicolay.com

www.myspace.com/bailterspace

JJ Doom

Chilly Gonzales

Eugene McGuinness

Lex Records, 21 Aug

Gentle Threat, 28 Aug

Domino, 6 Aug

Key to the Kuffs

rrrRR Rapper / producer Omar Gilyard’s two LPs under the Jneiro Jarel moniker were mercurial, genrebending experiences taking in broken beat, electronic influences and roots music. With support from LA’s Low End Theory club night, the proving ground for the likes of Flying Lotus and Samiyam, he’s become a well-respected figure on the fringes of hip-hop, making him an ideal collaborator for alt. rap phenomenon DOOM. On Key to the Kuffs, the beats are dusty and psychedelic – GMO, featuring Beth Gibbons of Portishead revolves around choppy acoustic guitar and cinematic strings, while Damon Albarn’s appearance on Bite The Thong is backed with a FlyLo-esque stuttering beat, half-heard film samples and custom-distressed organ loops. DOOM is on top form, with his tripped-out narratives evoking pulp fiction, comic-book supervillains, and (now he’s returned to his birthplace of London) snatches of oldfashioned cockney patter. It’s a strange brew, and not every experiment works. A surreal, self-consciusly lo-fi, hallucinatory gumbo, and as such, an acquired taste – but an interesting union. [Bram Gieben] www.lexrecords.com

50 THE SKINNY

August 2012

Solo Piano II

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From prankster rapper to electro-funk maestro, the artist formerly known as Jason Beck has long demonstrated a playfully flexible attitude towards genre. In the last two years alone, his iconoclasm has produced a chess movie and an orchestral hip-hop album, but of all his varied guises, it’s as a classically-trained pianist that he’s arguably most distinguished. Not only is 2004’s Solo Piano apparently his highest selling album to date, but he once beat Andrew WK in a head-to-head piano battle, and that guy can play.

Solo Piano II presents another 14 compositions in the titular style, and as before, Gonzales elegantly undercuts his natural inclination towards showing-off. There are no tricks or twists to this Ronseal-titled collection, just neo-classical ivory tinkling of the highest calibre, as tracks like the classy Othello channel their composer’s prodigious talents into gracefully simple melodies, modestly but expertly reaffirming his 21st century Renaissance-man credentials. [Chris Buckle] Chilly Gonzales performs his Piano Talk Show at the Queens Hall on 3 and 26 Aug www.chillygonzales.com

The Invitation to the Voyage

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From quirky, well-regarded debut to playing guitar in musical shrug Miles Kane’s backing band in just four short years: Eugene McGuinness hasn’t exactly been firing on all cylinders lately. But now he’s back, with slick quiff and slicker production, re-cast in a plastic soul mould and vying for a piece of the 80s-pop revival action. “I’m going for the jugular,” he explains on opener Harlequinade, and his methodology is not to be trifled with: stuffed with synths and trumpets and gloss, it’s a bold and brash vanguard for an album with definite promise.

But elsewhere it’s lazy: Japanese Cars is purposeless pastiche; Shotgun samples Peter Gunn to irritating effect; while the lyrics of Sugarplum are liable to set eyes-a-rolling, particularly when followed by the comparatively imaginative imagery of lead single Lion. Bright points like that make it difficult to write Invitation to the Voyage off completely, but celebrating it proves more difficult still. [Chris Buckle] www.eugenemcguinness.net

R EVIEW : A L B UMS

James Yorkston

Tamara Schlesinger

Six Organs of Admittance

Domino, 13 Aug

Tantrum, 6 Aug

Drag City, 20 Aug

I Was A Cat From A Book

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The Procession

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Ascent

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Even if you didn’t know its background, I Was a Cat… is an emotionally powerful listen. With context, it near overwhelms: in 2010, James Yorkston’s daughter fell seriously ill, sidelining his musical commitments while he focussed all energies on her recovery. Folk is one of those genres where autobiography is presumed to inform a songwriter’s music in an especially direct manner, and certainly it’s impossible to hear the urgent I Can Take All This or the solemnly candid The Fire & The Flames (“all that I want is for you to be well my love”) without the connection producing goose-bumps. But dwelling only on personal circumstances results in an unnecessarily reductive assessment of this remarkable album – Yorkston’s best yet, we’d venture. Further highpoints include Just as Scared’s stunning duet with Jill O’Sullivan, and the agitated, breathless Border Song, which underscore the record’s incisive beauty and fiery passion respectively. [Chris Buckle]

In 6 Day Riot, Tamara Schlesinger’s compositions come wrapped in tiers of warm instrumentation, generating a welcoming, communal atmosphere. Solo debut The Procession is a comparatively stark and intimate offering, her music stripped back to its bones. Her voice is always at the fore, often providing both lead melody and a looped, layered a capella bedrock – an increasingly familiar dynamic, but one with mileage yet.

Initially, the stylistic shift produces a curiously aloof tone, but that’s not to paint it as dour: repeat listens bring its carefree undertow into focus, with the appeal of gibbering opener Yai Yai, and the delicate, dancing So Long particularly pronounced. There’s a hint of a tantalising middle ground waiting to be seized – a balance between her erstwhile full-band aesthetic and this crystalline left turn – but any urge to reconcile them at this juncture is neutralised by the album’s consistency and clarity of vision. [Chris Buckle]

Adopting the maxim ‘if you’ve got it, flaunt it,’ Six Organs of Admittance’s Ben Chasny opens his latest album with a big, bold guitar solo – a whole five and a half minutes of virtuoso fret fiddling, all told. Track two mixes things up, kind of: it’s still a five-minute guitar solo, but with a couple of extra minutes of moody psych preceding it.

For those who prefer such noodling as a means to an end (rather than the main attraction), both workouts are liable to outstay their welcome, but Chasny knows better than to let tedium take root, with Solar Ascent focusing his skills on a dirge-like slice of melancholia, and the acoustic melodies of Your Ghost delivering another well-timed pace-change. While Ascent is arguably less distinctive than recent discography highlights like the droning Luminous Night, its full-on rock elements serve to further subvert SOA’s alt-folk origins, to striking effect. [Chris Buckle]

Playing Edinburgh Queen’s Hall on 21 Sep

Playing stereo, Glasgow on 15 Aug

www.sixorgans.com

www.jamesyorkston.co.uk

www.tamaraschlesinger.co.uk

Swans

Antony and the Johnsons

Dan Deacon

Young God, 27 Aug

Rough Trade, 6 Aug

Domino, 27 Aug

The Seer

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With a running time of two hours, Swans’ second album since the project’s reactivation in 2010 is something of an endurance test. Yet, given band leader Michael Gira’s claim that it’s the culmination of everything he’s ever done or dreamed of doing, such excess is understandable – necessary, even.

Aside from containing the appropriate level of volume expected from a Swans release, The Seer largely revisits the gothic Americana found in Gira’s Angels of Light project; most prevalent on the idyllic Song for a Warrior, which provides the appropriate respite from the chaos with a well-met guest turn from Karen O. But it’s those moments of sheer visceral energy that truly hit home: Avatar builds with repetition before erupting into a rousing magisterial din, and the thirty-minute title track equally excites and disturbs with violent power. These songs will likely continue to mutate at the band’s cathartic live shows, but as it stands The Seer already has much to offer, fusing together aggression and grace with thunderous results.

[Ross Watson]

Cut the World

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A quick glance at the lineup of the Antony Hegartycurated Meltdown Festival shows the breadth to which his social and musical currency stretches. Electronic mavericks (Matmos) sit alongside iconic songstresses (Liz Fraser), rock icons (Lou Reed) and contemporary composers (William Basinski). His oeuvre of work has always been similarly fascinating: combining intelligent, poetic lyrics and his distinctively beautiful voice with his poignant, politicised outlook on life, all of which are present in condensed fashion on Cut the World, his vehicle band’s new live album.

Reworkings of their finest work are rendered even more gorgeous by the full orchestral accompaniment. You Are My Sister and I Fell In Love With a Dead Boy sound fantastic swathed in strings, but it’s the monologue Future Feminism, in which Hegarty ponders the significance of lunar cycles on humanity and life after death, that steals the show. An hour spent with Cut the World is a capitvating one.

By now, you wouldn’t expect anything less. [Finbarr Bermingham]

America

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America by name, America by nature. Dan Deacon’s follow-up to his 2009 career high Bromst is swathed in the big, bold and sometimes graceless chutzpah of the country it was created in. But these brainbox-battering beats are as much an examination of the Baltimore-based composer’s sonic progression as a delve into what motivates the United States of America’s inner psyche.

On the face of it, little’s changed in the land of Deacon. The hyperdriven distortion of Guildford Avenue and Crash Jam are as euphoric and ear-screeching as anything found within his extensive back catalogue. But beneath this maximalist exterior lies an understated romantic streak that weaves its way through the tingling gaze of The Great American Desert and Rails’ parping trumpets, climaxing in True Thrush’s melting android melody and hexagonal drum patterns. A triumph, for sure – America is perhaps more vast and complex than even Deacon had anticipated. [Billy Hamilton]

Playing The Arches, Glasgow on 16 Nov www.younggodrecords.com

The Big Eyes Family Players & Friends

Nathan Fake

The Unwinding Hours

Border Community, 27 Aug

Chemikal Underground, 20 Aug

Static Caravan, 6 Aug

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Folk Songs II

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Steam Days

After 2009’s Folk Songs collaboration, James Yorkston lets the Big Eyes Family Players take charge of the sequel, appearing on just a couple of tracks this time around. But canny to the wisdom of ‘many hands make light work,’ James Green and company have introduced a variety of Friends to the fold as replacements, and consequently, there’s an increased diversity.

Each contributor brings a slightly different quality to the table and the Players respond accordingly: particularly effective are Heather Ditch’s soulful rendition of The Clyde Water, underpinned by acoustic arpeggios and a subtle synth buzz, and the Alasdair Roberts-sung Maureen from Gippursland, which hews closer to folk convention in vocal delivery, if not necessarily instrumentation (an ebbing, rippling array of organs, strings, cymbals and more). On Folk Songs II, The Big Eyes Family Players respect tradition without being enslaved by it, making a third entry highly desirable. [Chris Buckle]

For an artist whose first album cradled one of techno’s most evocative slow-burners to date, anything that follows is always going to be held up in comparison.

With his second album neatly escaping that trap by darting towards the dancefloor, his trick with the third has been to take a step backwards into his own mind, traversing nocturnal landscapes and documenting “everything that’s gone on in [his] head for the past two years.”

It’s a beautiful journey, floating through synaesthetic soundscapes of otherworldly nostalgia and longing. But while it’s buoyed by a techno pulse that suggests the club is still a tempting memory, this is the balm, not the follow up, to the short thud of 2009’s Hard Islands.

As it works its way through disconcertingly emotional moments – the intense requiem of Rue, or the Aphex-esque schizophrenia of World Of Spectrum – it’s clear that Fake’s mind has chambers even he was surprised to discover. [Rosie Davies]

www.big-eyes.co.uk

www.nathanfake.co.uk

Afterlives

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With their self-titled debut as The Unwinding Hours, Craig Beaton and Iain Cook proved unequivocally that there was life after Aereogramme. Rarely does a band so effortlessly command the kind of reverence that follows this (or their former) band around in a live setting. On record it’s much the same thing; reminiscent of The Blue Nile in their hushed majesty, this is food for the soul. Fortunately for their loyal following, any threat of a sabbatical while Beaton went off to study Theology was stunted by a particularly creative streak which resulted in album number two.

Break seems a clear and optimistic statement of intent, pushing soaring choruses to the fore with a stride that their often understated and downtempo entry only hinted at. But they can do both: “Don’t count me out just yet,” Beaton warns on The Right to Know, a menacing number fleshed out around the propulsive backbone of Cook and Jonny Scott’s dynamic rhythm section. Uplifting and melancholic, muscular and brittle – Afterlives is a beautifully nuanced complement to its predecessor. [Dave Kerr] Playing Stereo, Glasgow on 1 Sep

Scott Kelly and the Road Home

Hector Bizerk

Neurot, 13 Aug

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The Forgiven Ghost in Me

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Drums. Rap. yes.

Self-released, Out Now

Given the steady incorporation of folk elements into his main band’s palette, as well as that of side project Blood and Time, Scott Kelly’s solemn, apocalyptic meditations on his solo records aren’t a wholly recent venture; it’s more that the Neurosis founder’s more subtle influences are given their own dedicated space to breathe here. Joined here by Greg Dale (Christ on Parade) and Neurosis bandmate Noah Landis, this is startlingly sparse music.

Layering is kept to a minimum, with acoustic guitar and Kelly’s unmistakeable gravelly voice as the primary weapons, but there’s always a prevailing sense of foreboding even when the intensity isn’t at a high. When it is, the effects are heavy, though not in the traditional sense; The Field That Surrounds Me is probably the most intense track here, its brooding guitar tones and shimmering cymbals scrape away at the psyche. To see Kelly mellow out in this way might not be to the taste of all fans, but it’s a worthwhile trip. [Ross Watson]

“I wanna be in one of those bands with pointy shoes and haircuts like Paul Weller,” says rapper Louie on the opening track of Hector Bizerk’s first full-length LP, before deciding: “Nah, fuck that.” Thank goodness he decided to stick to his guns; Hector’s stripped, minimal, self-aware take on hip-hop allows them to slough off clichés and expectations like summer rain: on Burst Love, Louie’s clear-eyed, optimistic lyrics about artistic commitment and determination are the perfect complement to the buzzing electro-bass and stop-start drums.

Niche II is a trip through Glasgow’s urban environment, touching on sectarianism, crime and politics. Man Up’s blend of indie and upfront doubletime rap has lost none of its feral energy in the transition from gig to studio, while more relaxed cuts like For The Record provide a nice contrast. Their sound is filled-out, polished and refined, and this is a thrilling level up from their demos and EPs, delivering in spades on that early promise. [Bram E. Gieben]

www.neurotrecordings.com

Available via iTunes, Amazon and other digital outlets.

The Top five 1

matthew dear

2

the unwinding hours

beams

afterlives

3 james yorkston

i was a cat from a book

4

swans

the seer

5

yeasayer

fragrant world

www.soundcloud.com/hector-bizerk

August 2012

THE SKINNY 51

NEW BLOOD

music

THE SHY RETIRER Pain, sadness, anxiety: it’s a tough job being PERFUME GENIUS. But things are looking up, MIKE HADREAS explains INTERVIEW: CHRIS BUCKLE

PERFUME GENIUS’S second album starts with an intake of breath. It’s a preparation, a steeling gulp of air that readies both listener and performer for the brutalising sadness to come. The track to which it belongs, entitled AWOL Marine, is beautiful: solemn piano and distorted vocals locked in a slow dance and gradually absorbed by white noise.

Yet beneath its gentle exterior lurks a grim inspiration: a piece of amateur pornography in which a participant is heard explaining his need to sell himself in order to fund his wife’s healthcare, degraded by circumstance to turning tricks for the camera. The song, and the album as a whole, is devastating and addictive. Indeed, all across his burgeoning discography, Mike Hadreas delivers such intensely-felt emotion that it’s a wonder he can channel all that hurt without imploding. Yet while his voice carries the same slight, perpetually teary waver in conversation as it does in song, he’s friendly, chatty and a whole lot less socially awkward than his recording persona would suggest.

But, he stresses, it wasn’t always thus. “If I think back to five years ago,” he shares, “I was terrified even to make a dentist appointment.”

But five years is a long time: enough time to halt a self-destructive lifestyle of drug and alcohol abuse, record an album (2010’s Learning), temporarily fall back into old habits, get clean again, record another album (the aforementioned Put Your Back N 2 It), and tour the world. According to Hadreas, it’s been a therapeutic process. “This

whole music thing has just given me a lot more purpose, and I feel a lot more… proud of myself,” he suggests. “I’m not so worried about what people think of me. Before, I was terrified of that.”

Why? “I guess just because I felt like I didn’t have much to offer anybody. But now…” he pauses.

“I’m still really shy and I’ll sometimes hide in dark little rooms, but now when I talk to other people I feel like, I don’t know, like an adult! I don’t know how else to explain it.”

While Learning was written without expectations and recorded at his mum’s house, its successor represents a shift in Hadreas’s attitude. “I’ve been writing and thinking more as a professional musician now I guess,” he says. “Before I didn’t know what I was writing music for – I didn’t know that I would make albums and that I was going to be able to, you know, not have a day job – which is probably the coolest part.” The Skinny asks how his younger self would have felt about his career choice. “Me as a kid? Oh, this is beyond what I thought I was ever capable of. I think I just thought I’d be an artist of some kind. I don’t think I even knew what that meant – I thought I could just do what the fuck I wanted.” He laughs. “You have to work a lot more than I was hoping for…”

Writing such bruised lyrics certainly sounds like hard work: consider, for instance, Learning’s Mr Petersen, an autobiographical tale with a gutwrenching pay-off (“when I was sixteen he jumped off a building… I hope there’s room for you up above or down below”). Could he ever write music

“If I think back to five years ago, I was terrified even to make a dentist appointment” MIKE HADREAS without having a close emotional connection with it – work as a songwriter-for-hire, for instance?

“I’m not sure. I’m pretty sure that if someone wanted me to write a song for a commercial, I could find a way to slip in some crazy, semi-subversive thing into it,” he ponders. “I like the idea of making pop music that people will sing along to, but they’re actually singing about surviving sexual abuse or something, without even knowing it.”

People are already singing along: search his song titles online and you’ll soon stumble across a webcam-shot cover version. How does it feel to hear your words sung back in another’s voice?

There’s a long pause. “I’ve gotten a lot less shy about a lot of things,” he eventually offers, “but that still makes me feel pretty shy for some reason.

I guess because my songs can be really earnest anyways, and then when there’s a YouTube cover, that’s when people are, like, super-earnest… I just usually cry and shut my computer…” He

reconsiders. “But there’s something really sweet about it too, and not in a condescending way at all. Something…” he hunts for the appropriate word. “Something heart-warming.”

As well as musical tributes, fans will often write to Hadreas. He replies whenever possible, though admits correspondence has fallen by the wayside of late. Does he consider it a responsibility? “I think if I was in an actual band then it wouldn’t feel like a responsibility, but I guess people are writing directly to me,” he explains. “They think they know me a little bit, and usually the messages are kind of heavy – not always, but sometimes they have secrets in them and stuff, so I try and respond to all of those. It’s a strange situation sometimes. I have to decide whether I’m supposed to give advice, or if I’m even equipped to give advice, or if I’m just supposed to write that I read your message and I understand.” Growing up, did he ever write to any musicians himself? “No, but I wrote to a lot of graphic designers and web designers when I was little. I don’t know why! But never to a musician – I was too shy.”

This oft-referred to shyness is presumably why, when writing, Hadreas favours solitude. “I write by myself usually, as alone as I can possibly be.

Then I usually show my work to Alan [Wyffels, Hadreas’s boyfriend and touring band member].

He’s very…” He stops to rephrase. “Sometimes I just want people to say that it’s good, even if they don’t think so, just so that I can carry on doing it. Even just when we’re leaving the house – I

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ENGINEERING & PRODUCTION IN PRACTICE Chem19 Recording Studio, based in Blantyre, nr Glasgow is now open for applications to its new course ‘SoundLab’ for young engineers/producers, starting in October 2012.

Applicants must be aged between 18 and 25 and be resident in Scotland. For more information on the course and how to apply please visit www.chem19.co.uk Applications close 31 August 2012 Supported by Creative Scotland. Nominal course fees apply.

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52 THE SKINNY

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NEW BLOOD

want him to tell me my hair looks good, even if it doesn’t, just because I’m sick of thinking about it, I just wanna go out! But he’s the kind of person who will actually look at my hair and tell me whether it looks goods or not…” He sighs. “Which pisses me off! I mean, it comes in handy too, because I know he’s always being honest, but sometimes I’ll spend three or four hours on something and I’ll play it to him and he’ll say ‘nah.’ So I end up doing whatever I want anyway…”

Of course, with success, this freedom to do whatever takes your fancy is inevitably encroached upon. “Before I could just make whatever I wanted and not really think about it,” he says of life preLearning. “I guess I still make my weird gay videos, but I would like to start doing whatever I want again – just dressing up and making lip-syncing videos and all the weird shit I used to do. It’s all become very serious, and it’s always nice when it’s not so serious since you don’t put so much pressure on yourself. I think sometimes you end up making things that are more important when you’re not trying so hard. I’m scared of the routine of things, and the expectations – of either taking myself too seriously or making something too heavy-handed because I’ve been trying so hard.”

We wonder out loud whether humour is a useful way of alleviating this fear, citing the recent promo for Hood. It features the skinny, fragile-looking Hadreas in lipstick and wigs, striking a variety of poses with hyper-buff porn star Arpad Miklos; at one point, the latter dons a Freddy Krueger glove

and they recreate the Janet Jackson boob-hold pose. Are such humorous touches a deliberate way of releasing some of the tension that builds up in his music? “I guess,” Hadreas considers, “but growing up that’s a defence too, you know? If something terrible happens, then I’ll find some way to find it funny just because it makes it easier. But I like having different levels to things. Something that was tragic yesterday could be really funny the day after – sometimes…”

Perfume Genius will return to Scotland next month, playing Glasgow’s SWG3 as part of No Mean City. Elsewhere, Hadreas has spoken openly about the discomfort that performing live has caused him in the past; does it come more naturally now? “Yeah, I think so – it’s definitely better than a few years ago,” he answers. “Now I’m able to relax enough to get into it instead of being so scared and detached the whole time. I used to try to fix how nervous I was,” he concludes, “but now I just let myself be nervous and do everything anyway.” The sentiment is hesitant but resilient, and as such, fits in with his music like a razorfingered glove.

Perfume Genius plays SWG3 on 4 Sep. as part of No Mean City www.facebook.com/perfumegeniusofficial

August 2012

THE SKINNY 53

clubs

P RE V IE W S

Substance 50: The Destroyaz (Youngman & Landstrumm)

Sensu Boat Party Part Two Featuring Tale Of Us

The Bongo Club, Fri 10 Aug

Sails from the Science Centre, Fri 24 Aug

Substance mark a half-century of nights with a certified biggie: the first live UK performance of The Destroyaz, who combine the experience and skills of two of techno’s finest sonic experimenters, Bill Youngman and Neil Landstrumm. Youngman, a New Yorker who moved to Berlin, and Landstrumm, who migrated for a few years to New York from Edinburgh, ended up looking in different places but for the same thing: dark, sonically inventive techno that is determined to pull apart the circuit boards of the equipment they employ until every conceivable bleep and squeak has been mastered for full dancefloor control.

Ditching laptops in favour of the old gear, the duo have been working together for over ten years and first released a track under the name The Destroyaz back in 2005, but it was not until last year that they finally completed an EP together which possesses a relentless spirit with regards to audio manipulation, where no aspect of the sound stays the same, as glitches and bleeps mutate every few seconds to create new textures and rhythms. Be prepared for a pounding, full on sonic adventure, with bells on.

[Kenneth Scott]

Having made it safely back ashore after last month’s sell out party, the Sensu team are ready to set sail once again, this time accompanied by a duo that have been making waves across Europe since emerging in 2010. Tale of Us (AKA Matteo Milleri and Carmine Conte) first made their mark with a well-aired remix of Thugfucker’s Disco Gnome, before finding a home for their own music on the much-lauded Visionquest label. Since then they have graced both the Detroit Electronic Music Festival and Barcelona’s revered Sonar Festival.

Whether remixing or producing their own material, they espouse a deep brand of tech house with rich vocal hooks often providing the focal point around which their tracks are built. Despite their fan-made YouTube videos often being accompanied by shots of airbrushed females in pouty poses, Milleri and Conte’s music should not be dismissed as a brand of cheap and tawdry club fodder.

Frequently dark and brooding in their approach to production, Tale of Us produce robust dancefloor cuts with an ethereal edge, and their sound has been showcased on labels such as Crosstown Rebels and Ellen Allien’s BPitch Control. Support comes from Sensu residents and Sub Club host the afterparty. [Ronan Martin]

11pm-5am, £10

7pm-11pm (sets sail at 7pm), £25 inc. free entry to Sub Club afterparty

www.substance-audio.com

facebook.com/sensuglasgow

CLUBBING HIGHLIGHTS Words: Neil Murchison

Koreless @ Sneaky Pete’s Sneaky Pete’s, Tue 14 Aug

Sneaky Pete’s has long been the purveyor of a forward-thinking music policy and a venue for UK-based artists and, with that in mind, their festival line up is quite possibly their finest to date. One of the most eagerly-anticipated of these will be the return of Glasgow based Welshman Lewis Roberts, otherwise known as Koreless, who has spent this summer doing the rounds at some of Europe’s top festivals but who will scale things back when he joins local support Telfort for an intimate shindig.

Lewis’s productions are perfectly suited to the club’s Night Music project which focuses on live electronic performances, existing in an intersecting Venn diagram space where club meets gig, that will allow his signature sound of a wide spectrum of mellow dubstep coupled with lush electronica to be best experienced. His latest release Lost in Tokyo on Vase, Jacques Greene’s label, has been gaining a lot of plays of late and is a fine example of his approach, featuring low-prominence beats with the emphasis instead being placed on the atmosphere he is able to create with simple melodies and rich reverb. [Stu Todd]

Carl Cox and Friends @ Musika, The Liquid Room, Fri 24 Aug

9pm-12am, £5

In clubbing terms Carl Cox is something like a one man designer label with his name functioning as an official seal of quality for dance music. He brings that rare combination of both commercial heft and a cutting edge; he was one of the pioneering forces behind the emerging rave scene in the late 80s and the first DJ inspired to rig up a third deck for a late morning set back in ’88, while at the same time, he’s one of the few artists you’ll find in these pages to have appeared on Top of the Pops.

Aside from relentlessly DJing, under Cox’s guidance labels such as MMR, and Intec Digital have been piling out house and techno cuts that have ranged from chart hits to the purest forms of the genre. His parties for the last ten years at Space have become a remarkable institution and his Global radio show now goes out in over 35 countries. So after a twenty year absence from the capital’s clubs Musika have gone and booked us all a full seven and a half hours of Carl Cox and Friends goodness, with the big man himself doing a proper three hours and with support from the superb Yousef. [Rosanna Walker]

soundcloud.com/koreless

9.30pm–5am, £22.50 Advance www.musikanights.com

54 THE SKINNY

August 2012

Festival madness descends once more upon the clubs of the capital, a joyful time when sleeping patterns lose all regularity thanks to Edinburgh’s 5am late license which, by the time September arrives, will have you longing for a place that keeps you out so late you will need sunglasses to walk home. Cabaret Voltaire’s festival closing party on Sat 1 Sep will be rocking the global club night for one of France’s biggest dance labels Kitsuné. London duo Punks Jump Up had previously dropped a number of spanking hot remixes before releasing their own joyfully daft Blockhead, while Jerry Bouthier is a regular resident for Kitsuné’s operations on both sides of the channel.

This will be the only sensible way to get over the post-festival hangover which will be in the post for us all.

Fifty years of Jamaican independence is being celebrated on Jamaica Street all bank holiday weekend long as MacSorleys features over 30 artists over four days, including a soundsystem battle between Samson Sounds and Jumble Sales Sounds as well as sets from Chungo Bungo amongst others. Sat 4 Aug sees the festival’s main event in the shape of genuine reggae legend and star Cornel Campbell, whose career first began before his homeland broke free of British rule, performing with support from The Fenomeno Show. i AM keep the independence vibe going on Tue 7 Aug at Sub Club when Chungo Bungo and Greenman spin some real Jamaican sounds.

Erol Alkan, who makes his Sub Club debut on Fri 31 Aug, seems to have such a precise knowledge of what makes a crowd lose it that he has lost some of his underground appeal, simply because he stays true to his mission statement of keeping kids dancing, even if his label signings

Illustration: Paul Smith reveal a man who is highly-attuned to all kinds of music outside of his perceived comfort zone of grimy electro. Joining him will be Daniel Avery who is all about dark, pulsating, funk-propelled techno; his forthcoming Fabriclive mix looks like it may be the making of him. For anyone who has a thing for Detroit techno, this is your heaven: La Cheetah Club’s four part Motor City Electronics nights will be showcasing the best of the Detroit electronic music scene with the first installment on Fri 31 Aug welcoming the ‘Godfather of Techno Soul’ Eddie ‘Flashin’ Fowlkes, who will be delivering a sonic history of the city’s finest techno. As one of a handful of DJs who have been right at the core of the scene for decades, there really are few people better placed to deliver such a set.

We Own are a collective of party engineers and clothing label designers who will be bringing their styles up north for two outings during the festival, the first being an opener at Sneaky Pete’s on Sat 4 Aug with Russ Chimes who will be working his own brand of ever-so-trancey, synth-crazy electro house. On Fri Aug 17 they bring Swedish electro-sleaze-house duo Dada House to a full-on party at Cabaret Voltaire, which will have three rooms bursting with the likes of Aussie Tommy Trash, who has been producing some utterly mind-warping electro of late, with wailing guitar-style synths and basslines as inescapable as tractor beams. Finally, it would be silly not to mention the return of Trouble and Bass founder Drop the Lime on Sun 5 Aug at Sneaky Pete’s for a festival opener that will set the agenda for the rest of the month with his eclectic ‘anything goes as long as it keeps you dancing’ style.

REV I EW : P REV I EWS

the prodigal son

Caspa, ‘the dopest ghost in town’, is a dubstep DJ, producer and label boss who went from making records in his bedroom to recording with Keith Flint.

Now the capital’s bass bins are in his sights...

Interview: Neil Murchison Back in late 1991 when British Formula One drivers still rocked mustaches, the undisputed king of the burgeoning underground dance scene was rave and it had begun its assault on the mainstream charts, culminating in a misfit group called The Prodigy scoring a top three hit with the public service message-sampling Charly. Soon afterwards Mixmag ran a front cover feature entitled Did Charly Kill Rave? effectively accusing the group of releasing a novelty record and, in the process, killing off the underground scene. The band responded by burning a giant pile of the magazine’s issues in their next video, before going on to become one of the most successful dance groups ever.

Fast forward two decades and this tale seems to hold resonance for where Caspa is at the moment, as well as the status of dubstep as a whole. It’s the latest subgenre of dance music to have rolled its tanks up on to the lawns of the mainstream and, just as in 1991, the debate over whether this artist or that one has ‘killed’ the genre has reared its head again. Caspa, less well known as Gary McCann, has been a part of the initial movement of DJs and producers who began pushing dubstep forward, out of the warehouse spaces in which it was born and into the mainstream. He mixed the first Fabric dubstep album with his close associate Rusko, set up a number of labels including Dub Police and Sub Soldiers and released his full-length album back in 2009.

Clearly he has had commercial success, so was the title of his recent track You Sell Out a response to his detractors, or a recognition of his popularity? “When I made that tune dubstep was exploding, everyone was making it and every label was signing it; it was crossing over to become chart music as well as underground music too,” McCann explains. “Sometimes you do stuff like the songs I’ve done with Mr Hudson and Keith Flint and people say: ‘You’ve sold out, man.’ I’ve always found that term quite interesting because I’m just doing what I love, so how is that selling out? That’s kind of why I called it that as it can be taken both ways. It’s never been about the money – when I was making no money and people said it I would say ‘I haven’t got any money so I can’t have sold out!’”

Caspa’s new single War is a pounding rock/ dubstep hybrid that is thick with sirens, distorted synths and the unmistakable rasp of Keith Flint.

What was the influence of The Prodigy on his work? “I don’t know anyone in dubstep who does not respect them, they are the guys who took it overground in a great underground way. I mean, what is The Prodigy? Essentially it's rock,

hardcore, jungle, dubstep... it’s a mixture of just everything all mashed into one with its own sound and style. I had their stuff on vinyl and was a big fan of them, so when I got to work with Keith I wanted to bring something to the table that was not a typical dubstep tune. I did not want to press play and hear him say, ‘Well, I expected that.’ I wanted to make people think about that tune and that’s always what The Prodigy have done too.”

Having released an EP earlier this year and with a mix album out later this month, as well as a full album to come in the winter, how often is he able to spend on the other side of decks? “I won’t lie, that’s the time you need to spend seeing your family, friends and the missus. I always go to Fabric though, as I know that has the best in underground music whether it’s drum ‘n’ bass or dubstep, and at festivals I try to step out into the crowd and see what’s happening.”

“When

I was making no money and people said it I would say ‘I haven’t got any money so I can’t have sold out!’ ” gary mccann One unforgettable moment on the dancefloor that he still thinks back to was hearing that first record getting played. The club was Plastic People and the song, his first, was Bass Bins. “It sampled an old rave/hardcore tune that goes ‘Watch your bass bins, I’m telling ya.’ I was really happy with it and I gave it to Youngstar and he played it as his last tune. When he dropped it everyone just went crazy and it got pulled up and rewound. I remember the feeling, it was just mad, like when you are young and the hairs stand up on the back of your neck. I felt buzzy, like I had taken something. You have a mad energy and just can’t stand still or talk to anyone and all you want to do is to leave the club straight away and get back to the studio. I definitely remember the feeling because that’s what keeps you going, getting that kind of reaction.”

War, with Keith Flint, is released on 12 Aug. Caspa and Akira Kiteshi play Liquid Rooms, Sat 18 Aug. facebook.com/caspadubstep

August 2012

THE SKINNY 55

REVIEW

film

august EVENTS The All-Nighter: Alien Anthology at the Cameo in Edinburgh (10 Aug) gives audiences a chance to see five of the classic Alien films in chronological order – that is, starting with this year’s Prometheus, a prequel set several decades before the events in the original 1979 movie. After this, Sigourney Weaver takes centre stage as Ripley in Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien: Resurrection. Sorry folks, neither Alien vs Predator films are included, but regardless it promises to be a tense, scary, actionpacked night.

Brave

Shadow Dancer

Director: Brenda Chapman, Mark Andrews Starring: Kelly Macdonald, Billy Connolly, Emma Thompson, Robbie Coltrane Released: 13 Aug Certificate: PG

Director: James Marsh Starring: Clive Owen, Andrea Riseborough, Aiden Gillen, Gillian Anderson Released: 24 Aug Certificate: 15

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Pixar takes a turn to fairytale-telling, princess protagonist-leading animation with Brave. Set in the Scottish Highlands, fiery-headed Merida (Kelly MacDonald) is a leading lady with a twist. When the young princes of surrounding clans are charged with fighting for the lassie’s hand, she defies tradition and chooses to fight for her own.

Brave teems with Scottish greats, from the cast (which includes Billy Connolly and Robbie Coltrane) to the colourful yet wonky language. Big daddy Fergus (Connolly) is gruff yet gentle, a somewhat distant figure in terms of Merida’s emotional upbringing, allowing for mother Helena (Emma Thompson) to battle out an utterly honest mother-daughter relationship, the likes of which is seldom seen on screen.

What isn’t new is Pixar’s trademark visuals: wisping willows and surprising transformations are complemented by a trio of terrible triplets leading the chase, marking this one of the studio’s best for beauty and rambunctious action. As always, the animation and heart-filled message is, one hopes, changing the destiny of the princess fable in contemporary cinema. [Nicola Balkind]

Set in 1993, IRA soldier Colette McVeigh (Andrea Riseborough) is apprehended while attempting to plant an explosive on the London Underground.

Forced by an MI5 agent (Clive Owen) to become an informant, the young mother in a striking red trenchcoat – of the same hue as Bobby Sands’ jumper – struggles to protect her son and remain covert under the suspicion of the increasingly paranoid paramilitary.

Though Colette’s reasoning for joining the IRA is never given explicitly, the film opens with the death of her younger brother in 1973, who is shot in unseen circumstances on the streets of Belfast. Tom Bradby’s script, an adaptation of his own novel, places Colette’s young son at the centre of domestic life, symbolic of the lost child whose memory still haunts the family.

Director James Marsh (Man on Wire, Project Nim) provokes audience anxiety throughout, balancing the family’s vengeful mourning against the political manoeuvring of the period. As the IRA discusses and anticipates negotiations with the British, the McVeigh family suffer the effects of their deception and mistrust. [David McGinty]

The Imposter

Jackpot

Director: Bart Layton Starring: Adam O’Brian, Anna Ruben, Anthony Zanlungo Released: 24 Aug Certificate: TBC

Director: Magnus Martens Starring: Kyrre Hellum, Henrik Mestad, Marie Blokhus Released: 10 Aug Certificate: 15

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In 1997, over three years after a child’s disappearance in Texas, a seemingly traumatised teenager in Spain claimed to be the missing boy. Nicholas Barclay, a blond, blue-eyed thirteen-year-old American now had brown eyes, a French accent and looked much older than sixteen. Claiming to have escaped from a child prostitution ring, this Nicholas was an imposter, but was somehow still accepted by the family without question.

Detailing the exploits of the man the press nicknamed ‘The Chameleon,’ The Imposter is an enthralling documentary that doesn’t just rely on the key events of its baffling true story for potency. Director Bart Layton incorporates disquieting re-enactments with talking-head interviews and the little archival footage available to him, and structures the film like an elaborate thriller. Doubts are cast regarding all parties involved, even the deceived family, exploring the idea of there being two sides to every story in a truly unsettling fashion. This is a powerful, haunting work. [Josh Slater-Williams]

The success of Headhunters suggested an inevitability to Jo Nesbø’s canon being mined for more dark tales to turn into modestly-budgeted, easy to export film adaptations, and so up steps Jackpot, a by-the-numbers black comedy of cross and double cross that, however familiar, isn’t without its charms. Kyrre Hellum, in a superbly bemused turn, plays Oscar, a factory worker involved in a pools syndicate with some less than reputable colleagues. When their wager pays dividends, all hell, and a fair bit of gore, breaks loose as loyalties are tested.

The action fizzes while the cast remain heroically deadpan to provide consistent giggles, but director Magnus Martens has difficulty transforming a convoluted plot into a coherent, rewarding whole; the fractured narrative structure of before and after an introductory strip club shootout is a tricksy device indicative of a director stumbling from one twist or betrayal to the next, with little in between. An amusing, confusing wee film, it’ll fall out your head just as quick as it gets there. [Chris Fyvie]

The Forgiveness of Blood

Berberian Sound Studio

Director: Joshua Marston Starring: Tristan Halilaj, Sindi Lacej, Refet Abazi Released: 10 Aug Certificate: TBC

Director: Peter Strickland Starring: Toby Jones, Cosimo Fusco, Antonio Mancino, Fatma Mohamed Released: 31 Aug Certificate: 15

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From Colombian drug-mules in debut Maria Full of Grace to Balkan blood feuds in The Forgiveness of Blood, American director Joshua Marston again uses an outsider eye to mine drama from unfamiliar circumstances. Set in northern Albania, early scenes show rival families contesting land boundaries and bickering in bars, but when their deep-rooted dispute spills over into murder, the relatives of the man responsible are forced into hiding lest the male members be targeted in retaliatory violence.

Largely told from the perspective of two teens caught in the crossfire, Forgiveness… is an intelligent, emotionally-nuanced work. While the diktats of the Kanun (traditional Albanian laws predicated on honour and kinship) are integral to the plot and only gradually explained, Marston and Andamion Murataj’s script is always comprehensible, with emphasis placed on universal feelings of adolescent frustration rather than judicial minutiae. As the siblings weather a conflict that predates them by generations, their claustrophobic limbo builds into a satisfyingly open ending. [Chris Buckle]

Within the walls of a 1970s Italian film studio a living nightmare of sensory manipulation peaks and holds us under the sinister control of a lucid dream.

Toby Jones is the fish out of water sound technician whose psyche is invaded by an unseen giallo project in this excellent second feature from Peter Strickland. Here is a true craftsman, toying with audience perceptions as a cat with a mouse, but there is a masochistic pleasure in being under his control. The film deftly exploits the relationship between sound and image, forcing terror of rotting vegetables or laughter through torturous screams. Jones plays his role perfectly in Middle English autumnal hues. As the mental dimmer switch is turned his paranoia flowers into a dark fantasy of the repressed.

Many will term it Lynchian, but unlike Mulholland Drive this lacks the depth of its twisting narrative. It does, however, show a technical master at work with Strickland delivering the bloodless horror of a dissolving mind with genuine verve and panache. [Alan Bett]

56 THE SKINNY

August 2012

artificial-eye.com

The Belmont in Aberdeen is hosting a series of comic book adaptations in its Drawn to Screen Film Season. On 6 Aug the neo-noir Sin City, with its excellent ensemble cast and highly stylised visuals, is screening, followed by the campy cult classic Flash Gordon on 13 Aug, and finishing with The Crow (20 Aug). The latter, an iconic Gothic revenge story, stars Brandon Lee, (who tragically died on set during filming), as Eric Draven, seeking retribution for the rape and murder of his fiancée, and his own death.

Mark Millar’s Geek Film Nights continue at the GFT in August, with perhaps the geekiest film of all – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (5 Aug). Proof that sequels can be better than the originals, this 1982 classic stars William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and the rest of the original cast as they try to stop an old nemesis, Khan, from using new technology for his own nefarious means, and is widely considered to be the best of the Star Trek film series.

Fans of Italian horror and the now-iconic video nasties should head to the GFT on 26 Aug, when Zombie Flesh Eaters is screening in all its HD, uncut glory. Lucio Fulci’s zombie masterpiece, featuring an unforgettable fight between a zombie and a shark, as well as one of the best eye-impaling moments in cinema, will be followed by a special Q&A session with Fabio Frizzi, the film’s composer, and is preceded by a trailer reel of some of the other ultra-violent, ultra-gory Italian films of the time.

The CCA in Glasgow is hosting the première of a new documentary by Marissa Keating and Michael Jones, in association with the Glasgow Women’s Library. Margaret Tait: Film Poet is a portrait of the multi-talented artist, poet, and filmmaker, who died in 1999. The event, on 4 Aug, is free but ticketed – don’t miss out on an interesting, insightful evening. [Becky Bartlett]

REVIEW : D V D

Marley

Airborne

Delicacy

Director: Kevin MacDonald Released: 20 Aug Certificate: 15

Director: Dominic Burns Starring: Mark Hamill, Craig Conway, Gemma Atkinson Released: Out Now Certificate: 18

Director: David Foenkinos, Stéphane Foenkinos Starring: Audrey Tautou, François Damiens, Bruno Todeschini Released: 6 Aug Certificate: 12

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rrrrr “What do Jamaicans love more than a man who’s just survived a gunfight?” asks Bob Marley’s elegant, dreadlocked lawyer as she recalls the aftermath of the attempted assassination of the reggae superstar. It is at these moments when the life of the mercurial musician pressed closest to the chaotic, vibrant life of his native island that this thoughtful documentary is at its best.

Director Kevin MacDonald emphasises the ways in which Marley was a product of the faultlines of race and colonialism that fissured Jamaican culture. The son of a black mother and an absent white father, he was an outsider who forged himself into ‘a serious focus man’ and took the raucous sounds of Trenchtown and transformed them into the world beating songs that would bring him the success he craved. At 144 minutes and with the music used primarily to illustrate the life this is probably a film for the fan rather than the casual viewer.

[Keir Roper-Caldbeck}

Airborne opens with the UK gripped by severe storms: shop fronts blown out, transport networks gubbed – typical summer weather basically. It’s the only convincing element in a plot that groggily veers from post-9/11 terrorism to ancient Chinese vase-demons, with minimal sense of threat, tension, or excitement. A bunkum storyline needn’t be a problem in a film like this, of course, but a couple of effective stingers aside, the results are dull, as a curious cast of soap stars, B-movie regulars and, er, Mark Hamill struggle gamely with thinly-sketched characters and unconvincing dialogue. The exSkywalker stays grounded in a largely pointless role – an aviation chief on (would you believe it?) his last shift before retirement – but on the plus side he gets to deliver a bizarre introductory voiceover reminiscent of a paranormal anthology series like The Outer Limits. “It’s a universal truth that sometimes we see things that can’t be explained,” he wearily intones; we wholeheartedly agree. [Chris Buckle]

Delicacy offers two love stories for the price of one: a marriage cut short by a traffic accident, and the tentative relationship between widow Nathalie (Tautou) and loveable lump Markus (Damiens) that follows. Inevitably, the course of the latter does not run smooth, as friends and co-workers cast judgemental eyes on the apparent mismatch between her porcelain beauty and his balding pate and preference for beige. But by the twinkling lights of a postcard Paris, affections grow…

Life goes on; love is blind: Delicacy’s sleeves are plastered in sentiment. But it’s not the platitudes that hobble enjoyment, but rather a tonal imbalance. Bereavement drama into fluffy rom-com just won’t go, with Nathalie’s life with husband Francois too rushed to have impact, and her second-chance romance burdened with an underlying gloom. Delicacy wants to have its gâteau and eat it: to be both affecting portrait of grief and heart-warmingly carefree, but ultimately the competing ambitions cancel each other out. [Chris Buckle]

Kosmos

Rumble Fish

Monster Brawl

Director: Reha Erdem Starring: Sermet Yesil, Turku Turan Released: 8 Aug Certificate: 15

Director: Francis Ford Coppola Starring: Matt Dillon, Mickey Rourke, Diane Lane, Dennis Hopper Released: 27 Aug Certificate: 18

Director: Jesse T. Cook Starring: Dave Foley, Lance Henriksen, Kevin Nash Released: 20 Aug Certificate: 18

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Applied to arthouse films the phrase ‘beautifully shot’ can make the blood run cold, bringing to mind tedious hours spent in the company of pretty visuals and half-baked, pretentious stories.

Turkish director Reha Erdem certainly reveals a talent for forming arresting images in his new film Kosmos, but his blankly allegorical tale of the arrival of a mysterious stranger with healing powers in a wintry Turkish city tests the viewer’s patience with its overwrought symbolism and opaque storytelling. Making it through the two hours of the film rests on the ability to tolerate a hero who communicates with the girl of his dreams through birdsong, animal noises and throwing her a gnawed bone. Yet even as the narrative pushed infuriatingly towards the abstract, Erdem’s artfully composed but bleakly realistic images of the snowbound city and its inhabitants – both human and animal – kept me watching. So, yes, it has to be said: Kosmos is beautifully shot.

[Keir Roper-Caldbeck]

When it was released in 1983 Rumble Fish was met with near universal critical incomprehension. It seemed another deliberate step by Coppola on his road to career suicide. Yet time has been kind to what the director described as his “art film for the kids.” Set against the rundown backdrop of industrial Tulsa, Coppola heightened every facet of this tale of teenage rebellion with stylised camerawork, stunning monochrome images, time-lapse photography and portentous symbolism, so that the film comes to resemble a cross between Rebel Without A Cause and A Bout de Souffle with a large dose of German Expressionism thrown in. If Mickey Rourke’s performance as The Motorcycle Boy now seems overly mannered, the heart of the film lies with Matt Dillon’s bruised, hustling Rusty James, in thrall to the legend of his brother but heartbreakingly aware that he’s ‘a dummy,’ unable to understand the tragedy that is unfolding before him. One of the coolest films ever made. [Keir Roper-Caldbeck]

At some point every horror fan has wondered who’d win if two headline monsters got to duking it out. Writer/director Jesse T. Cook takes that to the next level, pitching various generic movie monsters against each other in a pay-per-view style wrestling contest to settle once and for all who’s the strongest.

Sadly, Freddy vs Jason this ain’t and it’s nowhere near as fun as it should be. It’s 90 minutes of guys in Halloween costumes slugging it out in the ring with the help of the occasional cheap CGI effect.

There’s no overarching story and early hints at a Whedonesque selfawareness sink without trace.

Even the monsters disappoint, with only a handful resembling the horror archetypes we’d expect or doing their ‘signature’ moves. And why are they wrestling anyway?

Small roles for some old school wrestlers might salvage things for fight fans, but this is one sorry contender that deserves to get its ass suplexed. [Scotty McKellar]

Experience the best of both – coast and countryside Sample the huge range of activities on offer in East Lothian on Edinburgh’s door step Visit us in St Andrew Square, Edinburgh 1-14th August – FREE

August 2012

THE SKINNY 57

art

REVIEW

STUDIO 58

BOBBY NIVEN

MACKINTOSH GALLERY, UNTIL 30 SEP

SWG3, UNTIL 11 AUG

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It’s no wonder that the exhibition Studio 58: Women Artists in Glasgow since World War II is crowded.

There have been a lot of women making art in Scotland for the last 73 years, and fitting them all into one space was always going to be difficult. The walls are laden with work and the floor is generously scattered with objects and temporary walls to hang yet more work. And at first it looks like a refreshing take on the salon-style hang, with three tiers of paintings, one on top of the other. But then it dawns on you that it’s nothing of the kind and that you’re actually looking at an archive.

It’s not a real archive – although many of the works are from the Glasgow School of Art’s collection – but has every appearance of aspiring to be one: glass cabinets full of documents and artefacts; all the eccentric variety of a museum archive, including jewellery, fashion, fine art print, print for design, painting, photography, sculpture, book works, performance documentation, assemblages and drawings.

The selection is not entirely disparate, however, and curator Sarah Lowndes clearly wants to determine a continuity of aesthetic lineage, one that will inevitably link Joan Eardley with Cathy Wilkes and Margaret Morris with Lucy McKenzie. It’s what historians do, they find continuity in things, and for this many think them delusional.

Delusional or not, Sarah Lowndes’ exhibition is a sensorial treat and should be seen by everyone. It plays the archive merely because it cannot claim to be complete. There will always be blind spots and glaring lacunas in any historian’s version of things (the absence of Lucy Skaer, for instance), especially when the magnitude of the undertaking is so vast. But then again, why make it so vast? Such an endeavor requires the rigor of writing history, not exhibiting it. Studio 58: Women Artists in Glasgow since World War II, despite being in every way an exciting and important exhibition, is a book in the making. [Andrew Cattanach]

Bobby Niven has made some art about the uninhabited island in the Firth of Forth called Inchgarvie. Once a holiday retreat for sufferers of syphilis in the late Middle Ages, and later a 20th-century military fortification, it is now a training camp for sea birds – a radical hotbed of gull extremism.

Utilising three rooms in the ever-changing SWG3 gallery in Glasgow, Niven has responded to the site in three distinct ways, including large-scale sculpture, found objects and video. There is a pleasing continuity between the different elements of the exhibition, largely due to the limited colour palette determined by the grey and desolate island itself.

In the largest of the three rooms are seven big sculptures. Most of them are made from concrete and seem imposing and heavy, while at the same time appearing fun and childish. One looks like a large rolled up piece of Plasticine precariously balancing on its curved surface, another resembles a wedge of melon, while another looks like a stack

of three balls. Breaking the continuity is Untitled (guano), plaster, 2012. It is made from plaster and has a form that wholly references its own material qualities and achieves nothing beyond looking like a pile of plaster.

The video ISLAND is twelve and a half minutes of black and white footage of the Firth of Forth with audio. We get to see some sculptures Niven installed on the island, a masked man waving at a passing boat and some train tracks. It is meandering and unfocused, giving little impression of the spatial limits of what we’re looking at. We move from the island to the mainland and back again with no real sense of specificity of place (where are we now?). It is nonetheless intriguing to see the island close up and consider the aesthetic minimalism of the Firth of Forth. [Andrew Cattanach]

At Edinburgh Printmakers they’re celebrating the Earth’s imminent demise in the ironically titled Cheer Up! It’s Not the End of the World. With 21 December 2012 the day the world supposedly ceases to be – according to the ancient Mayan calendar – it’s timely to look at some artworks that relish the inevitable end, whether it be a stray comet or a freak burst of the sun’s radiation. The impressive lineup includes Jake & Dinos Chapman, Andy Warhol, Damien Hirst, and Scottish artist David Faithfull.

Similarly fascinated by catastrophe is Harry Hill.

Not primarily an artist at all and actually a comedian and television presenter, Hill will be familiar to us all – but unlikely as a painter. He has in fact made several illustrated books, including Tim the Tiny Horse, and the Further Adventures of the

Queen Mum, and paints as well as any Scottish art school graduate. He employs a surreal and satirical style to his witty paintings of celebrities, familiar to fans of his telly programmes. Whether the art world accepts him as a true artist is irrelevant – the show, in White Stuff, will be a fun antidote to the festival’s other, more cerebral offerings.

Whether you’re looking for a life-changing experience, an opportunity to have a laugh, or you’re simply looking to dwell on the end of the world, Edinburgh Art Festival has it all this summer. It’s a veritable salad of tasty delights – so, get stuck in!

ADVERTISING FEATURE: OWN ART

EDINBURGH ART FESTIVAL

The capital once again comes alive this August, with a sensory overload of cultural delights popping up across the city. We’ve had a look at the EAF programme to see what highlights the world of visual art is offering up WORDS: ANDREW CATTANACH Hooray! Just what everyone’s been looking for. After a long period of glorious summer comes a festival of unrelenting culture to tide us through to autumn.

To imagine anyone prematurely taking to the spirit of the colder months and choosing to sit out August in a frenzy of mashed potatoes and other such autumnal delights is absurd. We’re all still tucking into the salad leaves we embarked on some time in early April, waiting to take on Edinburgh Art Festival with all the joie de vivre that comes of such an ethereal diet – and all this lovely weather!

Full of beans (or lamb’s lettuce, as the case may be), you’ll not go far wrong visiting the Ingleby Gallery during the festival this year. They’re hosting an exhibition by Ian Hamilton Finlay, one of the most influential Scottish artists of the 20th century. Poet, conceptual artist and gardener, Finlay is simultaneously the most satisfying and most cryptic artist you’re likely to come across in the capital this summer. Drawing on past events as disparate as the French Revolution and the Second World War, his often playful and humorous art is a complex mesh of historical references,

puns and the traditions of modern art. And despite its complexity, encountering Finlay’s work is always gratifying, equivalent to reading a dense history book, the breadth of which leaves you feeling pleasantly vertiginous.

Another consummate joker in the pack of this year’s festival playing cards is American artist Philip Guston. Showing at Inverleith House, Guston was a largely self taught painter with a uniquely cartoon-like style, taking the principles of abstract expressionism and applying them to his Pop Art sensibilities. Expect to encounter large, grotesque figures, big, meaty hands, and tab ends galore at this rare and exciting exhibition.

More cartoonery comes from John Brown at Superclub. In a hope to combine the experiences of shopping with art, Brown has produced representations of everyday consumer items you might find in shops. He’s packaged them and displayed them to sell as one-off objects in the style of mass-produced consumables. Why not supplement your leafy diet with a half-eaten biscuit made from Fimo?

FULL DETAILS OF OPENING TIMES AND DATES CAN BE FOUND ONLINE AT WWW.EDINBURGHARTFESTIVAL.COM EDINBURGH PRINTMAKERS AND INGLEBY GALLERY BOTH OFFER A RANGE OF PRINTS AND LIMITED EDITION ARTWORKS BY REPRESENTED ARTISTS, THROUGH THE OWN ART SCHEME

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 operated by ArtCo Trading Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arts Council. Registered address: Arts Council England, North East, Central Square, Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3PJ

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

249 West George Street Glasgow G2 4QE

58 THE SKINNY

AUGUST 2012

books

REVIEW

Close Your Eyes

Days of the Bagnold Summer

Redlegs

Kick Ass 2

By Ewan Morrison

By Joff Winterheart

By Chris Dolan

By Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.

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After the birth of her daughter, Emma Phillips becomes obsessed with the death – or was it? – of her own mother in a road accident. The body was never found, and this haunts Emma. She’s also haunted by her unorthodox upbringing, for although she writes advertising copy now, she grew up, as ‘Rowan’ on an anti-capitalist commune. So Emma runs away from her daughter and supposedly perfect husband, post-natal depression playing a part in this, to try and reconnect with her past.

This splits the book into two time streams, with Emma’s past counterpointing her present. The descriptions of growing up in the seventies on a commune that gradually moves towards becoming more of a cult are fantastic, and the contrast with the monetised communes of the present, teambuilding workshops and all, is very skilfully done.

On a technical level, the book is just as skilful, with a large part told in the second person, which makes Emma’s stresses all the more urgent to the reader.

The perspective shifts though, from ‘you’ to ‘I’ and even to ‘we’, to deliberately unsettling effect, layering in song lyrics and repeated phrases to convey Emma’s mindset. A rivetingly, well-told tale.

[Ryan Agee]

Days of the Bagnold Summer is a short book – 80 pages, and only a few panels per page – but it’s never slight. Sue and Daniel Bagnold are a mother and son who are stuck together for the summer holidays after Daniel’s father, who Daniel was supposed to spend the holidays with in Florida, cancels the trip. Daniel is a typical heavy metal fan – long hair, dark clothes – and typically teenage. Sue sees the summer as a chance to buy him shoes for an upcoming wedding, but also to connect with him, regarding his teenage years as difficult and not the stereotypical ‘best days of your life’.

The reasons Sue understands this so much are gradually – but never blatantly – revealed in flashbacks as she thinks back to her own teen experiences. Meanwhile, Daniel’s current experiences have a true and awkward ring to them, with a friend, KY, who he has a tricky relationship with, and a local band he can’t quite bring himself to join. This is an extremely well observed book, with Winterheart suggesting with subtle details where others would shout. It is short, and it’s slightly too indebted to Posy Simmonds (it’s a first book), but it’s surprisingly haunting at that. [David Agnew]

Chris Dolan leaves the mainly Glaswegian setting of his previous novel Ascension Day and relocates to the Caribbean for this tale. Elspeth Baillie, a young Scottish actress, is invited to Barbados by Lord Coak, a rich plantation owner. Her fortunes turn badly when a terrible storm destroys the theatre she was to act in, and also kills the man she was engaged to.

Forced to take employment on Coak’s plantation, which is at first theoretically temporary, she is drawn into the machinery of slavery as she has to ‘employ’ white slaves, and later augment them by importing impoverished Scots women. Elspeth’s life is somehow bound up with these women – she can’t leave the plantation, though through fear rather than duress, and she gradually begins to accept her situation… Dolan took 21 years to complete this novel, and though obviously not all of that time was spent writing it, the care and attention brought to it shows. The amount of research put in to it adds to the book’s quality, but whilst this research is important, it would all be for nothing if it didn’t back up a compelling tale. Dolan tells such a tale, and does so extremely well. [John Inglis]

It’s highly anticipated, but Kick-Ass 2 is something of a downer. After the events of the first volume, Kick-Ass, now basically just Dave Lizewski, is keeping a low profile. However, he still secretly trains with Hit-Girl – he’s getting better at close combat – and he still wants to be a superhero. Others do too though – he’s inspired a movement of sorts, and it’s a group of the new ‘superheroes’ who tempt Kick-Ass out of retirement.

At first this is a good thing, as they do appear to help people. But Crimson Mist, the mafia leader’s son from the first volume, returns, having hired mercenaries to do his work for him. This leads to several killings, after which Kick-Ass has effectively lost, no matter what he manages to do to avenge the situation. The darkness of this volume could be seen as realistic, but it breaks the back of the story, which proceeds glumly to a set-piece finish, and an unrealistically rendered one at that (the police being notably ineffective). Recent tragic real life events have cast a dark shadow over this story, and though further volumes are promised, Millar’s tale, sadly, may have become too dark. [Graham C. Paterson]

Out now. Published by Jonathan Cape. Cover price £9.99

Out now. Published by Vagabond Voices. Cover price £9.95

Out now. Published by Titan Books. Cover price £8.99

tech

Release date 2 Aug. Published by Jonathan Cape. Cover price £14.99

Fringe Benefits

As Edinburgh opens its doors on this year’s August festivals extravaganza, Tech takes a look at the digital options available on the Fringe words: Alex Cole

bite-sized tech nuggets with ALEX COLE

THE FEED

Hello, tourists visiting the Scottish capital for our Fringe-y-ness! Hello also to Edinburghers who are, for whatever reason, sticking around to endure it! The Fringe this year is almost certain to be full-up on Olympic leftovers, audiences begging David O’Doherty for new beefs on a cheap keyboard, and rain. All that’s pretty much a given this year, what with past history and current events and all, but more and more, getting your digital on at Edinburgh Fringe 2012 will make it easier to stumble drunkenly from one heckling session to another.

Most visible is the Fringe app for iOS and Android, developed by Edinburgh’s very own Kotikan. Having come quite a ways even from last year, the app links up with your ticket purchases to keep track of shows you’ve paid for, and can also map you in the direction of the venue. The general confusingness of the giant show guide can be cut down to what’s playing right now, nearby, and how much it’ll cost. Along with show summaries, Twitter followings, and the general weight savings of not having a 300 page guide around with you, this is

pretty much the 21st century way to see improv groups stumble through another scene about waiting for a bus.

The digital is not limited to finding shows this year, of course, but also worming its way into shows as well. In the same vein as last year’s grad students having a stand-up night about why academia left them woefully unprepared to have actual human conversations, this year Dan Willis joins the Fringe, having put aside his former life as computer programmer, to talk about how he’s turned comedy into a 9-to-5 job, just like his old one. His show, Control Alt Delete – The Funny Side of Computers, is clearly out there to prove that there’s more going on behind the scenes of your computer than your latest Facebook post.

If you’re a computer person, you know there are ways to avoid rain entirely for days at a time, even to forget what rain looks like. This Fringe, you might as well spend that time laughing with others at a show.

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Normally the games that make the rounds as being the next addictive thing are the big, AAA titles that hit with all the thunder of a blockbuster movie. You know the ones. Normally for a game to emerge from nowhere, it has to hit with Minecraftlike force. But in this case the growth of this title has been quieter, more subtle, taking player by player until it has become a full-blown time-sink, a pandemic, which, conveniently, is what it is called.

Pandemic II gives players one simple objective – kill everyone in the world. You take on the role of a virus, bacteria or parasite that starts off humbly, but has to mutate to avoid worldwide panic too early. The strategy is to keep governments unaware of your existence while you infect more and more people, and then slowly ramp up the symptoms until it’s too late for anyone to do anything about it. Keeping an eye on how the world reacts to your sneaky disease is crucial to avoiding being cured. Going in too virulent too early is almost certain to get you noticed and eradicated, and you need to be in every port and continent before people start dropping.

There’s a certain nasty pleasure in being the bad guy in games, and this one delivers that in spades.

For a nice departure from your average flash game that won’t cost anything but will sap all your time, this one is hard to beat. [Alex Cole]

Apple told to pay for Samsung ads to say they are not as cool as Apple. Classy. • Texting now more popular than speaking on a phone; in related news, sky is blue • O2 crash, following RBS crash, makes robot rebellion pretty much an easy win for the machines • Pirate Bay ban basically did nothing to piracy whatsoever. Also, proxy servers are really easy • New Windows and Office coming this fall, clutch your iPhones in fear and terror

August 2012

THE SKINNY 59

PREVIEW

theatre

A National Treasure

More than two decades after its Edinburgh Festival debut, Miriam Margolyes returns to Scotland with one-woman show Dickens’ Women

Charles Dickens’ female characters run the gamut of human experience and emotion – from ingenues, to sexually-repressed spinsters, to harridans. So who better to portray that diversity than one of Britain’s best-loved actors, the incomparable Miriam Margolyes? At 71, but with more energy and charisma than a woman half her age, she is fast approaching national treasure status – more of which later...

No stranger to Dickens, Margolyes won the LA Critics Circle Award for her role of Flora Finching in Little Dorrit and, of course, starred as Mrs Corney in Oliver Twist. This production is a real labour of love for the BAFTA-award winning actress: her passion for Dickens stems from reading Oliver Twist aged ten and then studying his work at Cambridge. Yet it is almost a happy accident that Dickens’ Women became a one-woman show.

“I knew there was a parallel between the life and the works. I felt this could be expressed dramatically,” she explains. “I collaborated with director Sonia Martin on two previous shows, one about Mary Webb, one about Gertrude Stein and together we went to Frank Dunlop and asked him to commission us for the 1989 Ed Fest.

“We’d discussed it for years. He did commission us and the first manifestation was Wooman, Lovely Wooman, What a Sex You Are (Bleak House).” David Timson took the male roles, but then got married and couldn’t continue the tour.

An actor tried out but was, in Margolyes’ words, “hopeless,” so her US agent suggested making it a one-woman show. The whole process took nine months to produce. Margolyes plays over twenty

three characters in her Olivier-nominated show.

Questions about her virgin Edinburgh experience – as many performers shudder at the memory – bring a lively reply. “Ubu Roi at the Traverse directed by Gordon McDougall, where I played Ma Ubu,” she recalls. “I remember the costumes were designed by Gerald Scarfe in the shape of the male and female genital organs! It caused a great fuss at City Hall – the usual uproar from the Edinburgh aldermen trying to protect their citizens from filth... But I prefer to remember Sonia and my presentation of Gertrude Stein and A Companion, one of the best things I’ve ever done, with Natasha Morgan as Alice B. That production also toured the world and won a Fringe First in 1984.”

The discussion following actor Janet Suzmann’s assertion that women get less opportunities in the theatre is something Margolyes can identify with.

“There have always been fewer roles for women,” she states, simply. “Nothing has changed.”

After her stints in Blackadder, a star turn at the Citizen’s Theatre last year and Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo and Juliet, as well as being the voice of the Dolmio grandmother and the Cadbury’s Caramel Bunny, Margolyes is happy to accept the national treasure tag. When put to her, it’s easy to imagine those brown eyes twinkling with mischief, “I was not aware of this... it’s LONG overdue.”

Ménage a Trois and The Olympics of the Everyday

a world of music and video projections: Sneddon’s spectacular set and images expose the dancer in an over-sized ‘imaginarium’ defined by anxieties and self-perceptions.

Using Cunningham’s crutches as a foundation for the staging and movement, Ménage asks tough questions about how the individual allows other’s opinions to determine their sense of self, before challenging the hypocrisy of a society that encourages tolerance but demands perfection: internet dating, fear of intimacy and the horror of a world that has become too large for the human are examined, in a compelling example of how dance can collude comfortably with other art forms to become total, immersive theatre. And while it is too easy to see Cunningham’s crutches as a metaphor, the themes of disappointed love and the struggle for honesty become almost universal through Sneddon and Cunningham’s choreography of person and objects.

In contrast, Ankur are visiting Bellahouston leisure centre to champion the Olympics of the Everyday.

Photo: Prudence Upton

interview: Lorna Irvine

Dickens’ Women 8-25 Aug, The Pleasance, Edinburgh Sun 16 Aug, Pitlochry Festival Mon 27 Aug, Pitlochry Festival Tue 28 Aug, Eden Court, Inverness

Tucked in behind the media hysteria about the Olympics – sporting events in the thrall of multinational business interests aren’t unique – is the wonderful Cultural Olympiad. In September, London’s South Bank will be receiving some of Scotland’s most consistently challenging artists through this programme: NTS’ Ménage a Trois, Private Dancer from Janis Parker, Skewered Snails (Ramesh Meyyappan) and the mischievious Caroline Bowditch’s Leaving Limbo Landing (Bowditch may be from the Antipodes, but her time at Scottish Dance Theatre has made her a strong presence in Scotland).

Glasgow’s unwillingness to be completely overshadowed by the Edinburgh Fringe sees Ménage, a bold collaboration between the NTS, Claire Cunningham and Gail Sneddon, hit Tramway before heading south: a preview in December showed Cunningham’s personal choreography integrated into

60 THE SKINNY

August 2012

Photo: Sven Hagolani

Photo: Sven Hagolani

Thu 30 Aug, University of Aberdeen

“We all deserve a medal to get through the day,” says Shabina Aslam, Ankur’s artistic director. “This is described by exploring the boring bits of life through sporting metaphors. Getting to work or school or the job centre can be an assault course of commuters, chores, homework as well as trying to get dressed and be civil to the people you live with. Our play uses sport within a comedy which celebrates the trials and tribulations of daily life.”

Over the past five years, Ankur have become known for their careful balance of community and professional productions. As Aslam explains, “Ankur Arts Productions aim to transform the representation of Black and Asian Minority Ethnic Artists (BAME) as well as BAME communities in the production, consumption and enjoyment of arts, heritage and culture in Scotland.” Whether this means large scale musicals, site-specific urban drama or new scripts, Ankur have a mission to develop creative projects across all media that break new ground.

Certainly, the company is always ready to break

new ground and find new audiences. Bringing together professional musicians, artists, choreographers, writers and teenage performers The Olympics of the Everyday transforms Bellahouston Leisure Centre into an interactive theatre, engaging the audience in the action as paparazzi seek the big story, spin classes are given a new meaning and medals are awarded.

Both Ménage and Olympics are clear reminders of the vibrancy of a Scottish performance scene that is willing to challenge itself and use elements from the outside world to sharpen intent: accessible, inclusive and willing to make salient critiques, Scottish theatre is capable of integrating meaning, movement and community to undermine assumptions about what theatre can, and should, be.

[Gareth K Vile] Ménage a Trois, 24-25 Aug, Tramway Olympics of the Everyday, 9-12 Aug, 4pm, Bellahouston Leisure Centre, Glasgow www.clairecunningham.co.uk

comedy

PREVIEW

A view of Edinburgh Fringe from Glasgow

The vibrant Glasgow comedy scene is going to be well represented at this year’s Fringe. One of the most exciting west-coast newcomers, Richard Brown, tells us what the Fringe means to him Words: Richard Brown Illustration: Pedro Martinez

As a young lad my parents would, one Sunday every August, take me and my brothers for a walk along the Royal Mile, to gaze in awe at the sights and sounds that would not have been out of place in my nightmares. 10-foot-tall terrors juggling knives, faces painted to represent concepts I was far too young to grasp, and unicyclists. So many unicyclists. Often juggling knives.

20 years later, The Fringe is an altogether different experience and has been responsible for some of the worst hangovers of my life. I am now aware of an exploitative corporate arm; acts who will work all year to pay for these three weeks; and the shocking revelation that those terrifying monsters along the Royal Mile are just people, many of them having their hopes and dreams and aspirations kicked to the cobbled streets.

I live in Glasgow. Despite being a short train journey away from the world’s biggest arts festival it can be easy to take the Fringe for granted. So many top names pop through that you could be forgiven for your complacency. I get as much joy from reading The Stand Glasgow’s August listings as I do from perusing the Fringe programme. But in Edinburgh, in August, you can escape real life,

even if it’s for just a day, and immerse yourself in a surreal world of experimental arts, from the beautifully constructed celebrations of existence to the proudly anti-PC. In the space of a day you can see the most wonderfully unique and original performances, and the worst shit ever performed to a human audience. Either way it will leave an impression on you.

The Fringe is like the boy in the bubble. In a world of online advertising, rolling news and smartphones, Fringe performances can still sell out from word-of-mouth and established acts still flyer for their own shows. The Fringe can seem cut off from the outside world in a way that’s hard to imagine without experiencing it. When I popped through last year, London was on fire, as were the satirists who had taken up their annual month long residence in Scotland’s capital (boom!). In spite of this I still saw several London-based comics who seemed very blasé about the fact their homes may have been reduced to ashes, being instead more concerned with bringing in the punters and fine-tuning their shows.

This year I will throw myself in headfirst. Since venturing onto the Scottish stand up scene last

August I have had the pleasure of seeing a number of acts work their way up to their first full length Fringe shows. I’ll be doing small 10-15 minute spots across the city, so since I have no emotional investment in a full length show perhaps I’m at an advantage?

I somehow doubt it. I will still be out in the street, inevitably soaked to the bone, apologising with my eyes as I push a flyer in your direction and ask you to come into a tiny room and validate my existence, my thinly-veiled alcoholism pushing to the surface. At the end of August I imagine I will be broke and broken, adding mine to the pile of shattered dreams. But whether I spend my evenings drinking to failure or success, I am sure that just by being in this bubble I should be able to avoid the Olympics. And really that’s all I want out of my Fringe experience.

Why Not Comedy, 4-25 Aug at WhyNot? - 14 George St, 6.45-7.45pm, free Newbest of Newbees, 1-26 Aug at Scottish Comedy Festival at The Beehive, 18-20 Grassmarket, 12-1pm, free www.freefringeforum.org/event.php?event=5803

NE BLA A W ZIN CO G ME DY

August 2012

THE SKINNY 61

comps

COMPETITIONS

WIN A 4 STAR HOTEL STAY, TR AVEL COSTS, AND TICKETS TO THE THINKING DRINKER’S GUIDE TO ALCOHOL WITH JÄGERMEISTER

JÄGERMEISTER IS supporting comedy act Ben McFarland and Tom Sandham’s critically acclaimed show The Thinking Drinker’s Guide to Alcohol at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The pair celebrate alcohol’s indisputable influence on life, love, literature and learning, and give audiences a taste of a range of drinks, including an ice cold shot of Jägermeister – the perfect serve – along with a short and comical education on its history.

To celebrate, the herbal liquor makers are offering one lucky Skinny reader and a friend the chance to win tickets to watch the duo in action while enjoying Jägermeister at its best on Saturday 18 August, along with a stay at a 4* hotel and breakfast, plus a £30 travel allowance.

To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is scan our QR code or go to www.theskinny. co.uk/competitions and answer the following question: Q. How is Jägemeister best served and enjoyed?

A. As an iced cold shot B. Luke warm C. With an umbrella

62 THE SKINNY

AUGUST 2012

Competition closes Mon 13 August. Entrants must be over 18 years of age. Prize includes two tickets for the show on Saturday 18 August, plus hotel accommodation for two people on Saturday 18 August and £30 towards travel. A winner will be notified on the day of closing and will be required to respond within 72 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. For full terms and conditions, go to www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms www.jagermeister.co.uk www.drinkaware.co.uk for the facts.

WIN £75 OF AUDIOBOOK DOWNLOADS & CDS TO CELEBR ATE LAUNCH OF THE AUDIOGO PLEASANCE COMEDY PODCAST AUDIOGO, the home of BBC Audiobooks, is proud to be sponsoring the Pleasance Comedy Podcast again in 2012 and has teamed up with The Skinny to offer two winners the chance to get their hands on £75 of free AudioGO downloads or CDs, and an AudioGO MP3 player.

The AudioGO Pleasance Comedy Podcast brings you a free daily podcast with all the best comedy highlights from this year’s Edinburgh Fringe Festival. To register for your free comedy podcast visit pleasance.co.uk and click on 'listen to our podcast.'

The lucky winners will be able to take their pick from AudioGO’s extensive range of drama, comedy and factual programmes from BBC Radio, in addition to abridged and unabridged recordings by best-selling authors read by the finest narrators.

Most titles are available in both CD and download format. To browse through the complete collection visit www.audiogo.com/uk. Follow AudioGo on Facebook through the festival at facebook.com/Audiogocomedy.

To be in with a chance of winning all you have to do is go to www.theskinny.co.uk/competitions and answer the following question: Q. Name three acts performing at Pleasance during this year’s festival?

Competition closes 24 August. A winner will be notified on the day of closing and will be required to respond within 72 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. For full terms and conditions, go to www.theskinny.co.uk/about/ terms

L I ST I N GS

Glasgow music Wed 01 Aug

Sat 04 Aug

That Sunday Feeling (Amy Can Flyy, Falling Faster) O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £6

Davey Horne (Tomas Bird and The Blonde Spirit, Carrie Mac, The Begbies)

We Are Scientists (Bad Veins)

The Ray Summers piano man steps out from behind the keys to front his own folk-rock ensemble.

Lincolnshire rockers who claim to like nothing more than making people happy through song.

King Tut’s, 20:30–23:00, £12.50

California-based indie-rockers with a penchant for big riffs.

Coke Bust (Clocked Out) Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £6

No frills, straight-edge hardcore bulldozer of a band hailing from Washington DC.

A Band Called Cadence Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

The Ayrshire indie supremos take a jaunt up the road for the evening.

My Side Of The Mountain, Jamie Cooling, Adam Fortune, Gareth Croll 13th Note, 19:30–23:00, £4

Mixed showcase with Glasgow alternative country three-piece My Side Of The Mountain, plus a trio of singer/songwriters.

Thu 02 Aug Arches (Younger, Lions, Copper Lungs) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

Philadelphia duo busily brewing a psych and pop-straddling brand of alternative rock.

Jenny O

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £8.50

Alternative pop all the way from NYC.

The Hostiles (Car Crash Radio, The Kimberley Steaks, Cal Murray) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Prepare for another high-tempo ska punk party as The Hostiles launch their new EP.

King Tut’s, 20:30–23:00, £6

The Glasgow-based ska ensemble make their live return.

These Little Kings, Little Bay, Insignia, Del Fina Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £5

Local studio Dixon Street presents a selection of rock and pop talent, specialising in the atmospheric and progressive.

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £22.50

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £12

Toots and the Maytals (Chantelle Ernandez) O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £24

Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert brings his lung-busting Memphis soul boom Glasgow-way, ably backed by his mighty rhythmic mainstays, The Maytals.

Bad Name

KAV (Clench)

Bon Jovi tribute act.

Leicester musician (aka Kav Sandhu) also known for playing guitar with the Happy Mondays, touring in support of his debut solo album.

Barrowland, 19:00–23:00, £7

Strange Empire

Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Unsigned Glasgow rock’n’rollers built from the remains of broken bands and troubadours.

This Feeling (Selective Services, The Dirty Suits, Holy Pistol Club) Maggie May’s, 19:00–22:30, £6

The favourited London rock’n’roll night takes a trip to Scotland, with a selection of live bands taking to the stage.

Sun 05 Aug Michael Cassidy (Georgia, Marc O’Reilly, Eugene Twist) King Tut’s, 20:30–23:00, £6

Paisley singer/songwriter whose music is best defined as alternative folk-meets-pop with an emphasis on melody.

Root2TheFruit

Kinning Park Complex, 13:00–17:00, £2

Tue 07 Aug

The R’n’B songstress plays a one-off Glasgow show before heading to Inverness for Belladrum Festival.

Fri 10 Aug Small Faces tribute act.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £5

Cheekily-named Glasgow quartet of the psych-tinged garage rock variety.

Fri 03 Aug

All-acoustic showcase of different takes on the singer/songwriter model.

Small Fakers

The Reverse Cowgirls (The Wrong Boyfriends, Thee Phar’i-sees)

Beverley Knight

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Capone and the Bullets

Afternoon music session with William T. Wilson exploring the roots and fruits of dance music.

13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Zoe Sams, David Lang, Daniel Marshall, Chrissy Mullen

Chthonic (Let’s Play God, Exile The Traitor) King Tut’s, 20:30–23:00, £9

The Taiwanese metallers bring the noise Glasgow-way, chock with folk traits and traditional oriental instrumentation.

Both Barrels, Eamonn McNaughton, Dead Medicine, Kenny Clez, Jaceius

King Tut’s, 20:30–23:00, £6

Glasgow Ska Train (George Carnival) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £5

Live mod spectacular featuring a selection of Glasgow’s favourited mod bands.

Classic Album Night: The Rolling Stones Maggie May’s, 21:00–23:00, Free

Various bands cherrypick songs from a classic Rolling Stones album, in honour of their 50th anniversary.

Sat 11 Aug A Night of Scottish Industrial: Part 2 (Surgyn, Analog Angel, Nightmare Frequency) Classic Grand, 19:00–22:45, £6

Pretty much as the title suggests: a night of all-Scottish industrial, headlined by Dundonian noisemakers Surgyn.

The Patriots (Trade, The Dirty Hugos) King Tut’s, 20:30–23:00, £6

Catchy lyrics and warm tunesmithery from the Glasgow indie-rock quintet.

The Winter Tradition (Two Years In Russian, 7 of 7) Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £5

Noisy powerpop-meets-rock from the loveable Scottish quartet.

Sonic Templers (Soho Dandy, Hot Jupiters)

ed i nb u rgh MUSIC Fri 17 Aug

Sat 25 Aug

Deer Tick

Wed 01 Aug

The Heretics

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £8

Tango In The Attic (Versus Versus, The Barrels, The Last of The Free)

Fresh Air: Broadcast Opening Party (The Bad Books, Kill The Waves, Sun Dogs)

Jacuzzi Boys

Sunshine-filled melodies from the Glenrothes quartet, taking in some noisier soundscapes of late.

Dirty Americana-styled pseudohillbillies led by guitarist and singer/ songwriter John McCauley. Part of No Mean City Festival 2012.

Rotherham-based metal-meetspunk foursome, with three guitar players amongst ‘em.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £7.50

Miami trio who’ve been spitting garage-pop fire since 2009, when a run of successful 7-inches gave way to their first LP.

Mark Copeland and The Wounded Pirates Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

The up-tempo pop-meets-rock singer/songwriter launches his new EP with his merry band, The Wounded Pirates.

Ocean and Victoria (The Pretty Mess, Fuzzy and The Peaches) Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £5

Glasgow-based alternative rock, indie and punk-straddling quintet.

Sat 18 Aug The Modests (Our Time Now) O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £8

Glasgow rock quartet led by frontman Jackson Harvey on lead vocals and rhythm guitar.

Knock On Effect (Emerald Sunday) Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £6

Greenock outfit with a healthy balance of indie rock’n’roll, melodic hooks and singalong choruses.

Acrylic Iqon (West Avenue, Stone Fox Chase, Tijuana Bibles) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Upbeat Glasgow quartet of the epic powerpop variety, with a bit o’ synth thrown in for good measure.

Mon 20 Aug Childish Gambino

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £15

Rap alias of American actor, writer and comedian Donald Glover, sadly unrelated to Danny Glover, alas.

Tue 21 Aug

The Jigawotts (Meanwhile City, Electric Alice, The Boscos)

Pianos Become The Teeth (Balance and Compusure, Seahaven, Departures)

Vagabond Poets (Ruby Culture, Sonic Hearts Foundation)

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £5

Glasgow indie-rockers who’ve been gigging in and around their fair city since the start of 2008.

Baltimore rock quintet of the posthardcore variety.

Mod-styled band of scallywags hailing from the fiery musical furnace of Cumbernauld.

Resident rock and acoustic showcase from Toxic Rock, hosting a cherrypicked selection of local and touring acts.

Wed 15 Aug

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £10

King Tut’s, 20:30–23:00, £6

Masters of The Sea (Jonny Jack, Lost Nath) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Danceable indie-psych from the Kilmarnock quartet, all loud shirts and brash guitars.

Strawberry Ocean Sea

Resident rock and acoustic showcase from Toxic Rock, hosting a cherrypicked selection of local and touring acts.

Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Hand Cannon, Death By Ambition, Xose Gael 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Mixed band showcase taking in rock of the mostly hard-edged and hardcore variety.

Wed 08 Aug

Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £5

Karen Matheson

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £18

Rare solo outing for the vocalist of Celtic super-group, Capercaillie.

Rescheduled date.

Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Set Your Goals

Thu 16 Aug

Punto The Feef, Black Tara, Blue Nova, Empty Avenue

American punk-rockers hailing from the decidedly non-punk-rocksounding Walnut Creek in California.

Gnarly.

Nikki Garnett (Callie Rossi, Hooked Up)

Unsigned Glasgow outfit churning out the good ol’ indie rock.

13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Mixed showcase of noise, including Black Tara blasting yer face with a tidal wave of grunge-y hard rock, as is their way.

Vagabond Social Club (Tragic City Thieves, Boss Caine) The Griffin, 20:00–23:30, £4

The Americana night returns, soundtracked by a rare performance from Glasgow’s Tragic City Thieves, alongside bluesman Boss Kaine (aka Daniel Lucas) and chums.

Ensemble Economique (Purple Pilgrims) CCA, 20:00–22:30, £5

US-based experimental musician Brian Pyle does his trancendental solo thing, muted drum machines, plastic-coated FM synthesizers and bargain-bin effects pedals adding a rustic-edge.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10

Apples i’m Home, Future Capitals, Eldrich Scanty Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Showcase night firmly of the stripped-back acoustic pop bliss.

The Cosmic Dead

13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

The Glaswegian space rockers par excellence take to 13th Note for a special tour fundraiser night.

Thu 09 Aug

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

No-nonsense Manchester songstress infusing her sound with R’n’B and catchy pop hooks.

Smack Wizards (Bong Monster) Mono, 20:00–22:30, £3

More semi-improvised, looselywritten pop songs from the twisted brain of Smack Wizards.

The Poor Things

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £5

Experimental Glasgow/Perthshire three-piece.

Iced Earth (Fury)

Shapeshift, District 55, Marelle Sturrock

US-of-A hailing band of heavy metallers led by founder Jon Schaffer on lead guitar and vocals.

Metal and hard rock-styled night raising funds for Cancer Research.

Jer Reid and Joe Quimby (Howie Reeve)

Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £18.50

Mono, 20:00–22:30, £3

Rare duo performance from these two local gents and serial collaborators, with support from Tattie Toes’ Howie Reeve – playing his debut solo performance, no less.

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Snapjack

Glasgow-based R’n’B-styled hip-hopper known to his Mammy as Jack Adams.

Damien Jurado (Megafun) The Arches, 19:30–22:00, £12.50

The Seattle-born songsmith plays a set of his trademark simple, plaintive melodies, taking in his latest album, Maroqopa, as well as tracks from his impressive back catalogue.

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £5

Local indie label Flowers in the Dustbin present their Pivo Pivo showcase night, this time hosting post-rock behemoths Suplex The Kids’ last ever show.

Crosbie, P6, Elizabeth Veldon, The DDN, Word Or Object 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Experimental showcase, including The DDN’s self-proclaimed ‘antimusic’ (aka a glorious racket of a thing).

Sun 26 Aug Princeton powerpop-meets-rock quartet led my the longserving Chris Conley.

Sun 12 Aug

The South Bristol hip-hop collective headline Volition Scotland’s fundraiser, joined by the likes of Louie and Kid Robotik.

Glasgow-based alternative rockers combining catchy tunes with near perfect harmonies.

Suplex The Kid (Black and White Boy)

The English singer/songwriter does his acoustic folk-rock thing, complete with trademark acerbic lyrics.

Super-hip and super-hyped NYC duo peddling the kind of aggressive, dynamic industrial-pop that makes for one helluva live show.

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £8 adv.

Rod Jones (of Idlewild, and more recently The Birthday Suit) plays a rare intimate solo set.

Saves The Day

King Tut’s, 20:30–23:00, £10

Sleigh Bells

Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Rod Jones (This Silent Forest)

Nick Harper (Lori McTear)

Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £5

Split Prophets

King Tut’s, 20:30–23:00, £6

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £12

Flying Batteries, These Fading Polaroids, Acedia

Dark Dark Dark

Otherworldly Minneapolis chamberfolksters, riding along on Nona Marie’s soaring vocals.

Thu 23 Aug Fearless Vampire Killers (We Used To Call This Summer, Madison, Revolution Reloaded) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

London-based rockers who describe their sound as ‘death pop’, taking their name from the 1967 comedy horror film they grew up watching.

Adam Stafford (Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo, Sonny Carntyne) Mono, 20:00–22:30, £4

Mr Stafford does his ever-inventive solo thing, utilising only his voice, minimal guitar and a loop-station to multiply layers of experimental pop; pretty damn mesmerising in a live setting.

Esperi (Lovers Turn To Monsters, Algernon Doll) Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc

Scottish multi-instrumentalist Chris Lee-Mar and pals do their alternative folk-meets-electronica thing.

Fri 24 Aug The Detours (Fluorescent Hearts, Stuntman Mike) King Tut’s, 20:30–23:00, £6

Glaswegian alternative rockers deftly combining energetic guitar riffs and soaring sing-a-long choruses.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £15

Jeffrey Lewis & The Junkyard (The Hector Collectors, The Middle Ones) Mono, 19:30–22:00, £9

Comic book writer, artist and anti-folk icon Jeffrey Lewis tours with his merry band, The Junkyard, incorporating lo-fi videos and Lewis’ own illustrations into their set.

Rollor (Young Philidephia) Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc

A good dose of leftfield hardcore and indie from Matt Harris et al.

Devon Sproule

Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

The folk, jazz and pop-straddling songstress plays a rare live set with her touring band.

Tue 28 Aug Bush

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £25

Multi-platinum Gavin Rossdale-led band of rockers taking in Glasgow as part of their European tour.

Sacre Noir (Two Stripe) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, Free

Gloomy electronic trip-hop from the Edinburgh-based noisemakers.

Wed 29 Aug The Sweetback Sisters Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Vintage country-styled tunesmithery from the rockin’ four-man band, fronted by Kansas/Californian-born singer/songwriters Emily Miller and Zara Bode.

Grimes

The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £10

Canadian musician Claire Boucher does her much-lauded electro-pop thing, deftly balancing dance beats and a supersaturation of vocal hooks against imperious bass synthesis.

(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peaceniks, Love and Understanding (Rick Redbeard, Adam Stafford, Emma Pollock, Beerjacket)

The Old Hairdressers, 19:30–22:30, £5 adv. (£6 door)

Author Rodge Glass hosts an evening of spoken words and music, joined by the likes of Rick Redbeard, Adam Stafford, Beerjacket, Alan Bissett, and Alasdair Gray – all helping raise funds for the Alliance for Middle East Peace.

Trembling Bells CCA, 20:00–22:30, £8

Those kings and queens of modern folk treat our earlugs to a special solo acoustic set, following their joint release (and double-header tour) with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy earlier in the year.

Thu 30 Aug Grandaddy

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £18

Londstanding indie-rockers formed in California back in 1992. Part of No Mean City Festival 2012.

Hurray For the Riff Raff Pivo Pivo, 19:00–23:00, £6

Soulful, country-tinged vignettes from Alynda lee Segarra and her touring band, the Tumbleweeds.

Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £12

Queen Jane (Campfires In Winter, Kith and Kin) 13th Note, 20:30–23:00, £4

Henry’s Cellar, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Edinburgh’s student run radio station celebrate the start of the Fringe.

Thu 02 Aug

Alternative indie four-piece hailing from the fiery musical furnace of Cumbernauld.

Monofly

Willis Earl Beal

The Glasgow-based indie-rockers take to Edinburgh for the evening.

Chicago-born musician and artist whose debut album consists of lo-fi demos recorded while homeless.

Rescheduled date. Part of No Mean City Festival 2012.

Armellodie On Tour 2012: Super Adventure Club, The Douglas Firs, Trapped Mice

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £8

Fri 31 Aug

Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £5

Armellodie Records mini tour, headlined by the rollicking hardcore assaults of Super Adventure Club.

Fri 03 Aug

Kiwi singer, songwriter and guitarist who sang on the Gotye earworm that was Somebody I Used To Know.

Indie Funday Friday (The Jacarandas, Little Love and the Friendly Vibes, Universal Thee, Hello Frisco)

Pearl Jem

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £10

Pearl Jam tribute act.

The Farm (The Sneaky Russians) King Tut’s, 20:30–23:00, £15

The Liverpudlian ensemble reform to play a series of special shows marking the 20th anniversary of their number one album, Spartacus.

The Jigawotts (Martin Livingston) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £5

Glasgow indie-rockers who’ve been gigging in and around their fair city since the start of 2008.

Baltimore League (Phoenix Lights)

Henry’s Cellar, 19:00–22:00, £4

Monthly indie-pop night where a selection of, er, indie-pop acts play in aid of local charities, celebrating its first birthday this month.

The Barret Wise Experience Nobles Bar, 22:00–00:00, Free

Ally Batten enlists Big Phil Jones (on drums) and Laser Dick (on guitar) for extra noise-making.

Mr McFall’s Chamber: Music From The Baltic

Queen’s Hall, 19:00–21:30, £14 (£10/£5 children)

The intrepid musical explorers delve into the Baltic’s fascinating musical culture.

Chilly Gonzales: Piano Talk Show

Nuala Kennedy

Mr Gonzales brings his lyrical flair to bear on his now renowned piano talk show, post two sold out runs in London.

CCA, 20:00–22:30, £10

The inventive Irish folk singer, composer and musician launches her third solo album, Noble Stranger, playing live with her touring band.

Sat 01 Sep Music Language 2012 (Mussel Memory, The Rosy Crucifixion, Palms, Okishima Island Tourist Association, Aggi Doom, Clocked Out, Die Hard, Big Ned, Tut Vu Vu, Soosh, Dam Mantle, Silk Cut) SWG3, 19:00–02:00, £10 weekend (£6 day)

DIY promoters Cry Parrot and Tracer Trails team up again with a mass of talented locals playing over the weekend, with SWG3 playing home to the glut of it.

Music Language 2012 (Alasdair Roberts, David McGuinness, Conquering Animal Sound, Mother Ganga) The 78, 14:00–16:00, £10 weekend (£6 day)

DIY promoters Cry Parrot and Tracer Trails team up again with a mass of talented locals playing over the weekend.

Sun 02 Sep Music Language 2012 (Modern Institute, Happy Particles, Hector Bizerk, Sacred Paws) Grand Ole Opry, 19:15–23:00, £10 weekend (£6 day)

DIY promoters Cry Parrot and Tracer Trails team up again with a mass of talented locals playing over the weekend.

Meschiya Lake (The Little Big Horns) Stereo, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

One time street performer Meschiya (pronounced Ma-shee-ya) takes to Stereo backed by her touring band, Little Big Horns.

Music Language 2012 (Richard Youngs, Luke Fowler, Hannah Tuulikki, Muscletusk, Cru Servers, Torsten Lauchmann)

Kinning Park Complex, 14:00–18:00, £10 weekend (£6 day)

DIY promoters Cry Parrot and Tracer Trails team up again with a mass of talented locals playing over the weekend.

Gigantic Leaves (Spaceguard) Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £4

Instrumental post-rockers playing their debut Edinburgh show, no less.

Red Kites

Henry’s Cellar, 19:30–23:30, £5 (£4)

Emotive folk-rock ensemble hailing from Guildford.

CIRCA (PAWS, Lady North, Errors DJs) Electric Circus, 22:30–05:00, £5

13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £5

Ayreshire-formed trio wth clean vocals and rock riffs combining in one amiable pop-rock whole.

Queen’s Hall, 19:30–22:00, £16

The intrepid musical explorers celebrate the diversity of Scotland’s musical culture, joined by a foursome of guest talent: Aidan O’Rourke, Fraser Fifield, Corrina Hewat and James Ross.

Wed 08 Aug

Henry’s Cellar, 19:30–23:30, £4

Kimbra

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £10

Mr McFall’s Chamber: Four Corners

Queen’s Hall, 21:45–00:00, £10

Late night live music party hosted by guerrilla-gig rebels Detour Scotland and Edinburgh studio-run radio station Fresh Air.

Thu 09 Aug Town Called Hell (Blackjack) Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £4

Bruising rock of the thunderous 80s-action film referencing metal and blues variety.

Conscious Route (The Kennel Wages, Blasfima Sinna, Werd, Deeko, Combo Combo) Henry’s Cellar, 20:00–00:00, £4

The local rapper, poet and singer/ songwriter launches his new solo album.

Skerryvore

Queen’s Hall, 22:00–00:00, £16

Blazing bagpipes, fiddle and accordions, lynch-pinned on Alec Dalglish’s soaring vocals.

Toots and the Maytals

The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £24 adv.

Retroverb, The Bare Bones, Pocket Rocket

Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert brings his lung-busting Memphis soul boom Glasgow-way, ably backed by his mighty rhythmic mainstays, The Maytals.

Mixed band showcase, including dynamic melodic rock trio Pocket Rocket.

Caezium (Cry and The Blocks)

Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £4

Adam Stafford, Lady North, The Japanese War Effort Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Scottish micro-label Gerry Loves Records bring together a selection of bands they’ve released, including Adam Stafford doing his inventive solo thing, utilising voice, minimal guitar and loop-station to mesmerising effect.

Fri 10 Aug Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Young Edinburgh psych-rockers rich with synth-laden, guitar-totin’ electro-rock sounds.

Night Noise Team, Collar Up, Jordan Yorkston Henry’s Cellar, 20:00–23:30, £5

Varying shades of pop from bands affiliated with Edinburgh’s Permwhale label.

Lanterns On The Lake

Mystery Juice

Fragile and cinematic folk soundscapes from the Newcastle-based sextet.

More hard rockin’ blues from the inimitable locals, led by bequiffed frontman/supercooldude Tim Matthew.

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £8 adv.

Sat 04 Aug

Nobles Bar, 22:00–00:00, Free

Barb Jungr

Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:00, £16

Withered Hand

Queen’s Hall, 20:00–22:30, £10

Dan Willson (aka Withered Hand) performs a guest-laden headline show, joined by the likes of Hefner mainman Darren Hayman and Ballboy’s Gordon McIntyre. Compered

by Josie Long.

Scree Magazine Showcase

Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 19:00–22:00, £4

Experimental music and poetry, with Anak-Anak (aka one-half of Conquering Animal Sound), iliop, Graeme Smith, Scott Thurston, Samantha Walton and Greg Thomas.

The Litigators (The Crackling Void, The Merrylees) Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)

Edinburgh rock’n’roll quartet led my Michael McNell on vocals and guitar duties.

Scottish Independent Music Fair Summerhall, 12:00–16:00, Free

The Scottish Independent Music Fair returns to Summerhall for a second year, with many a fine purveyor of independent music setting up stall, plus live music from the label artists and DJs throughout the day.

The queen of cabaret does her unique take on Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Jacques Brel, Nina Simone and Jimmy Webb, joined by Simon Wallace on piano.

The Sound Project: Take Three (Little Buddha, Scragfight, Royal Edinburgh Music) Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £6 (£5)

Bi-monthly music night featuring a raggle-taggle bunch of locals playing live, including Glasgow trio Scragfight putting their twist on Riot Grrrl punk.

Happy Particles (Ryan Vail) Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Ambient Glasgow space-rockers slowly shifting between chords, still riding high on the back of their Scottish Album of the Year 2012-nominated debut, Under Sleeping Waves.

Dirty Harry

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £8 adv.

Blondie tribute act.

Sat 11 Aug Conan (Slomatics, Headless Kross) Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

Sun 05 Aug Jed Potts and the Hillman Hunters Bannerman’s, 21:00–23:00, Free

Intimate and electric blues from Potts and his merry band.

Brutal Scouse doom ensemble doing their thing at immense volumes.

Gnarwolves, Young Attenborough, She Makes War, Billy Liar, The Middle Ones Henry’s Cellar, 16:30–22:00, £tbc

Marathon showcase taking in a raggle-taggle bunch of melodic punk-rock, hardcore, acoustic and more over six-odd hours of mayhem.

August 2012

THE SKINNY 63

L I ST I N GS

E D I N B U R G H music

The Loveboat Big Band: Album Launch Extravaganza Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:00, £16

Classic swing, original arrangements and vintage rarities a-plenty as the Loveboat lot celebrate the release of their debut album.

Thu 16 Aug

Vasa (Birdhead, Half a Dead Bird) Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £4

Glaswegian progressive post-rockers playing their debut eastside show.

Caravan Club

Kero Kero Bonito

Edinburgh six-piece featuring shared boy/girl harmonies between lead singers Liam Mabon and Lisa Russell.

The South London synth-popsters provide the dancing tunes.

Henry’s Cellar, 19:30–23:30, £5 (£4)

Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)

Dead Sea Souls (James Brown Is Annie)

The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £6 adv.

Singalong West Lothian quartet touting their funky ska wares across the Central Belt since 2006.

The Pictish Trail (Rick Redbeard, Josie Long DJ)

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £8 adv.

Fence Records’ label boss The Pictish Trail (aka Johnny Lynch) takes to Electric Circus resplendent with full beard and full band, performing songs from his forthcoming album.

Sun 12 Aug

Queen’s Hall, 19:30–22:00, £16 (£14)

Poignant celebration of WWI songs featuring some 27 folk musicians, including Dick Gaughan, Ian Anderson and Siobhan Miller.

Plastic Babies

Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)

Edinburgh-based acoustic rock’n’rollers with a distinct country twang.

Com Cruise (Tenebriated)

Sneaky Pete’s, 21:00–00:00, £8 adv.

Late ‘n’ live set from the Ghostly International pioneer whose off-key synths create a beautifully disharmonious soundscape.

Rodrigo y Gabriela

Amanda Palmer and Neil Gaiman

HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:00, £25

Queen’s Hall, 19:30–22:00, £17.50

Author Neil Gaiman and DIY-musician extraordinaire Amanda Palmer present a unique evening of spoken word and song, in what will be their only full-length appearance in Europe this year.

Koreless (Telfort)

Sneaky Pete’s, 21:00–00:00, £5 adv.

Late ‘n’ live set from the talented producer whose deconstructed take on garage and house makes for a beast of a live show.

The experimental Mexican acoustic duo tour on the back of their latest epic, Area 52, which rather boldly features a full Cuban orchestra.

Electric Circus, 19:30–22:30, £5 adv.

Mon 13 Aug Sonic Thrills

Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)

Hard rockin’ Edinburgh glam ensemble, taking influence from classic 80s bands.

Big dirty riffs from a trio of noisy local bands, stoner rock overload stylee.

The Night Of Dead Elvis (Charles Randolph River’s Slim Rhythm Revue, The Bastard Suits, Sammy and the Sands, Cow Cow Boogie, The Fnords)

Dougie MacLean Trio

Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:00, £22.50

Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:00, £20

Fusion of rocked-up bagpipes and genre-spanning covers from everyone’s favourite kilted pipers.

Richard Thomson

The renowned Scot (aka he who penned Caledonia) returns to the Queen’s Hall, accompanied by instrumentalists Ross Ainslie and Pete Garnett.

Peatbog Faeries

Queen’s Hall, 22:00–00:00, £22.50

The unassuming elder-statesman brings it with his acoustic and electric guitar virtuosity.

Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)

Dispatch

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £8 adv.

Intimate and electric blues from Potts and his merry band.

Queen’s Hall, 20:00–22:00, £10

For one night only FOUND and Aidan Moffat perform live versions of their sound installation, #UNRAVEL, at which audience members can influence what they hear by tweeting throughout the concert.

Joe Pug (Gav Prentice, Al Shields)

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £7.50

Chicago-based singer/songwriter who abandoned playwriting in favour of becoming a musician.

CIRCA (Bwani Junction, The LaFontaines, CountClockwork DJs)

Late night live music party hosted by guerrilla-gig rebels Detour Scotland and Edinburgh studio-run radio station Fresh Air.

Loud & Clear, 12:00–16:00, £6

Dean Friedman

Voodoo Rooms, 20:30–22:30, £18

US-of-A singer/songwriter doing his thing on vocals, piano, keyboard, guitar... and maybe even harmonica.

Kaiho

Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)

Classic pop-styled Edinburgh all-girl seven-piece featuring the sonic pleasures of trumpet, accordion and violin.

Chilly Gonzales: Piano Talk Show

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £6 adv.

Fri 24 Aug Happy Spastics (Sad Society) Henry’s Cellar, 19:00–22:00, £5

DIY-styled hardcore punk from the Edinburgh hellraisers.

Tucker and The Scattered Family Nobles Bar, 22:00–00:00, Free

Edinburgh songwriter Andy Tucker and his regular cohorts serve up the world-weary tunes.

After Me, The Flood

Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)

Indie-punk noise quintet from Edinburgh, not to be confused with the US-of-A hailing hardcore ensemble of the same name. Raising funds for Sick Kids.

Rod Jones (Run Lucky Free, The Barry Van Dykes) Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £8 adv.

Rod Jones (of Idlewild, and more recently The Birthday Suit) plays a rare intimate solo set.

Remember Remember

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £6 adv.

Musical brainchild of multiinstrumentalist Graeme Ronald, shot through with samples, keys, glockenspiels and loop pedals.

Sat 25 Aug

Billy Talent

Lords of Bastard (Fatalists plus support)

Toronto punk-rock ensemble with angular tendencies, led by Benjamin Kowalewicz.

The psychedelic stoner rockers (rather brilliantly named, too) launch their second album proper.

Tue 21 Aug

The Nature Boys (The Begbies, Jack Rowberry)

The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £15 adv.

Paramore

Corn Exchange, 19:00–23:00, £29.50

Girl-fronted post-punk quintet led by vocalist Hayley Williams.

Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Cruz, 20:30–01:00, £5

Edinburgh’s own underground prodigal punk troupe launch their new single. On a boat.

Queen’s Hall, 22:00–00:00, £16

Howler (Oberhofer)

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £8 adv.

Wed 22 Aug Khuda (Gastric Band, Fat Janitor) Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £4

Leeds duo big on the intense progressive rock soundscapes.

Sleigh Bells

The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £12 adv.

Elvis Shakespeare, 14:30–15:30, Free

Franz Nicolay

Henry’s Cellar, 19:00–22:30, £tbc

Former keyboardist in Brooklyn rockers The Hold Steady, Franz Nicolay continues his improbable reinvention as a troubadour of heartland America.

The Kennel Wages

Nobles Bar, 22:00–00:00, Free

High energy blues-styled rock from the talented Edinburgh outfit.

Mary Coughlan

Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:00, £16

Irish music royalty, with personal influences running like blood through her songwriting.

Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Dark Dark Dark (Kaiho, Caravan Club)

Queen’s Hall, 23:00–01:00, £16

The Rising

Otherworldly Minneapolis chamberfolksters, riding along on Nona Marie’s soaring vocals.

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £10 adv.

Treacherous Orchestra Vibrant Glasgow folk collective mixing traditional rootsy Scottish tunes with contemporary influences, all bagpipes and whistles and loveliness.

The Stormy Seas (The Cosmonauts)

Citrus Club, 19:30–22:00, £6

Santigold

The Fnords, Acid Fascists

Miss Santi White brings it with a set of her trademark pick’n’mix art-pop, showcasing tracks from her new album, Master Of My Make-Believe.

Gloriously melancholy folky offerings from the Edinburgh ensemble.

Battlefield Band

CIRCA (Churches, We Are The Physics, The Twilight Sad DJs)

Late ‘n’ live set from the DFA mainstays, all analogue synths, live drums and intense disco downers.

Celtic-inspired musical ensemble, pioneers of the integration of bagpipes with fiddle, keyboards, guitar and voice.

Late night live music party hosted by guerrilla-gig rebels Detour Scotland and Edinburgh studio-run radio station Fresh Air.

Stretchercase

Thu 23 Aug

Rock and blues covers band taking in The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and The Doors et al.

Dave Hauff (Turtle Lamone)

Bruce Springsteen tribute act.

Elvis Shakespeare, 14:30–15:30, Free

A double-whammy of Scottish garage punk – headed up by femalefronted noise trio The Fnords – playing an intimate in-store session.

Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:00, £16

Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)

The Paul Simon Treatment

HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:00, £15

Electric Circus, 22:30–05:00, £5 adv.

Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Melodic, rough-as-you-like songsmithery, played raw and acoustic.

King Creosote

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:30, £8 adv.

Queen’s Hall, 22:00–00:00, £14

Edinburgh-based Paul Simon covers band, with local bluesman Mike Kearney and Stu Goodall from Admiral Fallow amongst their number.

64 THE SKINNY

Classic Album Sundays: Pink Floyd

The Fence head honcho plays a special festival full-band set showcasing a brand new set of EPs.

August 2012

Elvis Shakespeare, 14:30–15:30, Free

The Edinburgh-based postprogressive rock and electronica troupe play their first full headline show since the release of their second album in April.

Super-hip and super-hyped NYC duo peddling the kind of aggressive, dynamic industrial-pop that makes for one helluva live show.

Heavy metal outfit big on the screaming solos, pounding drums and relentless vocals.

Found and Aidan Moffat: #UNRAVEL Live

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Ben Lovett (of Mumford & Sons) brings his touring night Edinburghway, featuring acts from around the UK.

Duncan Evans (Tim Holehouse)

Intimate in-store alternative folk session, headed up by Duncan Evans’ acoustic guitar-styled songsmithery.

Fatherson

Firebrand Super Rock (Ashes of Iron, Dog Tired)

Bannerman’s, 21:00–23:00, Free

Communion (Blue Rose Code, The Last of Barrett’s Privateers, Heathers)

Bannerman’s, 21:00–23:00, Free

North Atlantic Oscillation (Homework)

60s American rock and pop-inspired brainchild of Jordan Gatesmith.

Sat 18 Aug

Jed Potts and the Hillman Hunters

Nobles Bar, 21:00–00:00, Free

Two local talents combine forces for a weekend songwriters special.

Chirpy American punk-popster, all fast-paced and fizzy with hooks.

Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)

Hit-filled singalong rock from the tongue-in-cheek covers band, this time with a ‘psycho circus’ theme.

Wed 15 Aug

Austen George and Donna Maciocia

Intimate and electric blues from Potts and his merry band.

HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:00, £sold out

Experimental Glasgow musician (aka Drew Wright) does his inimitable freak-folk thing in an intimate instore session at Elvis Shakespeare.

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £6 adv.

The Korg Delta led five-piece play their first headline Edinburgh set.

Weezer tribute act.

All Time Low (We Are The In Crowd)

Midweek mix of soul, funk, motown and northern soul with Duncan Harvey.

The Tide Inside

Schtick of Rock’s Psycho Circus

TOY (The Machine Room)

Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Duncan Harvey

Earl Grey & The Loose Leaves

All-female folk ensemble made up of Sally Barker, Mary Macmaster, Eilidh Shaw and Mairearad Green.

The Kilmarnock trio do their alternative rock-meets-powerpop thing, you do the moshing.

The Boston rockers take in Glasgow as part of their very first European tour.

Beezer

Fri 31 Aug

Jed Potts and the Hillman Hunters

Sneaky Pete’s, 21:00–00:00, £7 adv.

Wounded Knee

The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £8 adv.

The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £15 adv.

Sun 19 Aug

Sun 26 Aug

Late ‘n’ live set from the chilled-oot Canadian synth-popsters.

The Poozies

Edinburgh-trio formed and fronted

by Mark Donnelly, all feral swoons and ambient discord.

Piano-based alternative pop trio, with added twisted folk and jazz bell sounds.

EH1 Live 2012 warm-up gig, featuring a selection of live bands.

Trust

Queen’s Hall, 23:00–01:00, £16

More high octane contemporary folk from the Isle of Skye crew.

Towma (Kaiho)

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Mon 20 Aug

Henry’s Cellar, 19:30–05:00, £7

Red Hot Chilli Pipers

This Is Sound

Fri 17 Aug

A selection of live bands mark the 35 year anniversary of Elvis’ death.

Tue 14 Aug

More subtly layered beats and rushes of distorted guitar as Miaoux Miaoux (aka Julian Corrie) tours on the back of his rather ace debut album, Light of the North.

Ex-Alamos members in a new alternative guise.

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Young Edinburgh indie-rockers touring on the back of their debut EP.

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

A hit down’t London way, Classic Album Sundays comes to Edinburgh, where they essentially dip the lights and play a classic album in its entirety, in this case Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon.

Fat Goth (Steel Trees, Vasquez)

Gareeda, Mothertone, Roll on 3

The Kiks (Pirate Sons, Last Minute Glory)

Electric Circus, 22:30–05:00, £5 adv.

Far, Far From Ypres

Miaoux Miaoux (TeenCanteen)

G lasgow

Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £5

Queen’s Hall, 21:45–00:00, £10

Mr Gonzales brings his lyrical flair to bear on his now renowned piano talk show, post two sold out runs in London.

Paul Kelly

Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:00

Australian singer/songwriter with a gift for perfectly encapsulating his homeland, with recent shows drawing from his massive box set, The A-Z Recordings.

Jeff The Brotherhood

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £7 adv.

The Nashville-based psychedelic garage-popsters bring their wares Edinburgh-way.

Conquering Animal Sound

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £6 adv.

The lo-fi Glasgow noisemakers (aka Anneke Kampman and James Scott) perform using loops and samples, building the songs from their roots as the intricate melodies unfold.

Mon 27 Aug Tall Poppies

Voodoo Rooms, 19:15–22:00, £8

London-based indie-pop outfit fronted by twin sister songstresses Susan and Catherine Hay.

Enter Shikari

The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £18 adv.

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £8 adv.

The affable indie-pop chaps and chapesses bring the singalong joy to Electric Circus, playing their rescheduled June date, with all members fine and well now. Phew.

Damnation

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £6

The View

Alternative rock, metal, punk and ska.

The Dundee indie-pop scamps tour on the back of their fourth album, Cheeky For A Reason.

David Barbarossa’s Thing

HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:00, £16.50

The Detours

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Glaswegian alternative rockers deftly combining energetic guitar riffs and soaring sing-a-long choruses.

Sun 02 Sep

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Two floors of punk-rock, reggae and classic disco, with local scallywag David Barbarossa.

Old Skool

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul.

Cathouse Fridays

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Emma Pollock and RM Hubbert

Rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels, with the residents manning the decks.

Scottish folkstress Emma Pollock embarks on her co-headline tour with instrumental guitar virtuoso RM Hubbert, playing solo acoustically in support of their new collaborative EP.

Booty Call

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £8

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Mixed bag of indie, rock, underground hip-hop and chart classics. Free before 11.30pm.

Blitz: White Trash Party Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £3

Wed 29 Aug Georgio ‘the Dove’ Valentino and La Societe des Melancoliques Elvis Shakespeare, 14:30–15:30, Free

HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:00, £15

Electric Circus, 22:30–05:00, £5 adv.

Thu 30 Aug

Wed 01 Aug Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

An unabashed mix of 80s pop, electro and nu-disco. They will play Phil Collins.

Garage Wednesdays The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Craig McGee’s staple eclectic mashup midweeker.

Octopussy The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Raymond Vase Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £8

Fridays @ The Shed

Pop and chart hits with Andy Robertson in the main room, plus hippity-hop in the Red Room.

Rumours

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

New monthly residency with the Rumours residents, special guests and extra bass bins.

Elevate (Joseph Capriati)

Shed Saturdays

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£7 after 11)

Frothy weekend mix of commercial pop and cheese classics.

Rebecca Vasmant

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Boom Boom Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Considered mix of garage, post-punk and girl groups, presented by Adele of Sons and Daughters and the Sophisticated Boom Boom.

The Afterparty Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3

Euan Neilson handpicks a selection of classic R’n’B and hip-hop.

Taking Back Thursdays

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £1

Renegade

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Rock, metal and punk requests all night long.

Sunday Roaster

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

The new DJ duo of Garry and Andrew Kilgour incite more mayhem than should really be allowed on the Sabbath.

Instruments Of Rapture Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Burn

New quarterly club night hosted by Glaswegian fashion label ten30, with a fashion showcase and a different fashion theme for each – kicking off with Hells Angels, as you do. Music comes from veteran Glasgow DJ Hushpuppy.

Long-running trade night with Normski, Zeus and Mash spinning disco beats.

The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, £5

Sat 04 Aug

Monthly dose of industrial, EBM and electronic. We hear it’s very danceable.

Sun 05 Aug

High Fashion Disco Party (Hushpuppy)

The Elevate crew return for another night dedicated to house and techno, with bright new techno star Joseph Capriati in tow.

Love Music

Cryotec

The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, £7

Choice nu-disco and house picks from the Instruments Of Rapture label, hosted by Ali OOFT and The Revenge.

Thu 02 Aug O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)

Horse Meat Disco

Chambre 69, 21:00–03:00, £12 adv.

Jellybaby

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11.30)

Saturday night disco with Gerry Lyons and guests.

Absolution

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £6

Metal, industrial and pop-punk over two floors.

Pandemic

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Cross-genre danceathon with residents Noj and Mark. They will play The Fall.

Nu Skool

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Nick Peacock spins a selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

Cathouse Saturdays

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Mon 06 Aug Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3/Free with wage slip)

Space Invader

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Andy R plays chart hits and requests past and present, with DJ Muppet holing up in The Attic.

Tue 07 Aug Wild Combination

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Kilmarnock’s hairy disco legend, David Barbarossa, digs out some vinyl gems.

Killer Kitsch

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Electronic music of all ages, for all ages.

Junk Disco

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Hotch-potch mix of chart anthems, live video feeds, a dressing-up box and karaoke.

I Am (Chungo Bungo, Greenman) Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual mix of electronica and bass, joined by various live guests.

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Punk, rock and metallic beats with DJs Billy and Muppet.

Misbehavin’

Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £4 (£2 members)

Subversion

I Heart Garage Saturdays

Alternative pop from the 80s and 90s, with a bit of industrial dance and classic rock thrown in for good measure.

Weekend welcoming mix of emo, pop-punk, rock and beats.

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Tango In The Attic (Pronto Mama)

Monthly mish-mash of electro, dance and dirty pop with DJ Drucifer.

Sunshine-filled melodies from the Glenrothes quartet, taking in some noisier soundscapes of late.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–00:00, £5 adv.

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £10 (£5)

Official after-bash for the Atlantis Boat Cruise.

Electro, funk and disco soundtrack, plus a chance to win the door fees.

Hotch-potch mix of chart anthems, live video feeds, a dressing-up box and karaoke.

Chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer.

Mark Lanegan brings his soulful baritone to bear on Edinburgh, touring on the back of his first studio album in eight years, the mighty Blues Funeral.

Atlantis Boat Cruise: AfterParty (Harri, Slam)

Quids In

Georgio ‘the Dove’ Valentino (Leo Condie, The Sexual Objects)

Mark Lanegan (Creature With The Atom Brain)

Maggie May’s, 22:00–03:00, Free

Rock and golden indie classics with resident DJ Heather McCartney.

Optimo

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

The Subrosa resident bangs it out at Flat 0/1’s midweek party.

Voodoo Rooms, 19:15–22:00, £10

The Rock Shop

Indie rock’n’roll from the 60s to the 00s, with resident tune-picker DJ Jopez.

American film-noir/kraut-cowboy/ fake-Italian crooner Georgio ‘the Dove’ Valentino and his Benelux backing band play an intimate instore session, before taking to the Voodoo Rooms that evening.

The American film-noir/krautcowboy/fake-Italian crooner does his inimitable thing.

The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £8

The NYC producer (aka Luca Venezia) plays a reliably eclectic set, influenced by everything from traditional 4/4 house and electro to rock’n’roll and rockabilly.

Junk Disco

Take It Sleazy

Canadian musician Claire Boucher does her much-lauded electro-pop thing, deftly balancing dance beats and a supersaturation of vocal hooks against imperious bass synthesis.

Drop The Lime

The mighty London disco quartet take control of the decks.

London-based quintet of the ‘stealth rock’ variety, so say they.

The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £10 adv.

Mod, soul, ska and groovy freakbeat 45s, with DJs Jamo, Paul Molloy and Gareth McCallum.

Maggie May’s, 22:00–03:00, Free

Electronic music of all ages, for all ages.

Dry The River

Grimes

Flying Duck, 21:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11)

Jamming Fridays

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual mix of electronica and bass, joined by various live guests.

Tue 28 Aug

Freakbeats

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Tue 31 Jul Killer Kitsch

Up-and-coming alternative countrystyled Canadian quintet.

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £9 adv.

The Waverley, 19:00–23:00, £22

Three of Glasgow’s longest-serving DJs – Subculture’s Harri, and Slam’s Stuart McMillan and Orde Meikle – come together under their original club night moniker. Boat leaves from Glasgow Science Centre (7pm, sharp).

Jazz-inspired house from the Ministry of Sound tour resident.

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–00:00, £8 adv.

Atlantis Boat Cruise (Harri, Slam)

Queercentric night with its focus firmly on 90s-inspired new romantic and danceable pop hits, this month with a white trash emphasis.

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3/free via iamclub.co.uk)

Charlatans

Kid Canaveral (Bad Books)

Award-winning Scottish folkie, currently breathing new life into the genre.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

I Am

Late night live music party hosted by guerrilla-gig rebels Detour Scotland and Edinburgh studio-run radio station Fresh Air.

Tim Burgess’ band of alternative rockers perform their number one album, Tellin’ Stories, live and in its entirety.

Bongo Club, 19:00–22:00, £15

The Deep Dark Woods (Jackie Greens)

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £10 adv.

HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:00, £25

Eliza Carthy

Fri 03 Aug Propaganda

JD Twitch and JG Wilkes take to the decks for a night of pure Optimo goodness.

More new-wave, post-hardcore politicking from the St Albans quartet.

CIRCA (Three Blind Wolves, We Were Promised Jetpacks DJs)

Factory Floor (Silk Cut)

Nobles Bar, 22:00–00:00, Free

The Edinburgh quartet take it to another level, with their bearded frontman unleashing his beastly bluesman’s voice on the unsuspecting.

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Boom Thursdays Chart and indie classics, plus a live Twitter feed where you can log tune requests (#Garagelive).

Up The Racket Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

DJ Paddy plays the newest in indie, rock, disco and pop. You do the dancing.

Voodoo

Rock, metal and indie night for the under 18s.

The Garage, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£3)

Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance and funk to chart.

Wed 08 Aug Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Weird Wednesdays

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Rock’n’roll party with live bands playing on the floor.

Garage Wednesdays

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Craig McGee’s staple eclectic mashup midweeker.

L I ST I N GS

CLUBS Octopussy

Dirty Basement

Sunday Roaster

The Afterparty

Future Days

Killer Kitsch (Felix Cartel)

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Eclectic mix from the Dirty Basement duo, power mixing from across the spectrums of soul, funk, bass, techno and electro.

The new DJ duo of Garry and Andrew Kilgour incite more mayhem than should really be allowed on the Sabbath.

Euan Neilson handpicks a selection of classic R’n’B and hip-hop.

Minimal wave, world rhythms and liquid funk with Ian Crawford and John Petrie.

Electronic music of all ages, for all ages.

Future Days

Thunder Disco Club

Sat 18 Aug

Minimal wave, world rhythms and liquid funk with Ian Crawford and John Petrie.

The Thunder Disco Club residents churn out the 90s house, techno and disco hits.

Weekend welcoming mix of emo, pop-punk, rock and beats.

Hotch-potch mix of chart anthems, live video feeds, a dressing-up box and karaoke.

Sat 11 Aug

Mon 13 Aug

Love Music

Burn

The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Raymond Vase

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

The Subrosa resident bangs it out at Flat 0/1’s midweek party.

Thu 09 Aug Jellybaby

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)

Chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer.

The Afterparty

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, Free

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11.30)

Taking Back Thursdays

Absolution

Euan Neilson handpicks a selection of classic R’n’B and hip-hop.

Saturday night disco with Gerry Lyons and guests.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3/Free with wage slip)

Long-running trade night with Normski, Zeus and Mash spinning disco beats.

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £6

Space Invader

Boom Thursdays

Wrong Island

Andy R plays chart hits and requests past and present, with DJ Muppet holing up in The Attic.

Chart and indie classics, plus a live Twitter feed where you can log tune requests (#Garagelive).

The legendary Teamy and Dirty Larry spin some fresh electronics for your aural pleasure.

Tue 14 Aug

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Weekend welcoming mix of emo, pop-punk, rock and beats.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Metal, industrial and pop-punk over two floors.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Up The Racket

Nu Skool

DJ Paddy plays the newest in indie, rock, disco and pop. You do the dancing.

Nick Peacock spins a selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Wild Combination

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Kilmarnock’s hairy disco legend, David Barbarossa, digs out some vinyl gems.

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3

Taking Back Thursdays Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Boom Thursdays

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Luska (Hans Bouffmhyre)

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £6

La Cheetah Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Sleaze recordings and Glasgow native Hans Bouffmhyre takes over deck duty at Luska for the evening.

Up The Racket

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

DJ Paddy plays the newest in indie, rock, disco and pop. You do the dancing.

Duncan Harvey

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Midweek mix of soul, funk, motown and northern soul with Duncan Harvey.

Fri 17 Aug Propaganda

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Midweek mix of soul, funk, motown and northern soul with Duncan Harvey.

Back To The Future: Summer Party O2 Academy, 20:00–03:00, £10

Summer-themed clubber’s party playing the usual ear-splitting selection of hard dance, headlined

by Dutch DJ/producer team Headhunterz.

Fri 10 Aug O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £6

Alternative rock, metal, punk and ska.

Kino Fist

Old Skool

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Racket Racket: Free Party (DJ Dribbler, Pro Vinylist Karim, Dirty Larry)

Brunswick Hotel, 21:00–02:00, Free

Online pop culture magazine, Racket Racket, throw their second free party of 2012 with a trio of guest DJs playing an all-vinyl set of party music, plus a healthy dose of vintage acid house.

Old Skool

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul.

Cathouse Fridays

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels, with the residents manning the decks.

Nintendo Party

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Alternative-styled Nintendo themed party, with free entry for those in fancy dress.

Booty Call

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Mixed bag of indie, rock, underground hip-hop and chart classics. Free before 11.30pm.

Common People

Flying Duck, 21:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11)

Celebration of the 90s, with hits aplenty and a pre-club bingo session.

Tribute (DJ Sotofett)

La Cheetah Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£8 after 12)

Underground mix of techno, house and electro, with Sex Tags boss DJ Sotofett playing staging a threehour deck takeover.

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 with DJ Heather McCartney.

Fridays @ The Shed

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Pop and chart hits with Andy Robertson in the main room, plus hippity-hop in the Red Room.

Cathouse Saturdays

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Punk, rock and metallic beats with DJs Billy and Muppet.

Voodoo

Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £4 (£2 members)

Rock, metal and indie night for the under 18s.

I Heart Garage Saturdays The Garage, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance and funk to chart.

Back Tae Mine

Flying Duck, 21:00–03:00, £5

House-party styled night with residents Gav Dunbar and Sci-Fi Steve. Plus free toast for all.

The Rock Shop

Maggie May’s, 22:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

Rock and golden indie classics with resident DJ Heather McCartney.

Subculture (Harri & Domenic) Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £10 (£5)

Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic playing their only solo date of the month.

Shed Saturdays

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£7 after 11)

Frothy weekend mix of commercial pop and cheese classics.

Jube

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Dance music special from Thunder Disco Club’s resident hellraiser, Jube.

Killer Kitsch (Bobby Tank) Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Electronic music of all ages, for all ages.

Junk Disco

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Hotch-potch mix of chart anthems, live video feeds, a dressing-up box and karaoke.

I Am (Deadly Rhythm)

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual mix of electronica and bass, joined by various live guests.

Wed 15 Aug Not Moving

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

South African house, grime, jungle, R’n’B and hauntology. A tropical mix, ayes.

Garage Wednesdays

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Craig McGee’s staple eclectic mashup midweeker.

Octopussy

The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

MILK (Crusades, Bear Arms, Hunt/Gather) Flat 0/1, 21:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Rather ace gig-in-a-club night, soundtracked by a hefty dose of noisy post-hardcore types, plus the usual milk cocktails, free biscuits, live visuals, and 75p cider.

Lock Up Your Daughters

Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

The straight-friendly lesbian party returns for its regular themed shenanigans on the third Friday of the month.

Go Wes: Flying Duck Is 5

Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £5 (discount for fancy dress)

Twee birthday party inspired by the works of Wes Anderson, playing 60s indie and pop, plus a few Portugese Bowie covers. Free toast and cake for all!

Offbeat Vs Numbers

La Cheetah Club, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 12)

Offbeat continue their run of inviting established Glasgow residents into their lair, this time with Vitamins’ Sam and Shaun.

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.

Sub Club 25 (Lone, Lando Kal, Ben Martin) Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £8 adv. (£10 door)

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £1

Renegade

Thu 16 Aug Jellybaby

Fridays @ The Shed

Rock, metal and punk requests all night long.

Chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer.

Pop and chart hits with Andy Robertson in the main room, plus hippity-hop in the Red Room.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Hip-hop and gangsta rap brought to you by the Notorious B.A.G and pals.

Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance and funk to chart.

Singles Night

Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £5

White Noise (Lex Gorrie)

Techno-styled party night from the White Noise crew and their selected guests, this edition with Sleaze Records’ Lex Gorrie.

The Rock Shop

Maggie May’s, 22:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Midnight Cowboy

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Eclectic-themed shenanigans for the third Friday of the month.

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £12 (£10)

Shed Saturdays

Frothy weekend mix of commercial pop and cheese classics.

Jube

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Dance music special from Thunder Disco Club’s resident hellraiser, Jube.

Sun 19 Aug

Sunday Roaster

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

The new DJ duo of Garry and Andrew Kilgour incite more mayhem than should really be allowed on the Sabbath.

Highlife

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Music from across the globe with the ever-capable residents Auntie Flo and Esa Williams.

Mon 20 Aug 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, with DJ Muppet holing up in The Attic.

Tue 21 Aug Wild Combination

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Kilmarnock’s hairy disco legend, David Barbarossa, digs out some vinyl gems.

Love Music

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11.30)

Saturday night disco with Gerry Lyons and guests.

House-party styled night with residents Gav Dunbar and Sci-Fi Steve. Plus free toast for all.

Optimo Presents

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £7

Raymond Vase

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

The Thunder Disco Club residents churn out the 90s house, techno and disco hits.

Thu 23 Aug

Nick Peacock spins a selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Nu Skool

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3/Free with wage slip)

Long-running trade night with Normski, Zeus and Mash spinning disco beats.

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Space Invader

Jellybaby

Cathouse Saturdays

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Andy R plays chart hits and requests past and present, with DJ Muppet holing up in The Attic.

Chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer.

Punk, rock and metallic beats with DJs Billy and Muppet.

Danse Macabre

Voodoo

Wild Combination

The Danse Macabre regulars unite those two happiest of bedfellows, goth rock and, er, classic disco.

Rock, metal and indie night for the under 18s.

Kilmarnock’s hairy disco legend, David Barbarossa, digs out some vinyl gems.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £4 (£2 members)

The Afterparty

I Heart Garage Saturdays

Euan Neilson handpicks a selection of classic R’n’B and hip-hop.

Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance and funk to chart.

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3

Taking Back Thursdays

The Garage, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Houndin’ The Streets

Boom Thursdays

Resident DJs Jer Reid, Martin Law and guests play music from, and inspired by, 1970s and early 80s NYC.

Weekend welcoming mix of emo, pop-punk, rock and beats.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Chart and indie classics, plus a live Twitter feed where you can log tune requests (#Garagelive).

Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £5

The Rock Shop

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Tue 28 Aug Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Killer Kitsch

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Electronic music of all ages, for all ages.

Junk Disco

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Hotch-potch mix of chart anthems, live video feeds, a dressing-up box and karaoke.

I Am (Thunder Disco Club) Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Maggie May’s, 22:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa

student after 12)

play the usual mix of electronica and bass, joined by various live guests.

Up The Racket

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

DJ Paddy plays the newest in indie, rock, disco and pop. You do the dancing.

Duncan Harvey

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Midweek mix of soul, funk, motown and northern soul with Duncan Harvey.

Fri 24 Aug Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Flying Duck, 21:00–03:00, £5

Sat 25 Aug

Mon 27 Aug

Electro, funk and disco soundtrack, plus a chance to win the door fees.

Rock, metal and punk requests all night long.

Back Tae Mine

Burn

Propaganda

Renegade

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Thunderous techno, this month from Sub Club collective Animal Farm.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

The new DJ duo of Garry and Andrew Kilgour incite more mayhem than should really be allowed on the Sabbath.

Thunder Disco Club

Quids In

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £1

Empty (Animal Farm)

Sunday Roaster

The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

The Subrosa resident bangs it out at Flat 0/1’s midweek party.

The Garage, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Pop and chart hits with Andy Robertson in the main room, plus hippity-hop in the Red Room.

Cathouse, 23:00–01:00, £4 (£2)

Nicola Walker plays cult rock hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Octopussy

Rock, metal and indie night for the under 18s.

I Heart Garage Saturdays

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Slide It In

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £6

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £4 (£2 members)

Fridays @ The Shed

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Rock, metal and punk requests all night long.

Metal, industrial and pop-punk over two floors.

Voodoo

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£7 after 11)

The Subrosa resident bangs it out at Flat 0/1’s midweek party.

Harsh Tug

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Indie rock’n’roll from the 60s to the 00s, with resident tune-picker DJ Jopez.

Renegade

Absolution

Cathouse Saturdays

Punk, rock and metallic beats with DJs Billy and Muppet.

Maggie May’s, 22:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Craig McGee’s staple eclectic mashup midweeker.

Nick Peacock spins a selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

Jamming Fridays

The Optimo boys curate another evening of shenanigans, with live guests kept tightly under wraps for now.

Garage Wednesdays

Booty Call

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

London electronic DJ Enzo Siragusa makes his debut at Subculture.

Quids In

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)

Nu Skool

Rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels, with the residents manning the decks.

New series of nights celebrating Sub Club’s 25th year with a smattering of live guests, including a set from Nottingham-born bedroom producer extraordinaire, Matt Cutler (aka Lone).

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Eclectic mix of forward-thinking and classic dancefloor sounds, ripe for dancing feet.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Subculture (Enzo Siragusa)

Sun 12 Aug Electro, funk and disco soundtrack, plus a chance to win the door fees.

Indie dancing club, playing anything and everything danceable.

Cathouse Fridays

Raymond Vase

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Likwit Fusion

Rock and golden indie classics with resident DJ Heather McCartney.

Mixed bag of indie, rock, underground hip-hop and chart classics. Free before 11.30pm.

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Bottle Rocket

Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul.

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

I Am (Beta and his Shadow)

Wed 22 Aug

La Cheetah Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£7 after 12)

Indie, electro and anything inbetween with Pauly (My Latest Novel), and Simin and Steev (Errors).

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Genre-spanning mix of 60s psych, leftfield pop and Krautrock with resident Charlotte (of Muscles of Joy).

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Metal, industrial and pop-punk over two floors.

Alternative rock, metal, punk and ska.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Junk Disco

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual mix of electronica and bass, joined by various live guests.

Andy Divine and Chris Geddes’ gem of a night deciated to 7-inch singles from every genre imaginable.

Black Tent

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Absolution

Damnation

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £6

Damnation

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11.30)

Saturday night disco with Gerry Lyons and guests.

Duncan Harvey

Propaganda

Love Music

Chart and indie classics, plus a live Twitter feed where you can log tune requests (#Garagelive).

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, Free

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Damnation

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £6

Alternative rock, metal, punk and ska.

The Hot Club

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Tearin’ it up with 60s psych-outs and modern sleaze, provided by Rafla and Andy (of The Phantom Band).

Old Skool

Rock and golden indie classics with resident DJ Heather McCartney.

Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul.

Subculture (Todd Terje)

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Cathouse Fridays

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels, with the residents manning the decks.

Booty Call

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Mixed bag of indie, rock, underground hip-hop and chart classics. Free before 11.30pm.

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £12 (£10)

Norwegian DJ pioneer – and one of modern disco’s brightest stars – Todd Terje makes a welcome return to the Subculture decks.

Wed 29 Aug Garage Wednesdays

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Craig McGee’s staple eclectic mashup midweeker.

Shed Saturdays

Octopussy

Frothy weekend mix of commercial pop and cheese classics.

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£7 after 11)

The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Jube

Raymond Vase

Sensu Boat Party: Part Two

Dance music special from Thunder Disco Club’s resident hellraiser, Jube.

The Subrosa resident bangs it out at Flat 0/1’s midweek party.

Sensu set sail for a voyage down the Clyde, with guests Tale of Us joining the Sensu residents on board. Pick up from Glasgow Science Centre (7pm, sharp), with after-party action at Sub Club.

Trash & Burn

Jellybaby

Monthly glam trash and sleaze tease party.

Chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer.

The Waverley, 19:00–23:00, £25

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Thu 30 Aug

Sun 26 Aug Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £4

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)

Quids In

Contagion

Electro, funk and disco soundtrack, plus a chance to win the door fees.

Alternative metal and punk playlists with DJ Scapegoat on the last Thursday of the month.

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £1

Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

August 2012

THE SKINNY 65

L I ST I N GS

glasgow clubs

edinburgh C L U B S

The Afterparty

Fridays @ The Shed

Thu 02 Aug

Euan Neilson handpicks a selection of classic R’n’B and hip-hop.

Pop and chart hits with Andy Robertson in the main room, plus hippity-hop in the Red Room.

I AM Edinburgh

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3

Taking Back Thursdays

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Sunday Sale

Counterfeit

Occasional weekend extender with Euan Neilson spinning all your favourite hits.

Weekend welcoming mix of emo, pop-punk, rock and beats.

Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Full-on mix of nu-metal and hard rockin’ tunes, with yer man DJ Muppet.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Dirty Disorder

Chart, dance and electro fare, plus punter requests all night long.

Orderly Disorder and Dirty Noise come together for party night where the emphasis is on dancing.

Indigo

Thunder Disco Club: Fringe Heist (Optimo, Thunder Disco Club, Dam Mantle)

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £3 (£1)

Indie, pop and alternative favourites with a danceable beat, from LCD Soundsystem to The Ting Tings.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Disco, house and party classics from Picassio and D-Fault, with Decks FX and OSX.

Octopussy

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Lafayette

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £4 (£3)

Hip-hop and R’n’B-styled night inspired by the culture, fashion and night life of the Lower East Side of New York.

Zzzap (Offbeat)

The Annexe, 22:30–05:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Post-everything dub, house, bass, garage and hippity-hop from this promising young collective of artists and DJs.

Crimes of the Future (Scott Fraser, Timothy J. Fairplay) The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, £5

Future Days

Midweek mix of soul, funk, motown and northern soul with Duncan Harvey.

Minimal wave, world rhythms and liquid funk with Ian Crawford and John Petrie.

Distinctly retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, Free

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Sat 01 Sep

Fri 31 Aug

The Great Pop Supplement Showcase

Propaganda

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, £8

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

The tiny London-based label make the trip north, with label releasees The Sees Sees in tow for a live set.

ReFrame: 1st Birthday

Basura Blanca, 20:00–02:00, Free

The ReFrame gang celebrate their 1st birthday with guests Klassaudio, Davie Blair and Levis808, blurring the lines between soul and techno.

Damnation

Sun 02 Sep Music Language 2012: Closing Party (Deadly Rhythm DJs) Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Official closing party for DIY promoters Cry Parrot and Tracer Trails’ musical weekender.

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £6

Alternative rock, metal, punk and ska.

Supermax

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

A taste of the decadent sound systems of NYC’s disco era with yer main man Billy Woods.

Tue 31 Jul

Old Skool

I Love Hip-Hop

Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul.

Selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Cathouse Fridays

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

Antics

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels, with the residents manning the decks.

Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie and punk.

Soul Jam Hot

Booty Call

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Mixed bag of indie, rock, underground hip-hop and chart classics. Free before 11.30pm.

La Cheetah Club: Motor City Electronics (Eddie Fowlkes)

Fresh mix of funk, soul, disco and hippity-hop from the Soul Jam Hot DJs.

Wed 01 Aug Split

La Cheetah Club, 23:00–03:00, £10

One of techno’s key founders, Eddie Fowlkes, arrives in Glasgow for a rare appearance at La Cheetah.

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.

Bongo Club, 23:45–03:00, Free

New weekly residence for the longrunning Edinburgh D’n’B night.

ETC08: Gender Blender (Luka, Acid Fairy, Ma Bla, Mingetta) Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–05:00, £5

Edinburgh Tekno Cartel bring the sleazy bass and sexy beats, with an all-female cast of DJs manning the decks for the first part of the night, followed by a selection of ETC mainstays in drag. Be afraid.

Unseen (Pacou, Marcel Heese) Studio 24, 22:00–05:00, £8 (£10 after 12)

Mighty Berlin night Tresor take over proceedings at Unseen, with residents Pacou and Marcel Heese mixing the magic.

Confusion Is Sex: Egyptian Party

Danceable mix of the best in 60s ska, rocksteady, bluebeat and reggae.

The Go-Go (Les Bof!)

Studio 24, 23:00–05:00, £5 (£7 after 12)

Long-running retro night with veteran DJs Tall Paul and Big Gus, this edition with a live set from Edinburgh-based garage outfit Les Bof!

Bordello

Studio 24, 22:30–05:00, £4 (£5 after 11.30)

Soulsville

Swinging soul spanning a whole century, plus live dancers a-go-go.

Bubblegum

The Hive, 21:00–05:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Handpicked weekend mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics as standard.

Extra Width

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £5

Indie, pop, electro and rock’n’roll playlists from resident DJs from EVOL, Mogwai and the Brilliant Tanya Skibunny.

Musika: Edinburgh Festival Opening Party (Seth Troxler, Junior & Barry Price, Kirk Douglas) The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £16.50

A first time appearance in Edinburgh for the one and only Seth Troxler (sans the afro, sadly), as part of Edinburgh Festival’s opening weekend.

Ah, the return of the 5am license!

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of garage, dubstep and bassline house.

August 2012

Bangers & Mash

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, £1 (£3 after 11)

Midweek student rundown of chart and cheese classics.

Mansion

Sun 05 Aug

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £5

Opal Lounge, 22:00–03:00, £8

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, £3 (members free)

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular welcomes London DMC Champion Jon 1st for a set of future bass sounds, done scratch style.

Thu 09 Aug

Coalition: Drop The Lime

I AM Edinburgh

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, £3 (members free)

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £4 (£3)

Trade Union

Studio 24, 23:00–05:00, £tbc

Favela

Bongo Club, 23:45–05:00, Free

Frisky

The Annexe, 22:30–05:00, Free

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

Anything goes trade night with Beefy and Wolfjazz (and their pals).

Chart, dance and electro fare, plus punter requests all night long.

Mon 06 Aug

Indigo

Mixed Up

Indie, pop and alternative favourites with a danceable beat, from LCD Soundsystem to The Ting Tings.

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £3 (£1)

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics.

Nu Fire

Spare

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Moving from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

Danco and Kami play some hench beats. Nuff said.

Octopussy

HMV Picture House, 23:00–05:00, £6 (£4)

Tue 07 Aug Hector’s House

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £6 (£5)

Electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Lafayette

Electric Circus, 22:30–05:00, £4 (£3)

Hip-hop and R’n’B-styled night inspired by the culture, fashion and night life of the Lower East Side of New York.

Zzzap (Tuff Wax)

Fri 10 Aug XY

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £7 (£5)

Anthology of house, electro and D’n’B for your aural delectation.

It’s a case of east side versus west this month, as Edinburgh’s gay disco party, Hot Mess, squares up to Glasgow’s straight-friendly lesbian party, Lock Up Your Daughters.

Planet Earth

Citrus Club, 22:30–05:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Distinctly retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

Hideout

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £5 (£3)

Betamax

This Is Music

New wave, disco, post-punk and a bit o’ synthtastic 80s with your hosts Chris and Big Gus.

Friday night party with Edinburgh DJs Mastercaird and Stevie C playing anything danceable.

Studio 24, 23:00–05:00, £tbc

The Psychedelic Carnival

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, £3 (members free)

Indie and electro from the Sick Note DJs.

Oh No!

HMV Picture House, 23:00–05:00, £3

Friday night student party with the emphasis on Skittlebombs...

Don’t ask.

Cream Soda

Electric Circus, 22:30–05:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

American Prom-styled fun night celebrating all that is great about pop, new and old.

South American and Latin sounds brought to you by the Soulsville crew.

HMV Picture House, 22:00–05:00, £10

Wee Red Bar, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£3)

American Prom-styled fun night celebrating all that is great about pop, new and old.

This Is Music

A selection of Rev mainstays return to their rightful home, old school rave and dance classics at the ready.

Hot Mess Vs Lock Up Your Daughters

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £5 (£3)

Friday night party with Edinburgh DJs Mastercaird and Stevie C playing anything danceable.

Virgen

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms.

HMV Picture House, 23:00–05:00, £5 (£4)

Hideout

The Glasgow house and techno sweatbox comes to Edinburgh for a festival special.

Post-everything dub, house, bass, garage and hippity-hop from this promising young collective of artists and DJs.

Propaganda

Wee Red Bar, 22:30–03:00, £4

Bawlin’ R’n’B, soul and motown, resplendent with visuals and mix CDs a-plenty.

Luska: Edinburgh

The Hive, 21:00–05:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Cream Soda

Stacks

Rev Reunion (BK, Johnny Richardson, Garry McAndrew, Digital Gravity, Big G)

The Annexe, 22:30–05:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, £5

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms.

Re:Po (Jaylaxx)

Misfits

HMV Picture House, 23:00–05:00, £3

The Hive, 21:00–05:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass.

Glam techno and electro night with the usual themed shenanigans, this time with an Egyptian theme.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, £3 (members free)

Misfits

Coalition welcome NYC producer Drop The Lime (aka Luca Venezia) for a reliably eclectic set, influenced by everything from traditional 4/4 house and electro to rock’n’roll and rockabilly.

Bongo Club, 23:45–05:00, £tbc

Mansion

Witness

The Jackhammer crew provide our dose of all things techno in the second of three August specials, a BBQ special with a slew of live guests in tow.

I

Friday night student party with the emphasis on Skittlebombs...

Don’t ask.

Prolific remixer extraordinaire Erol Alkan makes his Sub Club debut, showcasing his own label, Phantasy, and bringing along label releasee Daniel Avery.

New weekly residence for the longrunning Edinburgh D’n’B night.

The Sunday Club

Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–05:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

The We Own clothing crew bring a concentrated version of their famed party blowouts to Sneaky Pete’s, with electro house heavyweight Russ Chimes in tow.

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £5

Bongo Club, 23:45–05:00, Free

Dr No’s

Oh No!

Midweek student rundown of chart and cheese classics.

The Annexe, 21:00–05:00, £10 adv. (£13 door)

Split

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, £1 (£3 after 11)

Bangers & Mash

Jackhammer (Radioactive Man, Vince Watson, Industrialyser, Brainstorm, Stephen Brown, Zuni)

Opal Lounge, 22:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

London DJ Hannu Haitto locks horns with Opal Lounge’s own Johnny Frenetic in a Scotland versus England mash-up across four decks.

Witness: Jon 1st

We Own: Russ Chimes (Kottis)

Favourited student midweeker playing house, electro and hippity-hop.

66 THE SKINNY

Citrus Club, 22:30–05:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Hannu Haitto

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £5

Cut + Paste (aka Johnny Frenetic and Kon-tempt) mix it up on four decks and two laptops. Free Neon 2 mix CD for the first 100.

Citrus Club, 22:30–05:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Indie and electro from the Sick Note DJs.

Phantasy Sound (Erol Alkan, Daniel Avery) Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £14 adv.

Planet Earth

Wed 08 Aug

New night from the Evol DJs valuing all kinds of pop music, as long as it’s got bite.

Favourited student midweeker playing house, electro and hippity-hop.

Bongo Club, 23:45–05:00, £5

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–05:00, £7 (£5)

Speaker Bite Me

Rise (Cut + Paste)

Tease Age

Classic rock, all night long.

Duncan Harvey

DJ Paddy plays the newest in indie, rock, disco and pop. You do the dancing.

The second in a series of collaborations between Thunder Disco Club and Cabaret Voltaire, with Optimo’s Jonnie Wilkes and Glasgow-based electronic producer Dam Mantle their guests for the evening.

Fri 03 Aug Anthology of house, electro and D’n’B for your aural delectation.

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £7 (£5)

XY

Scott Fraser and Timothy J. Fairplay host a new Thursday music club playing a decidedly left-field selection of Krautrock, electronic, dub and everything inbetween.

Up The Racket

New monthly night placing its focus on bass-orientated beats, with a selection of Edinburgh residents showcasing their wares.

Sat 04 Aug

Dapper Dans

Chart and indie classics, plus a live Twitter feed where you can log tune requests (#Garagelive).

The Annexe, 22:30–05:00, £5 (£7 after 12)

Frisky

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Boom Thursdays

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–05:00, £4 (£3)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass.

49Hz (Kidnap Kid)

Love Hip-Hop

Bongo Club, 23:45–05:00, Free

Studio 24, 23:00–05:00, £5 (£6 after 12)

Antics

Carnival-styled night of live music and DJs, with a trance room and a chill room, plus UV decor, stalls, fire and facepaint.

Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie and punk.

Substance 50 ( Bill Youngman, Neil Landstrumm)

Selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

Soul Jam Hot

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Fresh mix of funk, soul, disco and hippity-hop from the Soul Jam Hot DJs.

Bongo Club, 23:45–05:00, £10

Substance celebrate their 50th club night with a special dual live performance from two kings of the underground – NYC born Berlin native Bill Youngman and Neil Landstrumm.

The Annexe, 22:30–05:00, £tbc

Brand new garage, 2-Step and future bass-styled night.

Fiddler’s Elbow, 22:00–03:00, £3

Alternative lesbian night with Glasgow’s Emma ‘Queercore’ Daye playing a mash up of electro, indie, fidget house and D’n’B.

Sat 11 Aug Pocket Aces

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £7 (£5)

Dance-inducing party with an anything goes attitude.

Tease Age

Citrus Club, 22:30–05:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

Dr No’s

Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–05:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Danceable mix of the best in 60s ska, rocksteady, bluebeat and reggae.

Beep Beep, Yeah!: 3rd Birthday

Electric Circus, 22:30–05:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

Retro pop stylings from the 50s to the 70s, marking three years of retro lovin’.

Heavy Gossip Vs Ultragroove The Annexe, 22:30–05:00, £tbc

The heavyweights of Scottish house join forces, playing the most original music from the genre.

Sun 12 Aug The Sunday Club

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of.

Zed Bias (Fantastic Mr Fox)

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £10 adv.

Garage and 2-step future dub sounds from electornic producer Zed Bias and pals.

Coalition: Bobby Tank

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, £3 (members free)

Coalition welcome breakthrough artist Bobby Tank for a set of upbeat post-dubstep, done in his trademark maximalist style.

Trade Union

The Annexe, 22:30–05:00, Free

Anything goes trade night with Beefy and Wolfjazz (and their pals).

Mon 13 Aug Mixed Up

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics.

Nu Fire

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Moving from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

Tue 14 Aug Hector’s House

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £6 (£5)

Electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.

I Love Hip-Hop

Bongo Club, 23:45–03:00, Free

Selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Antics

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

Eclectic Mud

Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie and punk.

DJs Fuz ‘n’ Lee select a rich pallete of sounds, all spun from wax.

Soul Jam Hot

Nobles Bar, 21:00–01:00, Free

Land of a Thousand Dances

Studio 24, 22:30–05:00, £4 (£5 after 11.30)

Blues and soul from the 50s and 60s, handpicked by Tony ‘Two-Eyes’ and The Go-Go DJs.

Studio 24 Rawks

Studio 24, 22:30–05:00, £tbc

Rock, metal and alternative playlists.

Messenger

Bongo Club, 23:45–03:00, £7

Sweet reggae rockin’ from the original sound system.

Bubblegum

The Hive, 21:00–05:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Handpicked weekend mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics as standard.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Fresh mix of funk, soul, disco and hippity-hop from the Soul Jam Hot DJs.

Wed 15 Aug Rise (Trav Saxingh Panesar) Opal Lounge, 22:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Expect Ibiza anthems and club classics a-plenty as Trav Saxingh Panesar plays back-to-back with Opal Lounge’s own Johnny Frenetic.

Split

Bongo Club, 23:45–03:00, Free

New weekly residence for the longrunning Edinburgh D’n’B night.

Bangers & Mash

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, £1 (£3 after 11)

Midweek student rundown of chart and cheese classics.

Extra Width

Mansion

Indie, pop, electro and rock’n’roll playlists from resident DJs from EVOL, Mogwai and the Brilliant Tanya Skibunny.

Favourited student midweeker playing house, electro and hippity-hop.

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £5

LuckyMe: 5th Festival Party (Hudson Mohawke, Lunice, Rustie)

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £10 adv.

Scottish golden boy Hudson Mohawke brings his new project, TNGHT, to Edinburgh for a LuckyMe festival special with collaborating pal Lunice and a DJ set from Rustie.

Bass Syndicate

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, £3 (members free)

The regular Edinburgh breaks and bassline Manga crew takeover.

Propaganda

HMV Picture House, 23:00–05:00, £5 (£4)

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £5

Witness: Maribou State

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, £3 (members free)

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular invite Maribou State to the decks, taking it to another level with their atmospheric post-dubstep vibes.

Thu 16 Aug I AM Edinburgh

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £4 (£3)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass.

Defcon

Studio 24, 23:00–05:00, £tbc

Jungle, jungle and more jungle with residents Jamin Nimjah and Tekkerz.

Favela

Bongo Club, 23:45–05:00, Free

South American and Latin sounds brought to you by the Soulsville crew.

L I ST I N GS

D U N D E E clubs Frisky

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

Chart, dance and electro fare, plus punter requests all night long.

Indigo

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £3 (£1)

Indie, pop and alternative favourites with a danceable beat, from LCD Soundsystem to The Ting Tings.

The Go-Go (The New Piccadillys) Studio 24, 23:00–05:00, £tbc

Long-running retro night with veteran DJs Tall Paul and Big Gus, this edition with a live set from Glasgow punk-rockers The New Piccadillys.

The Green Door

Dapper Dans

Studio 24, 22:30–05:00, £2 (£5 after 11.30)

Disco, house and party classics from Picassio and D-Fault, with Decks FX and OSX.

Mumbo Jumbo

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Octopussy

HMV Picture House, 23:00–05:00, £6 (£4)

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Lafayette

Electric Circus, 22:30–05:00, £4 (£3)

Hip-hop and R’n’B-styled night inspired by the culture, fashion and night life of the Lower East Side of New York.

Zzzap (Slime)

The Annexe, 22:30–05:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Post-everything dub, house, bass, garage and hippity-hop from this promising young collective of artists and DJs.

Fri 17 Aug We Own: Festival Party (Dada Life, Tommy Trash, Dem Slackers) Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–05:00, £8

The We Own clothing crew bring a concentrated version of their famed party blowouts to Cab Vol for a special festival party night.

Surf, blues and rockabilly from the 50s and early 60s, plus free cake!

Nuff said.

Bongo Club, 23:45–03:00, £tbc

Party soundtrack of funk, soul, disco and house from Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin.

Bubblegum

The Hive, 21:00–05:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Handpicked weekend mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics as standard.

I Love Hip-Hop

Bongo Club, 23:45–03:00, Free

Selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Antics

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie and punk.

Soul Jam Hot

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Fresh mix of funk, soul, disco and hippity-hop from the Soul Jam Hot DJs.

Wed 22 Aug Drum Warrior

Opal Lounge, 22:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Hed Kandi’s Dean Oram (aka Drum Warrior) does his live solo percussion thing, complete with customised body armour, as per.

Split

Bongo Club, 23:45–03:00, Free

Extra Width

New weekly residence for the longrunning Edinburgh D’n’B night.

Indie, pop, electro and rock’n’roll playlists from resident DJs from EVOL, Mogwai and the Brilliant Tanya Skibunny.

Bangers & Mash

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £5

Karnival Vs Hush Boat Party: After-Party District, 23:00–05:00, £5

Karnival and Hush decamp post-boat party to carry on the shenanigans, joined by friends from Kapital and a selection of local talent.

Xplicit (Caspa, Akira Akiteshi)

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £12

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, £1 (£3 after 11)

Midweek student rundown of chart and cheese classics.

Fruit Pistols

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £2

New night dedicated solely to ‘awesome pop hits’. Can’t argue with that.

Mansion

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £5

Favourited student midweeker playing house, electro and hippity-hop.

Witness

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of garage, dubstep and bassline house.

Planet Earth

The inimitable Xplicit crew present the return of dubstep legend and Dub Police head honcho Caspa for a festival special.

Wasabi Disco

Distinctly retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, £3 (members free)

I AM Edinburgh

Citrus Club, 22:30–05:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Animal Hospital

Studio 24, 23:00–05:00, £tbc

The Animal Hospital troops continue to medicate Edinburgh with their unique blend of techno, house and minimal.

Xplicit

Bongo Club, 23:45–03:00, £tbc

Heavy jungle and bass-styled beats from the inimitable Xplicit crew.

Misfits

The Hive, 21:00–05:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms.

Unpop

Wee Red Bar, 22:30–03:00, £4

Indie-pop dance party for the twee of heart, with mixtapes, badges and cake for the first 50 through the door.

Hideout

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £5 (£3)

Friday night party with Edinburgh DJs Mastercaird and Stevie C playing anything danceable.

This Is Music

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, £3 (members free)

Indie and electro from the Sick Note DJs.

Heady bout of cosmic house, punk and upside-down disco with yer man Kris ‘Wasabi’ Walker.

Propaganda

HMV Picture House, 23:00–05:00, £5 (£4)

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Pop Rocks

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£4 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).

Karnival Vs Hush Boat Party South Queensferry, 18:30–22:30, £15

Hippyhippyshake (DJ Format) The Annexe, 22:30–05:00, £7 adv.

Live audio visual performance from the legendary DJ.

Sat 18 Aug XY

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £7 (£5)

Anthology of house, electro and D’n’B for your aural delectation.

Tease Age

Citrus Club, 22:30–05:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

Audacious: Festival Special (Anorak, IJO, NRK, Barry Glitter, Morphamish, Dharma) Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–05:00, £5

Hardstyle breakcore night for your dancing pleasure, welcoming a selection of special guests into their fore for a one-off festival edition.

Bongo Club, 23:45–05:00, Free

The Annexe, 22:30–05:00, Free

Ensemble night featuring 15 DJs and an outdoor BBQ, celebrating the cream of Edinburgh’s club nights.

Sun 19 Aug Pocket Aces

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £7 (£5)

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of.

The Heatwave (Serocee)

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £10 adv.

Bashment-styled party night tying together the sounds of Jamaica and the UK.

Coalition

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Dubstep, breaks and bassline house from AF Meldrum and a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs.

Trade Union

The Annexe, 22:30–05:00, Free

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Moving from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

Tue 21 Aug Hector’s House

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £6 (£5)

Electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.

Bawlin’ R’n’B, soul and motown, resplendent with visuals and free birthday mix CDs on the door.

Alternative lesbian night with Glasgow’s Emma ‘Queercore’ Daye playing a mash up of electro, indie, fidget house and D’n’B.

Wee Red Bar, 22:30–03:00, £4

Musika: Carl Cox

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £22.50

The acid house and techno veteran plays a rather special set, marking his first Edinburgh club appearance in almost 20 years.

Hideout

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £5 (£3)

Friday night party with Edinburgh DJs Mastercaird and Stevie C playing anything danceable.

Circus Records Takeover Scotland (Flux Pavillion, Roksonix, Brown & Gammon, Mizuki) City, 22:00–05:00, £10 adv. (£14 door)

Festival night dedicated to the work of Circus Records, featuring a selection of artists from their well-respected roster, including Flux Pavilion, Roksonix, Brown & Gammon and Mizuki.

This Is Music: Clouds (Kill Jester) Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, £5 (members free)

The bedroom-produced, Tiga-signed, techno scamps take over for the night. We’ll do the screaming.

HMV Picture House, 23:00–05:00, £6 (£4)

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Lafayette

Electric Circus, 22:30–05:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

Hip-hop and R’n’B-styled night inspired by the culture, fashion and night life of the Lower East Side of New York.

Zzzap (Eton Messy)

The Annexe, 22:30–05:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Post-everything dub, house, bass, garage and hippity-hop from this promising young collective of artists and DJs.

Fri 24 Aug

Cream Soda

Electric Circus, 22:30–05:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

American Prom-styled fun night celebrating all that is great about pop, new and old.

Sat 25 Aug Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £7 (£5)

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

Dub, reggae and dancehall clubbing spectacular.

Lucky 7

Studio 24, 22:30–05:00, £2 (£5 after 11.30)

Ska, 2-Tone and early reggae from the Lucky 7 regulars.

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £6 (£5)

I Love Hip-Hop

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

Selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

I Love Hip-Hop

Bongo Club, 23:45–03:00, Free

Selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Antics

Fat Sam’s, 20:00–03:00, £3.50

The Hive, 21:00–05:00, Free (£4 after 10)

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £5 (£3)

Numbers

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, £5 (members free)

The Numbers crew stage their monthly Sneaky Pete’s takeover, special guests being kept under wraps for now.

HMV Picture House, 23:00–05:00, £3

Cream Soda

Electric Circus, 22:30–05:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

American Prom-styled fun night celebrating all that is great about pop, new and old.

Club 10-86

The Annexe, 23:00–05:00, £10

Sat 04 Aug Reading Rooms, 22:30–03:30, £7

Best of selection of rock, metal and alternative.

Best of selection of rock, metal and alternative.

Kage, 23:00–02:30, £4

Fri 31 Aug

Fri 10 Aug Bass Orgy Soundsystem

Reading Rooms, 22:30–03:30, £5 (£7 after 12)

Full-on electro, D’n’B and dub orgy, complete with a massive soundsystem and live visuals over eight screens.

Bangers & Mash

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, £1 (£3 after 11)

Midweek student rundown of chart and cheese classics.

50s-themed fun night, with Frankie Sumatra, Bugsy Seagull, Dino Martini, Sam Jose and Nikki Nevada. Plus Vegas showgirls a-go-go, natch.

New Noise

Kage, 23:00–02:30, £4

Alternative mixtape night taking in rock, punk, screamo, electro and hippity-hop.

Lockdown

Beat Generator Live!, 23:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 12)

Sat 11 Aug Reading Rooms, 21:00–02:30, £sold out

A host of DJs take a nostalgic look back to house music of the early 90s, with longstanding Dundee resident Baxter P Sunbather headering up proceedings.

Fat Sam’s Saturdays Fat Sam’s, 21:00–03:00, £8

Massive Saturday night party spreading its wares over three floors and no less than six rooms.

Asylum

Kage, 23:00–02:30, £4

Fri 17 Aug

The Edinburgh art collective present a night of hip-hop and live art games, as is their merry way.

Beat Club

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of garage, dubstep and bassline house.

Diverse selection of hip-hop, funky stuff, fat beats and breaks with regular beatmasters Barry On Safari et al.

Big ‘N’ Bashy

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Thu 30 Aug

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £tbc

Mighty mix of reggae, grime, dubstep and jungle.

I AM Edinburgh

Mojo

Bubblegum

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass.

Party-styled Friday nighter. Beware the six quid fishbowls.

The Hive, 21:00–05:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Handpicked weekend mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics as standard.

Wee Red Bar, 22:00–03:00, £10

Madchester

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £8 (£6)

Indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

Playdate

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, £3 (members free)

HMV Picture House, 23:00–05:00, £5 (£4)

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Magic Nostalgic

Electric Circus, 22:30–05:00, £5 (£6 after 12)

A hodgepodge of quality tracks chosen by JP’s spinning wheel. Expect anything from 90s rave to power ballads, and a lot of one-hit wonders.

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £4 (£3)

Frisky

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

Chart, dance and electro fare, plus punter requests all night long.

Fat Sam’s, 20:00–03:00, £3.50

Gorilla In Your Car Kage, 23:00–02:30, £4

Hardcore, emo, punk and scenester selections. Also perhaps the best-named club night in Dundee’s existence.

Indigo

Sat 18 Aug

Indie, pop and alternative favourites with a danceable beat, from LCD Soundsystem to The Ting Tings.

Locarno

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £3 (£1)

Ride

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Ride girls Checkie and Lauren play hip-hop and dance, all night long.

Octopussy

HMV Picture House, 23:00–05:00, £6 (£4)

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Lafayette

Electric Circus, 22:30–05:00, £4 (£3)

Hip-hop and R’n’B-styled night inspired by the culture, fashion and night life of the Lower East Side of New York.

Fri 31 Aug Black Science

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £7 (£5)

House, disco, funk, soul and hip hop, where dancing becomes a science.

Fat Sam’s, 20:00–03:00, £3.50

New Noise

Fat Sam’s, 20:00–03:00, £3.50

Best of selection of rock, metal and alternative.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Mojo

Party-styled Friday nighter. Beware the six quid fishbowls.

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £5

Mansion

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £5

Electro musings with a danceable beat, with Clouds and Ado sharing deck duty.

Party-styled Friday nighter. Beware the six quid fishbowls.

Kitsune Club Night (Punks Jump Up, Jerry Bouthier)

Voodoo Rooms, 20:30–01:00, £5 adv.

CTRL ALT DEFEAT

Mojo

Fresh mix of funk, soul, disco and hippity-hop from the Soul Jam Hot DJs.

VEGAS!

Fat Sam’s, 21:00–03:00, £8

Asylum

Kage, 23:00–02:30, £4

Going Back To Our Roots: The Final Fling

New weekly residence for the longrunning Edinburgh D’n’B night.

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £tbc

Selection of DJs on rotation all night, covering genres of electro, disco, techno and anything else they damn well fancy.

Asylum

Sat 01 Sep

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

The Book Club

Massive Saturday night party spreading its wares over three floors and no less than six rooms.

Soul Jam Hot

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £7 (£5)

Beat Generator Live!, 23:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 12)

Metal, rock and alternative playlists all night long.

Massive Saturday night party spreading its wares over three floors and no less than six rooms.

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

The touring night – from the legendary Paris-based music and fashion label of the same name – comes to Scotland for the first time for Cab Vol’s festival wrap party.

Lockdown

Fat Sam’s Saturdays

Fat Sam’s, 21:00–03:00, £8

Cocoon’s Pig & Dan join 10-86 in their new home for a night of quality house and techno.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Kage, 23:00–02:30, £tbc

The finest in punk, emo and ska.

Fat Sam’s Saturdays

Metal, rock and alternative playlists all night long.

Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie and punk.

Entropy

Sat 25 Aug

United In House

Witness

Studio 24, 23:00–05:00, £tbc

Propaganda

Soulful fodder, from deep funk to reggae beats with your regular hosts Simon Hodge, Johnny Cashback, Astroboy and Wee-G.

Tue 28 Aug

Mojo

Favourited student midweeker playing house, electro and hippity-hop.

The genre-hopping London MC/ DJ duo continue with their quest to revamp vintage sounds for the modern ear.

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Misfits

Friday night party with Edinburgh DJs Mastercaird and Stevie C playing anything danceable.

Moving from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

The Manc DJ, remixer and electronic music producer mixes it up across areas of dancehall, house and art-pop.

The Too Much Fun Club: Festival Special

House specialists Stewart and Steven play, er, some special house.

Four Corners

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Glam techno and electro night with the usual themed shenanigans, this time with a Grimms’ Fairy Tale theme.

Mixed Up

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Fat Sam’s, 20:00–03:00, £3.50

Charity DJ-a-thon from the likes of Headway, Spektrum, Locarno and Rhumba club, raising funds for Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres. Pre-club session from 7-10pm.

Mon 27 Aug

Nu Fire

Party-styled Friday nighter. Beware the six quid fishbowls.

Reading Rooms, 22:30–03:30, £5 adv.

Confusion Is Sex: Grimms’ Fairy Tale Party

Hideout

Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics.

Mojo

Party-styled Friday nighter. Beware the six quid fishbowls.

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms.

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

Fri 03 Aug Justin Robertson

More alphabetical playlists from the Sesame Street crew, joined by resident DJs from Mumbo Jumbo and Soul Jam Hot, plus live music from Edinburgh’s own D’n’B-styled ensemble, Horndog Brass Band.

Anything goes trade night with Beefy and Wolfjazz (and their pals).

Wed 29 Aug

The Correspondents Studio 24, 23:00–05:00, £10

The Annexe, 22:30–05:00, Free

Split

Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–05:00, £3

The Jackhammer crew provide our dose of all things techno in the last of three August specials, with threedeck techno wizard Ben Sims taking to the decks.

Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

Trade Union

Sci-fi pop, outsider folk, soulful R’n’B, machine funk and a whole lot more with DJs from bETAMAX, FAST, Ride This Train, Sausage Rolls and Gentle Invasion.

Anthology of house, electro and D’n’B for your aural delectation.

Citrus Club, 22:30–05:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, Free

Dubstep, breaks and bassline house from AF Meldrum and a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs.

Papi Falso

Jackhammer (Ben Sims)

Planet Earth

Coalition

Studio 24, 22:30–05:00, £6 adv. (£8 door)

Friday night student party with the emphasis on Skittlebombs...

Don’t ask.

XY

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £7 (£5)

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of.

Sesame Street: The Horndog Brass Band Festival Mash-Up

Electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.

Citrus Club, 22:30–05:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Live club offering from the rather ace gallery of the same name.

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

Distinctly retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

Friday night student party with the emphasis on Skittlebombs...

Don’t ask.

Indigo

Superclub

Sun 26 Aug The Sunday Club

Citrus Club, 22:30–05:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Hector’s House

HMV Picture House, 23:00–05:00, £3

Tease Age

The Liquid Room, 22:30–05:00, £3 (£1)

Fiddler’s Elbow, 23:45–03:00, £3

Planet Earth

Oh No!

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

Indie, pop and alternative favourites with a danceable beat, from LCD Soundsystem to The Ting Tings.

The Annexe, 22:30–05:00, £tbc

Oh No!

Chart, dance and electro fare, plus punter requests all night long.

Robigan’s Reggae

Nu Fire

Virgen

Dance-inducing party with an anything goes attitude.

Mon 20 Aug Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics.

Stacks: 1st Birthday

Pocket Aces

Distinctly retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

The Hive, 22:00–05:00, Free

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms.

Eclectic selections of house and techno from DJs Fisher & Price, supported by Miss Chris.

Frisky

Anything goes trade night with Beefy and Wolfjazz (and their pals).

Mixed Up

Fever

The Hive, 21:00–05:00, Free (£4 after 10)

South American and Latin sounds brought to you by the Soulsville crew.

Octopussy

The Sunday Club

American Prom-styled fun night celebrating all that is great about pop, new and old.

Favela

Edinburgh Rocks: Birthday Party

Friday night student party with the emphasis on Skittlebombs...

Don’t ask.

Electric Circus, 22:30–05:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–05:00, £3 (members free)

Dance-inducing party with an anything goes attitude.

Cream Soda

Cabaret Voltaire, 23:45–05:00, £4 (£3)

Karnival and Hush join forces and set sail on the Forth for an evening of house and techno. Coaches leave from Edinburgh city centre.

Oh No!

HMV Picture House, 23:00–05:00, £3

Thu 23 Aug

Misfits

Reading Rooms, 22:00–02:30, £5 (£7 after 12)

Rockabilly, doo-wop, soul and all things golden age and danceable with the Locarno regulars.

Fat Sam’s Saturdays

Kage, 23:00–02:30, £4

Alternative mixtape night taking in rock, punk, screamo, electro and hippity-hop.

DUNDEE MUSIC Fri 10 Aug The Mouse That Ate The Cat The Doghouse, 19:30–22:30, £5

Glasgow-based scamps making delightful electro-indie-pop that uses synths, samples, guitars and layered vocals.

Sat 11 Aug AKA Ska

Beat Generator Live!, 20:00–22:30, £4

2-tone ska tribute show.

Wed 22 Aug Franz Nicolay (Billy Liar, Algernon Doll, Davey Nolan) Cerberus Bar, 19:30–22:00, £5 adv. (£6 door)

Former keyboardist in Brooklyn rockers The Hold Steady, Franz Nicolay continues his improbable reinvention as a troubadour of heartland America.

Fri 24 Aug Defiance, Everyone Everywhere, Chalk Talk, Kaddish, Bonehouse, Uniforms, Some Sort of Threat Kage, 18:30–22:30, £8 adv. (£10 door)

Alernative showcase of bands, moving from US-of-A DIY anarcho-folk outfit Defiance, to the acoustic anti-folk of Some Sort of Threat.

Fri 31 Aug Tango In The Attic (Seams, The Sparrowhawk Orkestral, Waiitng On Jack, Hellovideo) Dexter’s Bar, 19:30–22:30, £5

Sunshine-filled melodies from the Glenrothes quartet, taking in some noisier soundscapes of late.

Fat Sam’s, 21:00–03:00, £8

Massive Saturday night party spreading its wares over three floors and no less than six rooms.

Asylum

Kage, 23:00–02:30, £4

Best of selection of rock, metal and alternative.

Fri 24 Aug Bleep

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £5 (£7 after 11.30)

Ear-bleeding electronic beats ‘n’ bleeps with residents Light Nights and WeAreNotRobots.

August 2012

THE SKINNY 67

L I ST I N GS

Art

GLASGOW

SWG3 Bobby Niven: Island

CCA

various dates between 1 aug and 11 Aug, 12:00pm – 6:00pm, Free

What We Have Done, What We Are About To Do

18 Aug – 15 Sep, not 19 Aug, 26 Aug, 2 Sep, 9 Sep, 11:00am – 6:00pm, Free

Exhibition revealing over 70 films documenting the activity of the Third Eye Centre in the 1970s – many still in a raw, unedited and, in many cases, unidentified state.

Bobby Niven takes the uninhabited rocky islet of Inchgarvie and expands its cultural location by utilising prop, moving image, artefact and sculpture in his new fairytale-esque exhibition.

Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre

Cyril Gerber Fine Art

Gothic Kinetic

The First of the Summer Wine: 2012

The acclaimed touring set – created by theatre sculptor-cum-mechanic Eduard Bersudsky – comes to Glasgow, after entertaining audiences of over 200,000 people across Europe.

various dates between 31 aug and 30 Nov, times vary, Free

Until – 31 Aug, times vary, Free

Annual collective summer exhibition taking in painting and sculpture, from artists including The Scottish Colourists, Elizabeth Blackadder and Ann Christopher.

Glasgow Print Studio various dates between 31 Jul and 9 Sep, times vary, Free

Special exhibition exploring the variety of ways artists have used words in printmaking from the 1960s to present day, helping celebrate the 40th anniversary of Glasgow Print Studio – with pieces drawn largely from their archive.

Glasgow School of Art various dates between 31 Jul and 28 Sep, 10:30am – 4:30pm, Free

Exhibition and accompanying publication examining the period between World War II and the present day in relation to women artists at the forefront of the art scene in Glasgow.

In the Mackintosh Museum.

Fruit Salad

until – 26 Aug, times vary, Free

Group show from international artists marking the launch of a new publication from the Glasgow/ London imprint Bronze Age Editions, entitled Fruit Salad.

The Arches I Can’t Get That Sound You Make Out Of My Head Series of hand-stitched panels from Kern L Vaughan, constructed from second hand clothes and stitched with a line borrowed from the lyrics of local artists and international bands.

The Duchy The Swan and Hostage

various dates between 3 aug and 25 Aug, 12:00pm – 6:00pm, Free

Until – 26 Aug, times vary, Free

18 Aug – 1 Sep, not 19 Aug, 20 Aug, 26 Aug, 27 Aug, 11:00am – 6:00pm, Free

Selection of trademark abstract and colourful paintings from Oscar Godfrey, newly developed as a group specifically for the CCA’s Intermedia space.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum 500 Years of Italian Art

Unique exhibition presenting a range of ground-breaking projects selected to influence the policy by the Scottish Government concerning what their new architecture policy should cover.

Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centres: Schools’ Competition Until – 2 Aug, times vary, Free

Over 50 secondary school students from across Scotland take part in a unique design exhibition featuring their own interpretation of what a Maggie’s Cancer Caring Centre should look like.

Black Arches

Until – 12 Aug, times vary, £5 (£3)

Summer exhibition showcasing the best of Glasgow Museum’s impressive collection of Italian art, taking in some 40 paintings dating from the late 14th to the 19th centuries.

Mary Mary

10–31 Aug, times vary, Free

Textile designer Mhari McMullan presents an exhibition of room-dividers that experiment with cutting techniques, focusing on wallpaper, pattern, print and the crossover between design and craft.

On:AIR

10–31 Aug, times vary, Free

Lotte Gertz

Until – 4 Aug, not 29 Jul, 30 Jul, 12:00pm – 6:00pm, Free

New body of work from the Glasgowbased artist comprising a series of paintings and prints featuring close-at-hand objects made in a studio that occupied the same space as her general living-area.

Recoat Gallery Unlucky For Some

Until – 12 Aug, not 30 Jul, 6 Aug, 12:00pm – 6:00pm, Free

Retrospective showcase of street photographer David Peat, who’s quietly built an impressive portfolio of images during a working life around the world.

Input and Ideas: Rethinking Scotland’s Policy on Architecture and Place

Oscar Godfrey: Fat Exotic

Recoat celebrate their 5th birthday with a collective exhibition of 13 artists, taking in an eclectic mix of the different styles they show – from illustration and graphic art, to street art and abstract painting.

Exhibition of contemporary jewellery and silversmithing, bringing together nine Artists in Residence from the Glasgow School of Art, Edinburgh College of Art and Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art.

Pecha Kucha 9

1 Aug, 6:00pm – 8:00pm, £7.50 (£4)

Maggie’s Cancer Care Charity special, with a number of Glasgow architects and landscapers joined by Maggie’s representatives, staff and centre users for the unique image-led discussion, where 20 slides show for just 20 second each.

The Modern Institute Katja Strunz

Until – 18 Aug, not 29 Jul, 5 Aug, 12 Aug, times vary, Free

Solo exhibition from the Berlinbased artist comprising of her delightfully haphazard sculptural and installation pieces.

68 THE SKINNY

The Virginia Gallery

August 2012

Dovecot Studios

Jupiter Artland

Weaving The Century: Tapestry from Dovecot Studios 1912-2012

Anya Gallaccio

23 Jul – 17 Oct, 10:30am – 5:30pm, Free

Major tapestry exhibition presented across all three of the public gallery spaces, bringing together the work of myriad artists including David Hockney, Elizabeth Blackadder and Cecil Beaton. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Youth

Edinburgh College of Art

Exhibition from a selection of young artists – all of whom are under 25 – with all work focusing on the the theme and title of the exhibition: Youth.

Primate Cinema: Apes as Family

various dates between 11 Aug and 8 Sep, 11:00am – 6:00pm, Free

The Whisky Bond Glasgow Sculpture Studios collaborate with The Clipperton Project to transform The Whisky Bond into an international collaborative laboratory, housing a series of zones that host different components of activities.

The Lighthouse

Intermedia

Group exhibition by four students of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, featuring cinematic and atmospheric oil paintings ranging widely in style and subject matter.

David Peat

Solo exhibition of new sculptural work by James McLardy, in which he explores hierarchies within the use of material, technique and effect.

Good Press

26–28 Aug, times vary, Free

The Clipperton Project

Until – 31 Aug, 12:00pm – 11:00pm, Free

Studio 58: Women Artists in Glasgow Since World War II

Meeting Point

Street Level Photoworks Until – 5 Aug, not 30 Jul, times vary, Free

The Medium is the Message

The Old Hairdressers

various dates between 2 aug and 20 Oct, 11:00am – 5:00pm, Free

Tramway Jannis Kounellis

various dates between 31 Jul and 23 Sep, times vary, Free

Tramway is taken over by the grandiose sculptures of Greek artist Jannis Kounellis, drawing together significant works from the Artist Rooms collection, alongside new work.

Niall Macdonald: Opal-Logo Palm 31 Jul – 25 Aug, not 30 Jul, 6 Aug, 13 Aug, 20 Aug, times vary, Free

Outer Hebrides artist Neill Macdonald showcases a series of delicate assemblages created through a painstaking process of molding in silicone and casting the forms in pure white plaster.

EDINBURGH Bourne Fine Art Jock McFadyen: A Retrospective various dates between 31 Jul and 1 Sep, times vary, Free

Retrospective of Scottish artist Jock McFadyen, including his figurative works of the 1980s and his later-day full-blown urban landscapes. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

City Art Centre Leslie Hunter

31 Jul – 14 Oct, times vary, £5 (£3.50)

Major exhibition of over 50 works of varying sizes by Leslie Hunter, one of a group of four artists known collectively as The Scottish Colourists.

Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

2 Aug – 2 Sep, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free

Rachel Mayeri’s dual screen video installation; a drama written for chimpanzees and performed by human actors juxtaposed with the reactions of chimps. Showing in the Sculpture Court. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Cast Contemporaries

3 Aug – 2 Sep, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free

Collaborative exhibition reconsidering the role of reproduction antique sculptures as catalysts for experimental contemporary art. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

MA Art & Design Showcase 20–26 Aug, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free

Running alongside their official Edinburgh Art Festival exhibitions, the ECA showcase a new generation of stars from the MA Art & Design.

Edinburgh Printmakers Cheer Up! It’s Not The End Of The World... various dates between 2 Aug and 8 Sep, 10:00am – 6:00pm, Free

Premiere exhibition presenting the work of several international artists who have in some sense explored ideas about finality, amongst them Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol and Gordon Cheung. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Fruitmarket Gallery Dieter Roth: Diaries

2 Aug – 14 Oct, times vary, Free

Site-specific and collaborative works by a collection of exhibiting artists, developed during a series of mini-residencies in three Edinburgh New Town garages. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Ingleby Gallery Exhibition of sculpture and audio visual installation by the late Ian Hamilton Finlay, drawing on the artist’s work in many mediums and across several decades. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Unique exhibition of Scottish collections that explores the body as it prepares for, and competes in, sport.

Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Collective Gallery Lying and Liars

2 Aug – 30 Sep, 10:00am – 6:00pm, Free

Glasgow-based artist Mick Peter presents his new sculptural installation created specifically for Collective, presented alongside a short film-work by writer and filmmaker B.S. Johnson. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

various dates between 2 Aug and 27 Oct, times vary, Free

Inspace ~ in the fields

various dates between 2 Aug and 2 Sep, 12:00pm – 8:00pm, Free

Edinburgh-based artistic partnership between Nicole Heidtke and Stefan Baumberger, who spend their days reinventing old media, modifying ancient, odd machines and playing with optical toys. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Inverleith House Philip Guston

various dates between 31 Jul and 7 Oct, 10:00am – 5:30pm, Free

First exhibition of late paintings by the great American artist to be staged in Europe, featuring major works from 1969 to 1978. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

4–26 Aug, not 6, 13, 20, 12:00pm – 6:00pm, Free

Selection of sketches, paintings, photographs and sculptures from artists Robert Alda, Gillian Carson, Kaen Kipphoff, Rita Marhaug and Dan Mihaltianu.

We are all U.F.O.-nauts

National Museum of Scotland

Unique group exhibition taking as its starting point the photographic series ‘Self-portraits as a U.F.O.naut’ by Slovakian artist Julius Koller (1939–2007), exploring the ongoing potency of Koller’s practice. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Jupiter Artland unveil a major new installation by British sculptor Tania Kovats, sited along the banks of the lake at Jupiter. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

A Sense of Place: New Jewellery From Northern Lands

Until – 16 Sep, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free

Selection of specially designed jewellery by 16 contemporary makers from Northern Europe, each asked to create pieces inspired by a place they love.

Melvin Moti: One Thousand Points of Light

Until – 21 Oct, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free

First ever solo show from the Dutch artist, working with UV light emitting rocks from the mineralogy collections at National Museums Scotland. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Catherine the Great: An Enlightened Empress

Until – 21 Oct, 10:00am – 5:00pm, £9 (£7.50/£6 child)

Unique exhibition of the collections of one of Russia’s most successful rulers, taking in more than 300 objects and artworks by European and Russian artists of the 18th century.

Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Open Eye Gallery Open Eye’s Summer Show Until – 4 Aug, not 29 Jul, times vary, Free

Summer showcase exhibition of selected works by a collection of Open Eye artists.

John Bellany at 70

various dates between 11 Aug and 26 Aug, 12:00pm – 4:00pm, Free

Reality Show

various dates between 2 Aug and 2 Sep, 10:00am – 5:00pm, £8.50 (£4.50 children)

Garage GARAGE

Showcase exhibition placing the work of the Scottish Colourists in a wider context, running alongside City Art Centre’s solo exhibition dedicated to Scottish Colourist, Leslie Hunter.

31 Jul – 9 Sep, times vary, Free

Tania Kovats: Rivers

Gem of an exhibition showing Dieter Roth’s diaries to the public for the first time – an amassed record of appointments, addresses, lists and deadlines, but also ideas, drawings, photographs and poems. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Ian Hamilton Finlay

The Human Race: Inside Story of Sports Medicine

Jupiter Artland opens for its fourth summer season presenting fresh work by Paisley-born Turner Prize nominee Anya Gallaccio, consisting of 10,000 red roses laid upon the gallery floor, left to decay over time.

From Copper, Wood and Stone

The Scottish Colourists: Inspiration and Influence 31 Jul – 14 Oct, times vary, Free

various dates between 2 aug and 16 Sep, 10:00am – 5:00pm, £8.50 adv.

Patriothall Gallery

Until – 4 Aug, not 29 Jul, times vary, Free

Showcase exhibition spanning two centuries of British printmaking, taking in a variety of etchings, woodcuts and lithographs.

13 Aug – 4 Sep, not 19 Aug, 26 Aug, 2 Sep, times vary, Free

Retrospective exhibition of John Bellany’s work encompassing five decades of paintings, watercolours, prints and drawings. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Picasso, His Contemporaries and Modern British Printmaking

various dates between 13 Aug and 22 Sep, times vary, Free

Coinciding with the National Gallery of Modern Art’s Picasso retrospective, Open Eye gallery take in a number of prints from his contemporaries, all influenced by the great master. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Out of the Blue Drill Hall Self-Reliance (1841)

2–30 Aug, not 8, 9, 10, 11, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free

Mixed triple-header showcase featuring the work of three up-andcoming Edinburgh based artists/ photographers: Alicia Bruce, Malcy Duff and Johnny Gailey.

The ART of Giving

9–10 Aug, 10:00am – 9:30pm, Free

Charity art exhibition with four local artists exhibiting their work, with proceeds of any sales going to the International Voluntary Service.

Rhubaba various dates between 4 Aug and 2 Sep, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, Free

Royal Over-Seas League East Neuk Paradise

Until – 9 Sep, 10:00am – 6:00pm, Free

Scottish artist Hatti Pattisson exhibits her latest paintings, drawing inspiration from the land and seascapes around Fife.

Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) TUTAJ/TERAZ

Until – 9 Sep, times vary, Free

Survey of the work of six Polish-born artists who completed their degrees at Scottish art schools, taking in print, drawing, photography and painting work. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Scotland-Russia Institute Soviet Grand Designs

various dates between 4 Aug and 22 Sep, times vary, Free

Exhibition featuring Evgeni Kazmin’s drawings for monumental mosaic projects and Vladimir Burov’s 1960s paintings of the industrial city of Magnitogorsk. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Scottish National Gallery Giovanni Battista Lusieri: Expanding Horizons Until – 28 Oct, times vary, £7 (£5)

First ever exhibition devoted entirely to the impressive landscape watercolours of Rome-born artist, Giovanni Battista Lusieri. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Van Gogh to Kandinsky: Symbolist Landscape in Europe Until – 14 Oct, times vary, £10 (£7)

First exhibition dedicated solely to Symbolist Landscape in Europe, the movement that developed after Impressionism as artists developed a more emotional approach to landscape painting. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art Edvard Munch: Graphic Works from The Gundersen Collection Until – 23 Sep, 10:00am – 5:00pm, £7 (£5)

Collection of 50 works on paper by the famed Norwegian artist, taken from a private Norwegian collection, and showing in the UK for the first time. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Picasso and Modern British Art 4 Aug – 4 Nov, times vary, £10 (£7)

First exhibition to explore Picasso’s lifelong connections with Britain, looking at the artist’s reputation here and the way he influenced Britain’s own modern artists. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Ready, Steady Jewel: Auction Event

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Unique annual charity jewellery auction with 10 Scottish-educated graduates and five established jewellers, each of whom had just 8-hours to make a piece of jewellery.

Legacy: Roderick Buchanan

31 Aug, 5:30pm – 10:00pm, £3

Until – 16 Sep, times vary, Free

Scottish artist Roderick Buchanan presents a powerful and thoughtprovoking installation which considers the legacy of the troubles in Northern Ireland. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

In It To Win It

Tent Gallery

Display of new acquisitions showcasing some of Scotland’s most distinguished sporting talent, inspired by the up-coming Olympic Games.

More Than Bird

Until – 7 Oct, times vary, Free

Scottish Poetry Library

2–20 Aug, times vary, Free

The first exhibition to examine the profound contributions of the New Enlightenment Project to Scottish arts, architecture and philosophy.

Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Orchard

The Old Ambulance Depot

Collaborative exhibition taking the poetic names of older varieties of apple trees as the basis for a new set of works between poet Gerry Loose and artist Donald Urquhart. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Through The Looking Glass, Dimly

various dates between 2 Aug and 29 Sep, times vary, Free

St Andrew’s Square

5–18 Aug, times vary, Free

International collaboration between photographers Andrew Follows and Rosita McKenzie, based in Melbourne and Edinburgh respectively. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Andrew Miller: The Waiting Place

The Scottish Gallery

Playful summer-styled house acting as a flexible space during the month of the festival, hosting discussions, talks and guided tours as well as acting as a space to simply enjoy the act of waiting for something to happen.

Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Duncan Shanks

2 Aug – 2 Sep, 10:00am – 6:00pm, Free

~ in the fields: Yen to See Different Places

2 Aug – 2 Sep, 10:00am – 6:00pm, Free

In situ ‘tourist telescope’ digitally networked to the exhibition of the show of the same name, depicting views of idealised landscapes that change as the exhibition does. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Stills James Casebere: Home and Other Fictions

3 Aug – 28 Oct, 11:00am – 6:00pm, Free

Stills present the first solo exhibition of works by James Casebere in Scotland, his constructed photography challenging the boundaries between reality and imagination.

Summerhall Venus With Severed Leg

2 Aug – 2 Sep, 11:00am – 9:00pm, Free

William English’s photographs of the early days of Vivienne Westwood and Malcolm McLaren’s ‘Sex’ shop. In the Corner Gallery.

Carolee Schneemann

2 Aug – 27 Sep, 11:00am – 9:00pm, Free

The prolific artist, now in her 70s, displays several new and vintage video works including a new installation... Oh, and a series of photos of her ice skating naked holding one of her cats. Genius. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Static State

2 Aug – 27 Sep, 11:00am – 9:00pm, Free

Curated group show displaying the work of nine Edinburgh-based emerging artists, including Kevin Harman, Joel Kaplan and Liam Crichton. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Superclub John Brown: Thingspace

various dates between 4 Aug and 2 Sep, 1:00pm – 6:00pm, Free

Installation that merges the experience of shopping with the fine art gallery space, for which Edinburgh-based artist John Brown has produced representations of everyday consumer objects. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Talbot Rice Gallery Tim Rollins and K.O.S.: The Black Spot

various dates between 4 Aug and 20 Oct, times vary, Free

Tim Rollins and K.O.S. present a selection of their literary and music-inspired work, old and new, accompanied by a series of Art and Knowledge Workshops. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

Working Papers: Donald Judd Drawings (1963-93)

various dates between 4 Aug and 20 Oct, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free

First exhibition in Scotland to study Donald Judd’s studio methods, focusing upon the instructional drawings he and his fabricators created. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

various dates between 3 Aug and 5 Sep, times vary, Free

Solo exhibition from the Airdrie-born and Glasgow School of Art-trained artist known for his strong colour palette and richly applied paint. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

White Stuff Harry Hill: My Hobby

4 Aug – 2 Sep, 10:00am – 6:00pm, Free

Comedian Harry Hill takes over White Stuff’s George Street store with a selection of paintings and sculptures encompassing his mad cap view of the world. Part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

DUNDEE DCA Infinite Jest

Until – 26 Aug, not 30 Jul, 6 Aug, 13 Aug, 20 Aug, times vary, Free

DCA present three exciting international artists – Cinthia Marcelle, Rob Pruitt and William Mackrell – each inspired by circular narration, infinity loops and mobius strips.

Infinite Jest: 1000 Candles Reprise 10 Aug, 7:30pm – 9:00pm, Free

William Mackrell – one of the trio of artists exhibiting at DCA’s current exhibition, Infinite Jest – relights his 1000 Candles sculpture during a special out-of-hours evening viewing.

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design DJCAD Masters’ Show 2012 18–26 Aug, times vary, Free

The Masters graduates showcase the fruits of their labour, taking in work from MSc Animation & Visualisation, Master of Design for Services, Master of Fine Art, MSc Forensic Art and MSc Medical Art.

Generator Projects Manuela de Laborde

2–5 Aug, 12:00pm – 5:00pm, Free

The Mexican-born, ECA-graduating and now London-based artist presents a new series of work completed during her open studio residency.

L I ST I N GS

Our top 5 s for the edinburgh festivals BOOKS:

1. Grant Morrison

2. Sean Borodale and William Letford

17 Aug, RBS Main Theatre, 9.30pm, £10 (£8)

24 Aug, RBS Corner Theatre, 8.30pm, £7 (£5)

One of the first Glaswegians to make millions creating comics (and there have been a few others since), Morrison – the kind of sought after writer who works on Batman if they ask him nicely – returns after last year’s successful event.

T H E AT R E :

C O M E D Y:

A poetic double-header with Scotland’s own William Letford, who writes poetry as well as working as a roofer, joined by poet, geographer and bee keeper Sean Borodale. Does having another occupation make your poetry better? We think so.

4. Irvine Welsh

5. Zadie Smith

18 Aug, RBS Main Theatre, 9.30pm, £10 (£8)

25 Aug, RBS Main Theatre, 8pm, £10 (£8)

One of the more famous authors people haven’t yet heard of, Miéville deserves attention. He generally writes socialist science fiction, but is a great writer in any genre – and he tries most of them – with his live events typically entertaining/informative in equal measures.

What can we say about Welsh that hasn’t already been said? He’s a banana. Anyway, come and see the banana talk about his excellent prequel to Trainspotting, Skagboys, reviewed, well, everywhere. (Also, Mr Welsh is not actually a banana).

Smith finally comes to the festival, after cancelling last year. Having made her breakthrough at 25 with the much acclaimed White Teeth, a book so good the TV version couldn’t ruin it – and it had Russell Brand in it. This year she'll be launching her new book, NW.

1. Anybody Waitin'?

2. Leo

3. Faust/us

4. Educating Ronnie

5. We Are Chechens!

3-16 Aug, Silk Nightclub, 8pm, £12 (£10)

2-27 Aug (not Weds), Assembly Roxy, 1pm, £15 (£13)

2-12 Aug, Sweet Grassmarket, 7.50pm, £9 (£7)

3-13 Aug (not 4, 5), Summerhall, 5.15pm/7.15pm, £10 (£8)

Expect a dose of interactive dance mayhem from the Adelaide Fringe 2012 winners (for Best Dance Show) from Ireland. This time it's all about love, with audience participation – both emotional and physical – to be expected.

The Circus of Eleven theatre company serve up their trademark classy acrobatics that move circus skills away from the big top and into the world of performance art: life-affirming, spectacular and wryly charming, Leo is both populist and experimental.

One man, animation, a quest for truth and a cunning devil: hell may not be fashionable in theological circles, but it is still the basis for this modern take on a tale that inspired alchemists, actors and allegory throughout the past millennium.

2-26 Aug (not Mon 13, 20), Assembly George Square, 1.15pm, £12 (£10)

1. Stewart Lee: Carpet Remnant World

2. The Pajama Men's Improv Show

15 & 23 Aug, Edinburgh Playhouse, 8pm, £24

2-26 Aug (not 13, 20), The Assembly Rooms, 6.05pm, £15 (£12)

2-12 Aug, Assembly George Square, 9pm, £15 (£14)

Officially the most popular act amongst Fringe reviewers in 2011, Mark and Shenoah (aka The Pajama Men) return for 2012 to do what they do best – yes, improv in their jim-jams. Running for a limited 10-day run only.

The Skinny's favourite comedian (well, our Editor Ros's favourite, anyway) leads the comedy line-up at Assembly George Street, which is reopened under Scottish management. See within this very issue for our interview with Stew.

A R T:

3. China Miéville 20 Aug, Scottish Power Studio Theatre, 8.30pm, £10 (£8)

3. Dylan Moran: Yeah, Yeah Yer man Dylan Moran won the Perrier award when Daniel Sloss was just 5, and he remains one of the great forces of nature in stand-up comedy. Playing just two festival dates, we'd suggest booking early...

Or, well, NOW!

Gap year student Joe Douglas travelled to Uganda and formed a unique bond with Ugandian Ronnie, putting him through school. Educating Ronnie (performed by Joe himself) explores how Europe and Africa are tied by more than just unfair trade relations.

Another bit of political intensity: tales from the war between cultures, verbatim theatre filtered through the voices of Polish students. Dark and compassionate, coming from within a conflict that seems so distant yet echoes in Britain's own cultural anxieties.

4. Black Monday: The Longest Laugh All-Day Gong Show

5. The Malcolm Hardee Comedy Awards Show

13 Aug, The Shack, 12pm, £10

24 Aug, Laughing Horse @ The Counting House, 11pm, Free

The Shack serve up an arse-numbing 12 straight hours of comedy, but at least you get to gong off anyone who's not funny. A drop-in and drop-out affair hosted

by Chris Conroy, with suprise guests and unexpected incidents. Bring a packed lunch.

The 'other' Edinburgh comedy awards, hosted by Miss Behave and delivered over a reliably hilarious and chaotic two-hour showcase. Unlike the proper awards, this is free and open to the public.

1. Philip Guston

2. Mick Peter: Lying and Liars

3. John Brown: Thingspace

4. We Are All U.F.O.-nauts

5. Carolee Schneemann

Until 7 Oct, Inverleith House, Tue-Sun (Closed Mondays) 10am-5.30pm, Free

2 Aug-30 Sep, Collective, Mon-Sun, 10am-6pm, Free

4 Aug-2 Sep, Superclub, Thu-Sun 1pm-6pm, Free

4 Aug-2 Sep, Rhubaba, Fri-Sun 12pm-5pm, Free

2 Aug-27 Sep, Summerhall, Mon-Sun 11am-9pm, Free

Glasgow-based artist Mick Peter presents his new sculptural installation which he's created specifically for Collective gallery as part of EAF, presented alongside a short film-work by writer and filmmaker B.S. Johnson.

Edinburgh-based artist John Brown takes over Superclub with his installation piece that rather magically merges the experience of shopping with the fine art gallery space, for which he's produced his own representations of everyday consumer objects.

Unique group exhibition taking as its starting point the photographic series Self-portraits as a U.F.O.-naut

by Slovakian artist Julius Koller (1939–2007), and exploring as it goes the potency of Koller's practice.

Prolific artist Carolee Schneemann, now in her 70s, displays several new and vintage video works, also creating a major new work in situ on one of the walls of Summerhall. Oh, plus a series of photos of her ice skating naked holding one of her cats.

Inverleith House play home to the first exhibition of late paintings by the great American artist (yes! Philip Guston!) to be staged in Europe, featuring major works from 1969 to 1978. It's got us excited enough to make it our EAF top pick.

TaOm’Shanter

‘THE ROBE

RT BURNS M

USICAL EX TRAVAGAN

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COMEDY • DAY TIME • VARIE T Y

Featuring the best theatre, music and comedy from South Africa.

FACEBOOK/ASSEMBLYFESTIVAL TWITTER@ASSEMBLYFEST

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L I ST I N GS

edinburgh BOOKS Illustration: David Lemm

Book listings make a special appearance this month as we highlight the Edinburgh International Book Festival's Unbound programme (12-27 Aug). All the events are free and no booking is necessary. Each event starts around 9pm and the bar is open until the wee small hours, but turn up early if you want to get a seat...

Last Orders Special event celebrating Dublin's shared status with Edinburgh as a UNESCO City of Literature, with guests sharing inspiration, soundtracks, stories and songs.

Literary Death Match The literary world are out en force spreading a bit of mayhem as they go, with the live readers attempting to win the hearts of judges Greg Proops, Rory Skovel, Chris Brookmyre and Billy Letford.

Nile Rodgers Disco legend Nile Rodgers presents a very special solo show of songs and stories, in support of his book Le Freak: An Upside Down Story of Family, Disco and Destiny.

High Infidelity Glasgow-based newcomer Kohl Publishing present an evening celebrating adultery in literary fiction, turning the Spiegeltent into a veritable den of deviance.

THU 16 AUGUST 2012 CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH, 21:00 – 23:00, FREE

FRI 17 AUGUST 2012 CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH, 21:00 – 23:00, FREE

SAT 18 AUGUST 2012 CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH, 21:00 – 23:00, FREE

SUN 19 AUGUST 2012 CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH, 21:00 – 23:00, FREE

Swimming And Flying: Mark Haddon Celebrated author, artist and dramatist Mark Haddon presents a one-man talk about great white sharks, cosmology, creative writing, engine fires and ice hockey. That do you?

Faber Social Faber Social take over proceedings for an evening of readings and music featuring a selection of exciting new names on the international literary stage.

Simone Felice & TM Wolf Special collaboration of music and literature with Simone Felice (of The Felice Brothers) doing his solo thing, while TM Wolf unveils his debut novel.

It Will Be All Write On The Night...

Unbound draws to its merry close with an evening of new Scottish writing from the winners of the Scottish Book Trust New Writers Awards.

Hosted by Sian Bevan.

FRI 24 AUGUST 2012 CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH, 21:00 – 23:00, FREE

SAT 25 AUGUST 2012 CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH, 21:00 – 23:00, FREE

SUN 26 AUGUST 2012 CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH, 21:00 – 23:00, FREE

MON 27 AUGUST 2012 CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH, 21:00 – 23:00, FREE

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August 2012

Homework The East London literary cabaret night relocates to Edinburgh for the evening, with the four Homework residents joined by a super-secret guest.

The Big Time Sensuality Show Favourited quickfire spoken word and performance event, Words Per Minute, returns to Unbound, this year with the theme of sensuality. Ooh-err, etc.

The Fable of the Hungry Icelander Icelandic author and poet Sigurjon Birgir Sigurosson (aka Sjón) hosts a special event with some of Iceland's finest writers and musicians, amongst 'em Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir and Kristín Ómarsdóttir.

Magic Words Edinburgh-based Illicit Ink make their Unbound debut, combining spoken word, storytelling and, yes, stage magic. Compered by Gavin Inglis.

SUN 12 AUGUST 2012 CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH, 21:00 – 23:00, FREE

MON 13 AUGUST 2012 CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH, 21:00 – 23:00, FREE

TUE 14 AUGUST 2012 CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH, 21:00 – 23:00, FREE

WED 15 AUGUST 2012 CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH, 21:00 – 23:00, FREE

Cargo Vs McSweeney's Members of Cargo and McSweeney's go headto-head with a host of authors helping them celebrate their joint four-volume box set, Here, There, Everywhere and Somewhere.

South Asia Unbound London-based South Asian Literature Festival takeover, with music journalist Neil Kulkarni spinning tracks, plus tales from Hari Kunzru, Kamila Shamsie, Preeta Samarasan and Gautam Malkani.

Electronic Voice Phenomena Unique event exploring the idea of reading as a visual activity, with four unique performances addressing the nature of stimuli at the intersection of writing, technology and voice.

Illuminating stuff.

The Colour Orange Colourful collaboration of music, spoken word, literature and poetry reflecting the historical and cultural influences that combine to create Dutch culture.

MON 20 AUGUST 2012 CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH, 21:00 – 23:00, FREE

TUE 21 AUGUST 2012 CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH, 21:00 – 23:00, FREE

WED 22 AUGUST 2012 CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH, 21:00 – 23:00, FREE

THU 23 AUGUST 2012 CHARLOTTE SQUARE GARDENS, EDINBURGH, 21:00 – 23:00, FREE

Guest Selector: Moon Duo

CRYSTAL BAWS

Residents of California, Moon Duo’s Ripley Johnson and Sanae Yamada know a thing or three about long desert drives. Whether you’re hurtling through the Palm Desert or just up the M8, here they provide a mile-by-mile soundtrack for the open road

WITH MYSTIC MARK

Photo: Page Bertelsen

music

T H E O UT B A C K

1. Jim Sullivan – UFO (from the album UFO, 1969) Groovy, dark Americana: mellow strumming and weathered vocals ride a tide of melancholy strings, graced by birdlike flute and horn flourishes. In a way it’s the ultimate song for this list, as the singer himself, here posing the question ‘Did he come by UFO?’ vanished into the New Mexico desert in 1975, never to be heard from again.

2. MV & EE – Tea Devil (from the album Country Stash, 2011) Cue the tumbleweeds. This track sounds like it was recorded in a ghost town, possibly by the former inhabitants. An ageless voice croons to an unseen devil to leave her alone while guitars shimmer and writhe over what sounds like old tin walls shaking and crashing in the wind.

3. Peaking Lights – All the Sun That Shines (from the album 936, 2011) A recent favourite – feels like a sonic manifestation of the waves of heat that steam up from sun-baked ground. This is high noon, when the entire parched landscape around you seems to be rippling as though it’s about to dissolve.

4. Cave – Encino Men (from the album Psychic Psummer, 2009) Powerful, insistent, propulsive drumming, locked-in bass, inspiringly freaked-out keys, and urgently incoherent chanting roil and pulsate until the whole song goes up in flames halfway through, only to be reincarnated as something both same and other.

5. Chrissy Zebby Tembo & Ngozi Family – Trouble Maker (from the album My Ancestors, 1974) Sometimes things get heavy. The sky seems to bear down on the parched earth, and the air goes dry and magnetic. There is no wind, no movement. The tyres might be melting, leaving behind a hard screed of rubber.

There is a lot of amazing Zambian rock from the 70s, but this is in a class by itself.

6. Charanjit Singh – Raga Megh Malhar (from the album Synthesizing – Ten Ragas To A Disco Beat, 1982) A crash of synthetic thunder before the air splits and unleashes a sparse, hypnotic, electronic arrangement of Indian raga; it pours out into a slow, steadily building intensity before receding into the vast distance.

7. Neil Young & Crazy Horse – Cowgirl in the Sand (from the album Live at the Filmore East, 1970) If you spend a lot of time in the car – desertwise or otherwise – Neil Young is your friend.

He understands the sky and the asphalt and the dry riverbed; how they blend together with the past and the present and the future until all delineations liquefy. This version of Cowgirl, which closes out the set and lasts just over 16 minutes, is among his very best.

8. Stereolab – Metronomic Underground (from the album Emperor Tomato Ketchup, 1996) Cruise control. Not too fast, not too slow – just the right speed to take in the landscape.

Horizons again, endlessly receding in all directions simultaneously. Haven’t seen another car in hours. The westward sun is slowly sinking. Soon it will thrust blinding rays through the windshield.

9. CAN – Mother Sky (from the Deep End Soundtrack, 1970) Evolutionary chapters bleed into one another, each spawning the next; oscillations of fire, stone, and something unnamable and subterranean are driven constantly forward by the great primordial constant. This is essentially the perfect desert song.

10. Kandodo – Lord Hyena, 3am (from the album Kandodo, 2012) At 3am the still-empty road stretches into infinite, epic blackness, met by an ocean of stars at the horizon. The only sounds are the subdued roar of the engine and the hundredmiles-gone howling of a guitar. Shadowy dinosaurs lurk in the distance. Or maybe they’re hills.

Moon Duo’s new album Circles is released via Souterrain Transmissions on 1 Oct www.moonduo.org

a

ARIES 21 MAR – 20 APR

This month your local priest finally agrees to consecrate your bottle of Buckfast, thus adding a heavy dose of caffeine, sodium glycerophosphate, dipotassium phosphate and disodium phosphate to Christ’s bloodstream. This causes Jesus to ‘go radge’ up in Heaven, attacking new arrivals asking for his autograph by melting them with his eyes, responding to prayers with expletive-ridden rants and staggering around completely nude in visions.

b

TAURUS 21 APR – 21MAY

c

GEMINI 22 MAY – 21 JUN

You feel like an insignificant pube fallen among the wheels of a large machine whose action you do not understand but which is working well.

The mind of Gemini is like a toilet U-bend. It needs to flow. If a particularly big brown thought gets stuck, only the rubber gloves of truth can dislodge and separate it down into smaller chunks. This helps the ball-cock of your soul return to equilibrium, allowing you to flush away unhealthy brain activity into the sewer of the past.

d

CANCER 22 JUN – 23 JUL

e

LEO 24 JUL – 23 AUG

f

VIRGO 24 AUG – 23 SEP

g

LIBRA 24 SEP – 23 OCT

Like the Crab you have longevity on your side and will always bounce back, except off rocks.

Your Guru takes you to one side and calmly reiterates that it’s all about positive energy changing the collective quantum consciousness which shifts the negative vibrational frequency into a consciously resonating quantum energy field. You nod convincingly.

They say you should never drink on an empty stomach. Lucky your stomach is full of drugs then.

environment there won’t be any tortoises left to melt down into perfume.

h

SCORPIO 24 OCT – 22 NOV

i

SAGITTARIUS

Your love life is like the surface of Venus. Although dating probes have managed to land, within minutes you have crushed any potential relationship to dust. Your magnetic field is non-existent and the levels of boredom generated in your intense atmosphere are high enough to melt sexual interest almost instantaneously.

24 OCT – 20 JAN

You come to the realisation that you’ve been wrong all along, there are no microphones in your fridge or spies hiding in the walls, it’s simply the paranoia chip the CIA implanted in your brain.

j

CAPRICORN 22 DEC – 20 JAN

There is a light at the end of the tunnel. The bright, welcoming fires of Hell.

k

AQUARIUS 21 JAN – 19 FEB

Thank God you’re not doing what you’re doing right now.

l

PISCES 20 FEB – 20 MAR

In August you travel south for the Paranormal Olympics, hosted by Britain’s favourite mediums on the mist-covered ancient battlefield of Flodden. The umpires employ hi-tech equipment to find evidence of which hovering, wailing or lamenting spirits have won each medal by recording sudden changes in temperature, EMF interference, barking dogs or the emergence of unexplained smells. The ectoplasmic cream of the world’s ghosts and spirits have been brought over to compete, trapped inside amulets, mirrors and Chucky dolls, or simply summoned from the underworld on-site by their psychic trainers. www.facebook.com/themysticmark www.twitter.com/mystic_mark

You realise that if we as a species don’t look after our

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