The Skinny November 2017 by The Skinny

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November 2017 Scotland Issue 146

KILLER MIKE and EL-P on people, politics and powerful moments

P.31 Dead Women Walking

Photo: Dan Medhurst

P.22 Thelma

Illustration: Jacky Sheridan

P.10 Run The Jewels

P.63 Hilary Grant

November 2017 I N DEPEN DENT

CULTU R AL

JOU R NALI S M

Issue 146, November 2017 ÂŠ Radge Media Ltd. Get in touch: E: hello@theskinny.co.uk T: 0131 467 4630 P: The Skinny, 1.9 1st Floor Tower, Techcube, Summerhall, 1 Summerhall Pl, Edinburgh, EH9 1PL The Skinny is Scotland's largest independent entertainment & listings magazine, and offers a wide range of advertising packages and affordable ways to promote your business. Get in touch to find out more.

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Contents

Editorial Editor-in-Chief Art Editor Books Editor Clubs Editor Comedy Editor Events Editor Film & DVD Editor Food Editor Intersections Editor Music Editor Theatre Editor Travel Editor

Rosamund West Adam Benmakhlouf Alan Bett Claire Francis Ben Venables Kate Pasola Jamie Dunn Peter Simpson Kate Pasola Tallah Brash Amy Taylor Paul Mitchell

Production Production Manager Designer

Sarah Donley Kyle McPartlin

Sales Sales Manager Sales Executives

Sandy Park George Sully Keith Allan

Online Digital Editor Online Journalist Web Developer

Peter Simpson Jamie Dunn Stuart Spencer

Bookkeeping & Accounts Publisher

Rebecca Sweeney Sophie Kyle

THE SKINNY

Contents 06 Chat & Opinion: It’s a DOUBLE Spot the

Difference this month as we bid farewell to a pair of team members by comparing them to a couple of their favourite celebrities. Crystal Baws predicts a gruesome future for the penultimate time ( ); Online Only tells you what’s on the website; What Are You Having for Lunch? interviews a member of the public about their eating habits, and we present the results of our first Instagram reader poll.

08 Heads Up: Your day by day guide to a culturally fulfilled life.

LIFESTYLE

30 Intersections: We look at the posthu-

mous appropriation of women’s likenesses in the wake of Theresa May’s Kahlo bracelet weirdness. Plus a look at musical theatre as a powerful force for social narrative.

Showcase: GSA graduate Anna Wachsmuth shares some images of Reise Nach Jerusalem, her subtle and meditative degree show.

Travel: In the latest installment of our guides to life anywhere but here, we look at how to move to Copenhagen – and there’s no mention of hygge

Food & Drink: Our food editor learnt how to make kombucha and now he’s mad for fermentation. We also share the month’s best foodie events and new openings.

FEATURES

Run the Jewels aka hip-hop’s greatest tag team aka Killer Mike and El-P share some thoughts ahead of their UK tour. Plus a look at the resurgence of the rap battle.

Spinning Coin’s Jack Mellin discusses the unique musical culture of Glasgow ahead of their debut Permo.

Celebrated singer-songwriter Karine Polwart introduces her new album A Pocket of Wind Resistance.

Artist, writer and programmer Camara Taylor discusses representation in Glasgow’s cultural scene ahead of their exhibition at Many Studios this month.

French Film Festival returns – here are some of our programme highlights. As Winter, the second part of his critically panned new series is released, one writer offers a reappraisal of Karl Ove Knausgård.

Visionary programmers Arika offer up another festival that challenges and provokes. We meet writer Samuel R. Delany to discuss rights, society and the shifting sands of public opinion. Bass maestro Thundercat, aka Stephen Bruner, addresses the difficult topic of finding humour in racial tension ahead of a string of UK dates.

We talk to Thelma director Joachim Trier and star Eili Harboe about the new Norwegian thriller.

New York filmmaker Eliza Hittman introduces sophomore feature Beach Rats, an evocative tale of a Brooklyn teen's struggle with his sexuality.

James Holden has formed a band to present his third album exploring Moroccan Gnawa music.

Previously undiscovered San Quentin prison poet Ed ‘Foots’ Lipman is being published by a Scottish poetry fan – here’s why.

One half of the Safdie brothers, Benny Safdie, explains why he cast Robert Pattinson in new indie crime drama Good Times.

November 2017

REVIEW

Music: The Lafontaines share a few of their most influential records, Jonnie Common discusses making music from buildings, and BDY_PRTS introduce their debut Fly Invisible Hero. We also offer a rundown of the month’s live highlights, and a selection of the finest albums to drop in November.

Clubs: Edinburgh’s Dave House aka The Reverse Engineer on debut Elusive Geometry, plus IRL highlights in Glasgow, Edinburgh and, surprisingly, Perth.

Books: Poetry news and a few of the month’s literary releases.

Art: Exhibitions to leave your house for in November, with reviews of Sue Tompkins at the Modern Institute and a survey of Macedonian art in Summerhall.

50 Film & DVD: Head to the cinema to catch The Killing of a Sacred Deer, Thelma or Good Time this month. Or stay home and watch The Voice of the Moon or Sorcerer.

Theatre: Chrysalis Festival returns with another array of Youth Theatre Arts, and we present our highlights from the bimonthly CCA programme.

Comedy: Our Comedy editor offers an obituary for the prematurely departed Sean Hughes.

Competitions: Win things.

Listings: What’s on every day everywhere it’s worth going to.

LAST WORD

63 Local Heroes: This month our resident

design expert offers an overview of the wealth of talented knit and weave textile designers in Scotland.

Contents

Editorial

nce again stuck for inspiration to kick off my editorial, I ask the room for help. Here is a selection of their typically helpful suggestions, presented without comment. “Why don’t you construct it entirely from Carrie Bradshaw quotes? ‘Being editor-in-chief of The Skinny got me thinking…’ or ‘And I couldn’t help but wonder, are all Ed Sheeran songs the worst?’” “What happens in November? Bonfire night! Remember, remember, it’s November.” “If you want the cheapest, most cliché way to go into an editorial you could say ‘It’s a year since Trump was elected’.” So anyway, on the cover this month you will find Jeremy Corbyn faves Run the Jewels, interviewed all the way back in June all the way away in Barcelona. The recording was so precious it was backed up five times across several different devices to make sure it would survive to transcription and publishing. Killer Mike and El-P discuss advocacy and alliance, while emphasising the importance of keeping the personal in artistry. “I feel it’s just as important to talk about my dick as it is to talk about police brutality,” says El-P. In other Music news we meet Glasgow’s Spinning Coin, launching debut album Permo which takes its name from Limmy’s permanent trip chat. Karine Polwart introduces A Pocket of Wind Resistance, the album companion to her Edinburgh Festival show; Thundercat aka Stephen Bruner discusses our utopian dystopian present and latest album Drunk, while producer James Holden explains why he’s formed a band for new Moroccan Gnawa-influenced album The Animal Spirits. Jonnie Common explains how he has made music based on the sounds of The McManus Gallery up in Dundee, while BDY_PRTS introduce their long-awaited debut album. In Film, we meet Joachim Trier, the Norwegian director who this month releases Thelma, a psychological thriller about a teen with telekinetic abilities. Eliza Hittman introduces Beach Rats, her second film which explores a Brooklyn teen’s struggles with his sexuality, and fellow New Yorker

Benny Safdie talks about casting Robert Pattinson in his latest, Good Time. In Art, we talk to Camara Taylor ahead of their new Many exhibition, talking about the importance of diverse representation in the Scottish cultural sphere. Arika are returning once again with another challenging programme of provocations – we meet American sci-fi author Samuel R. Delany to talk race, radicalism and the rise of the right wing. In the Showcase, stand-out GSA graduate Anna Wachsmuth presents her degree show work Reise Nach Jerusalem, a considered meditation on nationhood, alienation and complicity. It’s a bittersweet moment in Books this month as section editor Alan takes a bow in his last month in post. His last hurrah sees him offer up a re-assessment of Knausgård’s widely panned new series, and a celebration of a previously unknown American prison poet Ed ‘Foots’ Lipman. Head to the website to read Alan’s extended interview with Jarett Kobek discussing Trump, Twitter and his new novel The Future Won’t Be Long. In Travel, we continue our bid to provide you with the tools to run away to pastures new with a guide to setting up life in Copenhagen. Don’t be put off by word of Danish sounding like it’s spoken through a potato. Theatre looks forward to this year’s Chrysalis festival of youth theatre, while Comedy bids a fond farewell to Sean Hughes. Our Scottish design series continues with a focus on weave and knitwear, an area where Scotland excels (but we don’t really like to mention it – leave it to the fashion houses of London and Paris to celebrate our output). Turn to the inside back for a display of rare beauty and skill. Finally, it is my sad duty to bid farewell to both Alan and events editor Kate, who’s leaving the office (but keeping on the Intersections editor role) on a jaunt around the world to, like, smash the patriarchy or something. Bye guys, we will all miss you terribly. You can see our goodbye Spot the Difference to the pair of them on this spread. [Rosamund West]

Spot the Difference

DOPPLEBÄNGERZ Look above. We know what you’re thinking – both Morrissey and Terry Christian have let themselves go. But hang on – that isn’t in fact two snaps of Stewart Lee, but these two people do intersect in interesting ways, the pair of absolute deviants. Now look below, at a pair of ark-raiders, Last Crusaders, people who both believe that things belong in a museum.

But only one has undertaken the greatest of challenges: read from the scroll of erotic monochrome rumpy pumpy (aka reciting a chapter from 50 Shades of Grey live on stage) If you can spot the differences in either of the sets of pictures, you could be in with a chance of winning a copy of Guantánamo Diary by Mohamedou Ould Slahi from our fellow adventurers Canongate.

Competition closes midnight Sun 24 Nov. The winner will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Our full Ts&Cs can be found at theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

Win tickets to Duke Special in Glasgow! S

eamus Heaney once described his friend, poet Michael Longley, as "a keeper of the artistic estate, a custodian of griefs and wonders". On this very special tour, Duke Special will be performing songs and music based on the poetry of the influential and renowned Belfast writer. Longley’s poems are full of gentleness, honesty, mischief and love and are peppered with a cast of artists, animals, flowers, friends and long-forgotten soldiers. As ever, Duke Special is mining a new seam of inspiration, hunting for treasures and what it means to be a human being. He plays Glasgow's Oran Mor on Friday 24

Nov, and we have two pairs of tickets to give away. To be in with a chance of winning, simply answer the following question: Where is the poet Michael Longley from? A) Edinburgh B) Belfast C) London Competition closes midnight Mon 20 Nov. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Our Ts&Cs can be found at theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

By Jock Mooney 6

Chat

THE SKINNY

Shot of the Month

Crystal Baws

Sleaford Mods, Liquid Rooms, 6 Oct, by Ian Schofield

ARIES You don’t understand why they need to use microscopes down the fertility clinic, you’ve been injecting your spunk into eggs for years without the need for any magnification. TAURUS You incorporate your new business strategy of Power Laughing at work to great effect. Everyone is silent when you Power Laugh in meetings, you can feel a mixture of respect and admiration for your enormous booming business laughter. GEMINI Although you’ve occasionally had to put up with voices in your head, this month you begin to hear voices in your arse. CANCER Your MP replies to your letter thanking you for your suggestion but they point out that the difficulties facing the NHS can’t be solved by simply building a giant super hospital where the doctors are robots, the beds are on conveyor belts and giant lasers zap all the diseases away or something.

COVER ARTIST

his month’s cover is by Adam Menzies, an illustrator from Bradford currently residing and studying a masters in Manchester. He often utilises bold colour palettes in his work, coupled with lots of crazy pattern. He also dabbles in comics, one of which you can see here. An example of his repeat pattern work can be seen on the cover, but mainly he creates one-off pieces for a range of different clients, from editorial pieces about glam-rock stars’ imaginary tombstones to logo designs for breweries. His subject matter and influences currently tend to be about the everyday, finding humour in mundane situations.

LEO Like the lion, you are unable to get that extension on your overdraft you so sorely need. VIRGO This month you invent a time machine business with the intent of flytipping all our rubbish and carbon emissions into the past, finally solving all of our problems for good.

With Mystic Mark LIBRA Sticking an ice pop up your bum is a simple and tasty way to relieve the relentless itchy, burning sensation of haemorrhoids. SCORPIO Buying all your food at Farmfoods over the last few years has thrown you into an illustrious category of species that can survive a nuclear holocaust. What disease can hope to win in a battle against a foe who consumed nothing but ‘cheese flavoured food slices’? SAGITTARIUS Try not to panic this month when you’re abducted by aliens, that’s just them taking you to the vet. No amount of scratching at the walls will change the fact you’re going to Venus to have your balls removed. CAPRICORN You drink so much it’s unclear whether it’s pregnancy or a beer belly. You’ll know in time I suppose. AQUARIUS This month after a bout of religious guilt you decide to undo all your wanks. Fortunately, the action of putting them back in is precisely the same. PISCES Your white blood cells locate another Jesus deep in your lymphatic system, sneaking around in a duct masquerading as nutrients. Like a Roman legion your trusty white blood cells corner him on his way to the brain, surrounding him until he is safely dissolved. twitter.com/themysticmark

cargocollective.com/AdamMenziesIllustration

facebook.com/themysticmark

Online Only Ibeyi on second album Ash French-Cuban sister duo Ibeyi tell us about taking on the world with new album Ash, and the importance of sharing their stories as women of colour

Living in Pune The second city of the Indian state of Maharashtra, Pune offers a blend of historical curiosity, collegiate hedonism and natural beauty

“We had a lot to say before this album and I guess we had to present ourselves first before talking about the world we live in,” says Naomi Díaz. “That’s why we didn’t have the chance to talk about the subjects that were anchored in ourselves for a long time, but now that we got to do our first album and make the homage we wanted to for our family, we could,” adds Lisa-Kaindé.

Pune is a sprawling, jungle city of five million, affectionately known in Asia as the Oxford of the East, and as basecamp for an adventurous foreigner it provides vivid images of India both historic and contemporary. Every weekend is an introduction to a new neighborhood, each one a unique microcosm that developed independently of any sort of city ordinance or planning. The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Ibeyi

November 2017

Photo: David Uzochukwu

Yorgos Lanthimos on The Killing of a Sacred Deer Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, Dogtooth) discusses his dark new film and his singular approach to movie-making

Read the full guide at theskinny.co.uk/travel

“As weird as the gentrification of the 80s and 90s and even the first decade of the 21st century was, and people really got screwed in that, it was more of an organic process.” Kobek suggests. “But the gentrification in San Francisco was like terraforming, it was this complete and massive transformation of the city at a rate that I don’t think has actually happened anywhere else in the world.” Read the full interview at theskinny.co.uk/books

Is Sex Education best left to Comedians? Sex and comedy have a long history, and Netflix's Big Mouth shows what comedians can do with a difficult subject

“Uncertainty gives a quality to a performance compared to an actor who is very certain of background, and who the character is.” For Lanthimos, this is because it is truer to life not to know why sometimes a person behaves the way they do. “Take now, for instance, I don’t know why I am moving my hands like this,” he says as he gestures frantically with his hand.

With its absurd and bizarre plots, it is easy to question Big Mouth's realism or commitment to treating puberty with respect. After all, its teenagers seek advice from the ghost of Duke Ellington and actual monsters before asking parents or teachers.

Read the full interview at theskinny.co.uk/film

Read the full piece at theskinny.co.uk/comedy

Human Pyramids

Photo: John Lynch

Read the full interview at theskinny.co.uk/music

Jarett Kobek: Trump, Twitter & Club Kid Carnage Jarett Kobek is on fascinating and inflammatory form discussing his new novel The Future Won’t Be Long

Human Pyramids: Under the Influence Paul Russell (Axes) shares the artists and albums that influenced his eclectic new album Home, out this month. Read his playlist at theskinny.co.uk/music/playlists

Find more at theskinny.co.uk

Opinion

Compiled by: Kate Pasola

As the dark Scottish nights draw in we take a gander at November's sparkling cultural offerings...

Wed 1 Nov

Thu 2 Nov

It's only right that we kick off the dark ol' month of November with a little cosy ritual, and what's more cosy and ritualistic than a MOTHERFRICKIN' FIRE FESTIVAL? Samhuinn returns today, celebrating the Celtic New Year with all kinds of pyrotechnics, acrobatics, drumming (and a whole loada body paint, in all likelihood) to the streets of Edinburgh. Royal Mile, Edinburgh, 9-11pm, free

How does a trip to Edinburgh's first dedicated zine library suit you? Taking place at Edinburgh Central Library's Art and Design branch, the event 'aims to increase access to zines, encourage zine making and further legitimise zines as a form of personal and social history'. Among literary offerings, there'll be workshops, zine swaps, chit-chats and a heck of a loada free cake. Edinburgh Central Library, Edinburgh, drop in between 4-7.30pm, free

Don't miss the UK premiere of T-Junction this evening, a poignant tale about a friendship sparked between two women in a hospital queue. The movie won the European African Film Festivals Award at the Zanzibar International Film Festival this summer and was chosen by curator Alysha Somani as part of the Reviving Scotland’s Black History programme at Africa in Motion. Get involved. Screening Room G.04, 50 George Square, Edinburgh, 7pm, free

Edinburgh Zine Library

Tue 7 Nov

Wed 8 Nov

Teenage Nottingham trio Kagoule specialise in melodic post-punk which manages to sound both like a throwback to scrunched-up 90sand a throw-forwards into new realms of indie-rock. They're playing Broadcast tonight, bringing in Skinny faves Catholic Action to fill a guest slot with their own psychedelic twists and turns. It's going to be a stunner of a gig. Broadcast, Glasgow, 7pm, £6

Filmosophy have a knack of picking out films that, once the final credits have rolled, scream for a postscreening chinwag. They strike again this month with a showing of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, starring Kate Winslet as the original anti-manic-pixie-dreamgirl. It'll be followed by an accessible and informal post-screening discussion hosted by James Mooney, a lecturer in film and philosophy – the perfect opportunity to share your two cents. Filmhouse, Edinburgh, 6pm, £6.50-10

Kagoule

Mon 13 Nov

Tue 14 Nov

Anders Lustgarten's Lampedusa, a play interrogating our apathy to migrants' drowning in the Mediterranean sea, sold out its Soho Theatre run and was met with hearty acclaim. It's heading up to Glasgow's Citizens Theatre this month – book early if you want to catch it. What's more on 10 Nov you can catch a post-show discussion from the playwright, along with a panel of researchers and activists. Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, 8-18 Nov, 7.30pm (matinees available), £10-16.50

If there's one gig you have to catch this month it's Thundercat. The bass extraordinaire's songs slap so hard you'll be left bruised. We reviewed the fella back in March (five stars, obviously), and described the affair as an "immersive eyes-lockedon-the-stage-but-feetdefinitely-moving type of show". Sounds like a blazer. O2 ABC, Glasgow, 7pm, £23

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Thu 9 Nov More filmic fun tonight at the Havana Glasgow Film Festival, which takes place between 9-12 Nov in venues across the city including CCA, GFT and GSA. While the festival exists to highlight the similarities between Havana and Glasgow, the screenings and events are also an opportunity for Scotland-dwellers to catch rare Cuban cinema screenings. What's more there's a madwicked events programme of rum-drenched dance nights and foodie happenings. Venues across Glasgow, 9-12 Nov, ticket prices vary

Thundercat

Lampedusa

Mon 20 Nov

Groundshakingly important arts festival Arika returns this month with Episode 9: Other Worlds Already Exist, another series of cross-platform performance, art and incisive sociopolitical interrogation. This episode takes on a theme of science fiction and fantasy, using the works of Samuel R. Delany (aka Chip), a sci-fi literary experimenter (not to mention sex-radical writer, social commentator, critic and pornographer) to build ideas of new worlds. We're BUZZED. Kinning Park Complex & Tramway, Glasgow, 16-19 Nov, times vary, £PWYC (suggested daily donation of £5)

It's a freakin' massive line-up at the O2 tonight. Not only is chill-hop artist Bryson Tiller swinging by for a set (FFO PARTYNEXTDOOR and Frank Ocean), he's landed a gold-standard support from the champ that is SZA. She's nominated for a MOBO and her sophomore album Ctrl is an addictive, melodic, authentically heartfelt R'n'B treat. You're gonna wanna get there on time – nobody turns up late for SZA. O2 Academy, Glasgow, 7pm, £27.50

Shogun

Samuel R. Delany

Photo: Bryony MacIntyre

Sun 19 Nov

Part two of Strange Behaviours – the boutique winter party that's certainly worth a jaunt up to Stirling – takes place today, boasting an eclectic lineup featuring the literally glittering Pictish Trail (who will croon you into a state of joyous reverie), along with the entirely supreme Shogun, a Paisley MC you'll kick yourself for missing. There's loads more going on besides, so have a little Google and get yourself some tickets. The Tolbooth, Stirling, 7.30pm, £10-12

Photo: Jonathon Marshall

Sat 18 Nov

SZA

Fri 24 Nov

Sat 25 Nov

Sun 26 Nov

Multi-taskers that they are, the good folk at Creative Edinburgh celebrate both their birthday and the annual Creative Edinburgh Awards tonight in a big ol' shindig at CodeBase. If you're keen to keep your finger on the drumming pulse of the city's cultural scene (or if you want to be in attendance at what'll be a mighty fun knees-up (or both)) grab yourself a ticket and get your gladrags ready. CodeBase, Edinburgh, 6pm, £7-10

Mischief La-Bas are back to making mayhem, this time with Nursery Crymes, a dark promenade performance which enlists artists Liz Aggiss, Fiona Robertson, Dav Bernard, Glas(s) Performance and Junction 25 to question ideas of morality and authority rooted in the stories we tell children. Meet at Avant Garde, King Street, Glasgow, 24 & 25 Nov, start times staggered between 6pm and 8.40pm (experience lasts approx 90 mins), £10-12

Today, take a gander at a new group show from Sarah Rose, Susannah Stark, Hanna Tuulikki entitled Lilt, Twang, Tremor, which examines "the politics and production of voice", questioning how vocals affect our environment. The three artists work within a wide range of practices and research styles, inevitably bringing a diverse and expansive exploration of the topic to the CCA. CCA, Glasgow, 18 Nov-14 Jan, times vary, freeLilt, Twang, Tremor cca

Chat

T-Junction

Creative Edinburgh

Nursery Crymes

Sarah Rose, The Printer's Devil, We'll Smell Sweet

THE SKINNY

Photo: Eddie Alcazar

Heads Up

Tue 31 Oct

Sat 4 Nov

Sun 5 Nov

Mon 6 Nov

At long last, this month SWG3 hosts Scotland's First Waacking and Vogue Festival. Though voguing's found a place in the mainstream, the frenetic, angular style that is waacking (which also originated in the queer community) isn't traditionally a feature of ballroom culture. This festival, brought together by Northern City Waackers celebrates the differences between these styles with a No Shade Ball, workshops, discussions, screenings and Shoot Your Shot / Dive afterparty. 3-5 Nov, times and prices vary, (see noshadefestival.jimdo.com)

Halloween might be distant history (it is basically fireworks night, after all), but that doesn't mean you can't still get your gnashers around some spookiness and gore. Popcorn Horror's Glasgow Horror Festival hits the city this afternoon, bringing a two-day feast of fear to The Classic Grand. There'll be everything from your usual screenings to live macabre shows, horror panels, merch markets, quizzes and games galore. The Classic Grand, Glasgow, 4-5 Nov, £20-35

Remember, remember, blah blah blah. More to the point, tonight Nice 'n' Sleazy plays host to Japanese Breakfast (the solo moniker of Philly solo musician Michelle Zauner) tonight and you should definitely, most certainly go. She knows her way around a damn fine melody her most recent album Soft Sounds from Another Planet is a happy-sad triumph. It'll be a set as shimmery and magical as any firework-filled night sky. Nice 'n' Sleazy, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £8.50

Filmhouse's clever new idea to have some of Scotland's shiniest stars programme film seasons, (entitled House Guest) continues this month. After enlisting Ian Rankin in the summer, they're bringing in pop titans Young Fathers to pick some flicks – and the lads haven't disappointed. There's everything from animated films to (Mamoru Hosoda's Wolf Children) to documentaries (Raoul Peck's I Am Not Your Negro); today catch Peter Watkins' 60s snapshot Privilege, deemed by YF as "one of the most honest films about pop music.” Filmhouse, Edinburgh, 6.15pm, £tbc

Waacking and Vogue Festival

Glasgow Horror Festival

Japanese Breakfast

Sat 11 Nov

Sun 12 Nov

Dundee's digital arts festival NEoN also makes a welcome return this month. They set up camp for their eighth annual edition between 7-12 Nov, bringing exhibitions, workshops, talks, conferences, live performances and public discussions on a brand new theme for 2017: Media Archaeology. Intrigued? Go let NEoN do the talking. Venues across Dundee, dates, times and prices vary, see northeastofnorth.com for more info

It's Glasgow's turn to blow your mind with innovative art today. Make your way over to the Artists’ Moving Image Festival 2017 (or AMIF, if you're short on time), which features a pick'n'mix of screenings, readings and workshops on a range of scintillating subject matters (seriously, there's everything from emotional labour to authenticity and authorship; interracial relationships to polyamory). Contributors include Mia Edelgart, Deirdre Humphrys, Alberta Whittle and Fiona Jardine. Tramway, Glasgow, times vary, £5-10

Electronic duo Sylvan Esso are masters of glittery synth, danceable drops and imaginationcapturing lyrics. On their delectable new record What Now, a follow-up to their acclaimed self-titled debut, Amelia Meath's distinctive vocals are paired with slowly building sweetie-shop soundscapes and unapologetic thumping beats. It'll make for a heck of a live show, so don't miss it. SWG3, Glasgow, 7pm, £15

NEoN

Mouse Outfit

Wed 15 Nov

Credit: Ele Carpenter

Fri 10 Nov

Artists' Moving Image Festival 2017

Thu 16 Nov

Fri 17 Nov

The Scottish public seems to hold Word Power Books close to its heart. Earlier this year it announced its closure after multiple decades in the radical literature business, before very quickly reincarnating into Lighthouse Books just one month later. The shop's beloved annual Independent & Radical Book Fair survived the transition and returns to the Roxy this month to do its usual business of platforming progressive publishers and exposing readers to new and diverse voices and subjects. Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh, 16-19 Nov, 11am, prices vary

Youth Theatre Arts Scotland reprises Chrysalis –a threeday showcase of performance for young theatremakers – at the Trav this weekend, featuring four original pieces entitled There is a Light: Brightlight, How to Save the World...ish, Dark Mechanics and Queer Fish. There'll also be a variety of workshops, events and postshow discussions for YTAS members, festival participants and the general public. Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 17-19 Nov, times and prices vary (see traverse.co.uk)

Illustration: George Morton

Dundee's jazz scene gets lit this week for the annual Dundee Jazz Festival, this year taking place between 15-19 Nov. Today, the fest kicks off with The Average White Band lead singer Hamish Stuart at The Gardyne Theatre (7.30pm, £18), but we're also stoked for a night of horns, funk breaks and mad lyricism from Dr Syntaxfronted collective The Mouse Outfit on 17 Nov (Reading Rooms, Dundee, 8pm, £12.50)

Photo: Ebru Yildiz

Fri 3 Nov

Privilege

Sylvan Esso

Chrysalis

Tue 21 Nov

Wed 22 Nov

Thu 23 Nov

Feminist punk protesters Pussy Riot are badder than you. Some of them were even incarcerated for their dedication to protecting human rights. Still unsatisfied, members Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina created an organisation to protect the rights of prisoners – the latter going on to win peace prizes and grants for her work. Oh, they're also fierce as fuck musicians, too. Go and witness their historic Riot Days tour. Seriously. Oran Mor, Glasgow, 7pm, £15

Bit of piano virtuosity for you tonight? Why not, eh. Will Dutta's out to re-imagine your average piano recital, meaning his performance of new record bloom at the CCA is likely to be quite the experience. The record itself knits together Dutta's own talents with the input of electronic pros Plaid, Max de Wardener and Manuel Poletti, and he's got plans to make the live show an aesthetic, luminous treat. Score. CCA, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £10-14

In light of the entire world crumbling at the hands of tyrants, the word 'revolution' is bandied around quite often these days, isn't it? But Edinburgh Craft Beer Revolution is calling for slightly more modest change. They just want to introduce people to lovely craft beer and the art of microbrewing, okay? So head along to their festival at the Roxy, there'll be exclusive beers, street food, DJs and live tunes. Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh, 23-25 Nov, times vary, £6-14

Mon 27 Nov

Tue 29 Nov

Need a great coping method for the fact that your 'evenings' now begin at 4pm, and will continue to do so until next spring? Just take advantage of all the cosy opportunities to wind down in the evenings with a decent book! Luckily for you, Book Week Scotland kicks off today until 3 Dec with a tonne of talks, workshops and readings for your wordy delectation. Failing that, Ryanair probably have another sale on? See Scottishbooktrust.com for the full programme

Edgy arts programmers Buzzcut make an eagerly-awaited comeback this month, sticking around until Apr 2018 with more monthly multi-platform experimentation accompanied by BSL interpretations. This month's edition features choreographic artist Marikiscrycrycry with $elfie$, Aniela Piasecka' Freestyle Baby and more. CCA, Glasgow, 7pm, £7-9, a number of tickets free to those living in Govan. Over in Dundee, dose up on electro-pop from futuristic duo Bdy_Prts. Beat Generator Live!, Dundee, 7.30pm, £6

November 2017

Redoubtable

Tue 28 Nov

Fiona Gibson

This year marks the 25th year of the French Film Festival, in which indie cinemas across the UK dish out the tastiest French cinema. This year's fest takes place between 2 Nov-17 Dec, and you can see the full programme at frenchfilmfestival.org.uk. Our Film Editor recommends Laurent Cantet's The Workshop (or L'atelier), a portrait of French youth and their political and racial concerns, set in a summer school literary workshop (GFT, Glasgow, 11 Nov, 1.10pm & Edinburgh Filmhouse, 17 Nov, 3.45pm & 8.40pm, ticket prices vary).

Edinburgh Craft Beer Revolution

Will Dutta

BDY_PRTS

Moonlight

Wed 30 Nov Photo: Kate Johnston

Pussy Riot

Transmission's Black Radical Imagination-curated exhibition baby boy takes the John Singleton film of the same name, along with Barry Jenkins' Moonlight as 'cinematic book-ends' for a body of work which unites what is considered two golden ages in black cinema to investigate black malehood and queer inclusivity. Transmission, Glasgow, 11 Nov-16 Dec (Tues-Sat), 11am-5pm, free

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The Running Men With their third album soundtracking the highs and lows of 2017, we talk to hip-hop’s greatest tag team, Killer Mike and El-P – Run The Jewels

he ascent of Run The Jewels – Atlanta rapper Michael Render, aka Killer Mike, and New York producer and rapper Jaime Meline, aka El-P – has been apparently unstoppable, but it has to be said that it’s been somewhat unexpected. A fusion of two of hip-hop’s most independent voices, mixing grimy beats with foul-mouthed one-liners and furious polemics, doesn’t necessarily sound like the kind of thing that soundtracks multi-million dollar franchises or tops festival bills. Then again, if the last few years have taught us one thing, it’s not to second-guess. When we catch up with Run The Jewels in Barcelona, it’s just hours before their primetime slot on one of Primavera Sound’s enormous main stages to a crowd of thousands. They’re bringing a new album that’s equal parts fiery bravado and angry, challenging social commentary to a huge audience, but it’s an opportunity that the duo relish. “People respond to powerful moments,” says Meline, “whether they be fun or hilarious or emotional. “Seeing stuff that I’ve seen my friend cry [while] writing, and he’s on stage and he’s having this moment and there are 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 people in front of him and he’s successfully conveying that power and I’m able to do the same, that’s important. We would be cheating ourselves if we... just stuck to the bangers when we played the shows, cause we’re bigger than that in the scope of what we do.” Render agrees, offering one of the duo’s customary nods to the other, saying that “it helps when you’ve got the greatest producer-rapper in the world in your group. “It feels good to win people over,” Render adds, “it feels good to walk away and know you’ve made an impact and made those fans stay. That’s how I discovered A Tribe Called Quest; I wasn’t looking for A Tribe Called Quest, I was fucking cutting school going to a Kris Kross concert.” That’s how Killer Mike discovered A Tribe Called Quest? Everyone around the table, El-P included, has a look around. “No no no no no,” explains Render, correcting himself and saving the street cred of hip-hop’s hottest duo, “that’s how I discovered them live... they put on the show of all shows and I went to every Tribe show after that because I saw it live, versus just liking it out of my tape player.” That ‘show of all shows’ bombast is something that the duo carry into their own live offering, with both 42-year-olds breaking down stages like the dad-bod leviathans that they are. While the bodies may not be the most youthful, Render and Meline’s wits are razor-sharp after more than a decade of honing their craft. The events of this decade may have sparked a new wave of political engagement, but Render has been involved in political activism since his career began back in the 2000s. He threw his support behind Bernie Sanders’ presidential bid, and endorsed Jeremy Corbyn on-stage at Field Day in London earlier this year (JC would go on to repay the favour, introducing the group on Glastonbury’s Pyramid Stage later in the summer). Given the iconic nature of the Run The Jewels project – the duo will appear on-stage shortly after our chat flanked by two enormous hands in their trademark fist and gun emblem – Render expresses a somewhat understandable desire not to become bigger than the issue. “As someone who raps about shit that concerns me,” he says. “I want to get people turned on to the issue. You don’t want to become the leader of a cult of personality. I just want us to keep doing dope records first of all and to be important because we make dope music. “As far as our political importance, whatever

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that means, that’s not as heavy on me in terms of ‘Is Run The Jewels [important]?’, because in my personal life, I’m never going to stop aggravating the shit out of politicians locally. I’m never going to stop advocating for things I believe in. I’m never going to stop being an ally to people.” Meline echoes his bandmate, positioning RTJ as socially conscious rather than politically driven: “When we come together as Run The Jewels, we find common ground in terms of empathy and heart and anger... but we’ve got too many perspectives that are rooted in humour and love and fun for us to ever become that archetypal ‘political rap group’. It’s just not what we do.” That’s a fair point. This is the band who successfully crowdfunded a remix LP on which every sample and instrument was replaced with the sound of cats meowing. Their vocals are packed to the brim with some fantastically inventive swearing, and the beats on the duo’s records could start a moshpit in an empty phonebox. At one point during their Primavera set, the power cuts out momentarily, leading to an impromptu dance-off with body-popping, some mild mime, and what can only be described as an ‘attempt’ at classic b-boy move The Worm. Meline sums up his credo like so: “I feel it’s just as important to talk about my dick as it is to talk about police brutality,” he says jokingly, “just, in the form of a song. Certainly it is not as important in the world, but as an artist we encourage both.” It’s a fine line they tread between the puerile and the powerful, and they appreciate their spot on the tightrope. Meline says: “I think what makes us special is that we are not any one thing; we can get away with making a really crude joke and saying something pretty serious, and no-one is

going to disqualify us for one or the other, and that’s a rarefied air to be breathing. That’s not something that everyone gets; you either get pigeonholed into one thing or another.” Still, in a time when it seems that both natural and man-made tragedies are becoming weekly occurrences, it’s no surprise that there’s an appetite for work that tackles tough issues head-on while still offering some humour and edge. While the duo’s third album may take on topics like police brutality, aggressive gentrification and political disaffection, Meline is keen to point out that the pair “are not mining the news for material”.

“ I feel it’s just as important to talk about my dick as it is to talk about police brutality” Jaime Meline

When it comes to the impossible-to-ignore topic of the President, Meline states: “Trump did not need to exist for our records to exist. As we’ve said to other people, Trump did not invent tyranny or injustice, or the imbalance of power, or the manipulation of people – he’s certainly gunning for the number one spot, but he did not invent it and after him it won’t be the end of it either.” There is a hopeful defiance that underpins

Run The Jewels 3, a record that presents a potential path through the gloom, a blend of education and provocation designed to spark debate and stir up otherwise latent energy. In discussing the spread of nationalism and fear across the globe, Render sparks up a direct call for compassion. “You’re Scottish,” Render tells The Skinny, “because when you were born, someone said you were Scottish. They taught you the traditions of Scotland and what made it great, you were taught who your enemies were, you were told to go out into the world and make Scotland proud.” Meline chips in: “You were given an accent…” “There was a time where there was no such fucking country as Scotland,” continues Render. “There was no United Kingdom, there was no United States, and we were all just humans struggling to get out of a hut or a cave or wherever the fuck we were and not be eaten by something. “On a very primal level we have to understand again that we are [all] human beings... because if aliens came down to this motherfucker today they would kill us all,” he says, swinging his arms as if to clear the board of humanity. “Because to them, we’re all just human beings.” In the meantime, Run The Jewels’ star continues to ascend. They’re off on an American arena tour with Lorde next year, and their spot at the head of the FIFA 18 soundtrack means that football fans everywhere are tinkering with their line-ups to the sound of hard-nosed rhymes and bombastic hip-hop beats. And if those aliens do come, humanity could do a lot worse than send a pair of foul-mouthed, socially conscious, hard-dancing hip-hop heavyweights to handle negotiations. Run The Jewels play O2 Academy, Glasgow, 16 Nov runthejewels.com

Photo: Dan Medhurst

Interview: Peter Simpson

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THE SKINNY

FE U AT

That’s a Rap

New films from Eminem and the BBC suggest battle rap is back in a big way – we investigate Scotland’s bubbling underground scene Interview: Jonathan Rimmer

attle rap conjures up different images depending on your generation. For those old enough to remember hip-hop’s inception, it means braggadocio, back-and-forth street raps of a competitive nature between skilled emcees. For those young enough to find Epic Rap Battles of History entertaining, it means comical characters trading goofy Dr Seuss-esque rhymes for the sake of parody. But for most people, battle rap is associated with the witty and spontaneous raps depicted by Eminem and his rivals in 8 Mile. The film’s abiding spectacle reflected pitched freestyle battle tournaments that occurred in real life, like those that took place at Cincinnati hip-hop festival Scribble Jam. Rappers are typically given one-minute rounds to attack opponents with creative punchlines, with crowd reaction deciding the winner. Fifteen years later, Eminem is involved with another film about battling, only this time as a coproducer. Bodied, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September, presents a style that has evolved almost beyond recognition. The film, which tells a story of a fictionalised college graduate stepping into the ring, features a host of real life emcees showcasing battling as it is today. Bars are pre-written, memorised and performed without a beat on a stage, sometimes in front of crowds of thousands. It makes sense why Eminem would dip his toes back into the scene given these changes. In the past decade, battle rap has become an underground phenomenon with hundreds of leagues set up around the globe. The UK scene is no different – in fact, the BBC have co-financed a battle rap film of their own, called VS., which is set to drop next year. The timing of these films makes sense: battles on YouTube-hosted channels like URL, Don’t Flop and King of the Dot now regularly reach over a million views. The theatre of it is obviously a draw for many viewers, with rappers playing up to characters with slogans, props, stunts and memeworthy antics. But Tom Kwei, who runs the UK-based Battle Rap Resume podcast, believes the increased emphasis on pre-writing material is also a key reason for its popularity. “It’s a refuge for people who miss good writing in hip-hop,” he says. “The lyricism is now in the battle ring. Battlers are able to flip material, use double entendres and multisyllabic schemes. Competitive writing is a really difficult and impressive skill and the a capella format allows you to focus on that. “Battling used to be a distillation of pure rapping pre-YouTube days, whereas now it’s more of a competitive performance art. The modern era is more self-referential and it’s become more about the parade of personalities. It’s still hip-hop, but it’s centred around the sharpness of the writing and insults. The original characters are what make it compelling.” If there’s one thing Scotland’s own battle scene doesn’t lack, it’s lively characters. The annual Bristo Square street event in Edinburgh on 30 September was particularly representative of the seemingly contradictory nature of Scottish hip-hop (at least to outsiders). On one hand, it was what you’d expect from a street gathering of Scottish hip-hop heads: shouting, swearing and drinking in public. The battlers themselves possess next to no respect for modesty or political correctness, as demonstrated by headline battler Ryza when he yelled graphic (and, of course, entirely invented) descriptions of his opponent’s mum in front of elderly passers-by. But the battlers’ dexterity and level of crea-

November 2017

Illustration: Andrew Denholm tivity wasn’t lost on the gathered crowd. Each rapper comfortably delivered several minutes’ worth of memorised material with the same defined syllabic structures used by American or English counterparts. The only discernible difference was the accent and trademark Scottish emphasis on humour and comic timing. The Glaswegian battlers in particular demonstrated this with pun-based jokes about everything from their opponents’ age to their weight to their rapping style. Popular up-and-comer Acre mocked his opponent MCLean with: “You cross fit, as in you’ve got a list and you cross ‘fit’ off it.” When Bold Yin told his opponent Zebadee “I hope you kick the bucket like a clumsy window washer,” the cheers were almost deafening. Performing in the street is also only one aspect of the culture. Most battlers will tell you the real test is performing on stage in front of hundreds of people for one of the established leagues in the UK or North America. Scottish battlers might lack the profitable accent of their stateside peers, but, unlike with music, they can go far if they get the right push. The best example is Fife’s Soul, who went from battling on internet forums to winning real life titles and battling in front of Drake at the huge Blackout PPV 5 event in Toronto. Renfrewshire’s Mackenzie is another rapper who’s crossed the Atlantic to perform. As head of the Iron Barz league in Glasgow, he understands the various pressures involved in the creative process from pre-writing to memorising to delivering on the day. ‘Choking’ is still a common occurrence in battle rap due to performers being required to remember reams of material.

“ It’s about making people aware of the opponent’s character flaws – that’s what wins” Andrew Mackenzie

But as much as it is now a performance art, the confrontational aspect of battling makes it more brutal than comparative forms like slam poetry. Many leagues have even been affected by YouTube demonising videos with “inflammatory speech”. Mackenzie argues battling is therefore doomed to remain an underground movement as opposed to a mainstream concern. “It’s a really cool and fun subculture to be involved in because of the pantomime element of it for sure,” he says. “But that’s only one part of it. Fans love to see a good, aggressive battle where people are in each other’s faces. It’s that primal kind of thing. I’m not a hostile person in reality, but battle rap is an outlet for me to get that aspect of my personality out. “It’s not just performing. These days it’s about taking angles and breaking down the aspects of someone’s character. It might just be their style and weaknesses or it might be personal. When Caustic battled Jefferson Price on Don’t Flop he exposed that he’d been cheating on his girlfriend. People never heard from Price after that. It’s about making people aware of the opponent’s character flaws – that’s what wins.” Battling might sound intimidating, but more and more young hip-hop heads are giving it a go and entering local leagues and tournaments. For

those who enjoy the light-hearted side of the scene, this month sees the return of the Comedian Rap Battles at The Stand in Glasgow, which pits rappers against comics. If you prefer your battle rap raw and intense, the annual Breaking the Barrier tournament also returns in a few weeks. Pitting eight emcees against each other in a knockout format, the goal is to find the best new battler in Scotland. The winner might not be starring in an Eminem-produced film any time soon, but organiser Craig ‘Cain’ Hain believes the movement has never been stronger. “There are plenty of smaller leagues throughout the UK with potential that seem to be holding

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their ground,” he says. “I think as long as we are fuelling the battle scene and motivating folk who would like to get into it then I don’t see a problem. “Everybody has their own style. Some aim to please the crowd with jokes while others go for a more technical approach. This year alone has seen a major step up in the standard of quality with battlers being more technical, working on their wordplay and focusing on their flow rather than just the notorious mum jokes. How would I describe the scene? Highly entertaining, always!” Comedian Rap Battles take place at The Stand, Glasgow, 8 Nov Breaking the Barrier takes place at Buff Club, Glasgow; for more details go to facebook.com/CrownSound

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Scene and Now Heard As Spinning Coin’s exhilarating debut record finally becomes reality, we catch up with singer and guitarist Jack Mellin to talk origins, politics and the band’s own unique place in the Glasgow’s musical history

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It’s just that we’ve taken our time putting it out.” Even if the band seem baffled by comparisons to Glasgow outfits past, it’s not difficult to understand why they’re being drawn; for a start, some of the songs on Permo were recorded with Edwyn Collins, up at his newly-opened AED studio in Helmsdale – a veritable Highland retreat overlooking the Moray Firth. “We’re signed to Geographic, which is an offshoot of Domino that’s run by Stephen McRobbie of The Pastels. He’s pals with Edwyn, so he suggested that we maybe work with him because he’d just set up this new studio. We did that, and then we also did some work at Green Door in Glasgow, which has always been our favourite place to record. It just seemed like a good idea – like it sounded better – to combine songs from the two different sessions to form the album. We didn’t want to leave the Green Door sessions out of it; we thought maybe those songs would lose something if we re-recorded them.” Their relationship with McRobbie – a man who so much of the Glasgow music scene seems to have revolved around for so long – came about in similarly organic fashion. “Stephen works at Monorail,” explains Mellin, “which is the best record shop in Glasgow, and a bar and a venue that we play at quite a lot. Sean actually works at the bar, and he puts up posters there, as well as around town. He was putting up one of ours in Monorail and got talking to Stephen, because he’d heard our very first tape, which we made and released ourselves through our own label, and we took some into Monorail to sell them. “I guess that’s how he heard it, and then he’d probably seen us play in various other bands that we’d been in, so he might already have known

and wanting to play each other’s songs. There’s nothing that goes further back, really, in terms of influence. It’s not as if any of us grew up on that stuff, so it’s hard to say why we’ve ended up sounding that way.” Key to the band being able to hit the ground running when they first started to write together was how ingrained they each were within their own scene – and how familiar they were with each other’s past musical endeavours. “When I first started working with Sean, I just wanted to play some of his solo songs with him; it was a case of just finding out if he wanted help with them, or something, but he was much more keen that it become a band where he wasn’t the only songwriter. Chris came in, and myself, Sean and Chris, we’re all 30, so we’ve been playing in the same Glasgow scene or whatever for quite a few years at this point. It was much more about wanting to each get involved with what the others had been doing in the past. I think maybe the only thing we talked about was wanting to write ‘proper songs’, to focus the band around songwriting, because some of us had been in groups where it was heavy on improvisation, or just really noisy.” Where so many other UK scenes seem to adopt an ‘every band for themselves’ mentality, Glasgow is revered for having the kind of musical community that nurtures new bands and helps them out as much as possible. “I mean, there’s never any feeling of competitiveness, as far as I can tell,” says Mellin. “Everybody always seems happy when a new band comes along – it’s a good thing. We all work together to put on gigs, and there’s such a wide variety of bands in Glasgow now – it’s a really diverse scene.” Perhaps inevitably, given the climate in 2017, there’s a political tilt to some of Permo’s tracks. “There was never any plan to make this into a political record. Obviously there’s certain tracks, like Money is a Drug, where we can’t deny that they’re political, but that just stems from whatever was on our mind at the time spilling out,” says Mellin. “I’d quite like people to make up their own minds about what the songs [are] about as well. Honestly, me and Sean never think about these things too deeply when we’re making and writing music; it’s much more a case of letting it flow, and that goes for the lyrics, too. It’s a case of singing from the heart, so they’re personal, for sure.” Elsewhere, the band are in a more reflective mood, and on the Mellin-penned Starry Eyed, he wrestles with the awkwardness of wanting to celebrate while surrounded by so much bleakness. “That’s kind of just who we are, too,” he admits. “I think there’s some sort of level of guilt about being able to do this; about being so privileged to just play music with my friends. It’s like I can’t just sing about having a good time, you know? I need to sing about something that I feel is wrong, or something that should be better, or that bothers me, or some injustice.” With Permo finally seeing the light of day, Spinning Coin plan to keep the ball rolling – and the tour van moving – well into 2018. “The plan is just to keep the momentum going as much as possible. Hopefully, there’s going to be some more headline shows, and we’ll try to get to Europe again and maybe even America. We just want to play and do as much as we possibly can, and with a bit of luck, that’ll lead into another album next year. We’ll see!”

each of us very vaguely. Anyway, he approached Sean after hearing the tape – he really liked one of the songs in particular that he wanted to put out as a single – and it went from there. Domino agreed to a second single and now the album as well, so we’ve worked with Stephen quite a bit and he’s been a big help.”

“ I think there’s some sort of level of guilt about being able to do this; about being so privileged to just play music with my friends” Jack Mellin

Mellin acknowledges that the band’s close ties to such iconic figures within their hometown’s music scene is bound to invite people to draw parallels, but ultimately, Spinning Coin’s inspirations are even more self-contained than that. “We’ve not been directly influenced by that stuff, and we never gave too much thought to how we wanted the band to sound; it was more a case of having seen each other play in different bands

Photo: Brian Sweeney

e actually had to go back and listen to some of those bands once people started comparing us to them. We weren’t raised on them.” Like it or not, Spinning Coin are on the verge of joining the pantheon of Glasgow guitar bands. Stylistically, they very much follow in the hallowed footsteps of the likes of The Pastels, Orange Juice and The Vaselines – the guitars flit between noisy and melodic, the vocals are unvarnished, and the songs in general zip along with irresistible fizz and crackle. The five-piece are plucked from all over; singer and guitarist Jack Mellin is a Glasgow native, as is bassist Cal Donnelly, but Sean Armstrong – also on vocals and guitar – is from Rome via the Hebrides, and drummer Chris White hails from Alloa. New keyboardist Rachel Taylor was a transatlantic addition, from Toronto. The band release their eclectic debut LP, Permo, via the Pastels’ Domino imprint, Geographic Music on 10 November, and just wrapped up a tour with fellow jangle-merchants Alvvays in September. The songs themselves have been percolating for some time, but the group were willing to wait until the right moment to put out a full-length. “We had quite a lot of songs quite quickly,” says Mellin over the phone from Glasgow, “so after the first year, we probably already had enough for an album. We ditched a few of the earlier ones after that, wrote a few more new ones that we liked, and then put the first single out. There was talk about putting out a full album with the label we were on (Winning Sperm Party), so we gathered up the songs we enjoyed playing the most and recorded all of them. We didn’t pick which ones were going on the record until afterwards, but even then, we had something ready pretty quickly.

Interview: Joe Goggins

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Permo is released via Geographic / Domino on 10 Nov Spinning Coin play Mono, Glasgow, 17 Nov; Henry’s Cellar Bar, Edinburgh, 18 Nov facebook.com/spinningcoin

THE SKINNY

November 2017

THE SKINNY

Gone With the Wind We speak to singer-songwriter Karine Polwart about her new album A Pocket of Wind Resistance, the companion to her Edinburgh Festival show, Wind Resistance

Photo: Suzanne Heffron

Interview: Harry Harris

he image of the folk singer is often a very solitary one – travelling troubadours with guitars on their backs and notebooks scrawled with ideas and conversations. Popping up in one session, before heading onto the next, constantly on the move. For Karine Polwart, one of the UK’s most highly regarded folk artists and songwriters, the opposite is true. Collaboration has always been key, and nowhere is this more apparent than her new album A Pocket of Wind Resistance, a companion to her Edinburgh Festival show Wind Resistance, and something which took off almost by accident. “I sort of made up the pitch on the phone,” she says, having been approached by a small festival in London who were programming a series of performances on the theme of air. “I had this notion to try something that was different, that wasn’t just songs, that had spoken word and a connecting theme – but I conjured the title Wind Resistance on the phone. The heart of it was there but it was quite messy.” That performance was followed by a gig at the Traverse Bar in Edinburgh, attended by David Greig, artistic director of The Lyceum Theatre. Since then, aided and abetted by a crack team of musicians, dramaturgs, and performers, Wind Resistance has taken on a life of its own. It was specifically the musical collaboration with sound designer Pippa Murphy that helped give the show its wings: “I knew she lived in the next village over, we had friends in common, and I thought she might be up for this. That’s been a revelation, I think it’s properly transformed how I write music, and I’ve got a new pal.” This transformation is readily apparent on the record. Take the song Salters Road (appearing on A Pocket of Wind Resistance as Molly Sime’s Welcome to Salters Road), a story about Polwart’s old neighbour Molly Kristensen, which first appeared on her last solo album Traces. It was already a beautiful song (‘The horseman’s only daughter takes the Friday boat to Bergen / And the waves swell like a barley field that’s ready to lay down’ is

November 2017

a lyric many songwriters would be envious of), but its second life here casts it in a whole new light – the story is homed in on and expanded, tiny details picked out and given additional depth with spoken word and ambient sound. A song that was already deeply moving and powerful almost becomes a piece of theatre in and of itself. “Essentially the story of how Molly was born is one of the anchor points for the whole show. It’s amazing how that surfaced. It was really generous of her family to share her story, but it felt like it connected so many threads – it felt like it made the whole thing very human. It’s more like a eulogy.” The threads across the record are quite varied. At the heart of it is the annual migration of two thousand pink-footed geese to Fala Flow (a peat-bog near Polwart’s home), and how they offer wind resistance to each other to aid each other’s flight, but from this the songs take in motherhood, environmentalism, history and Scottish culture. In particular, there is a recurring motif of hospitals, of care, of the precariousness of life, which acts as a biting political undercurrent to the whole record. “That’s the whole backdrop, the whole political culture of how people are treated when they’re vulnerable, that they need to be punished, that’s absolutely despicable – I’ve picked the motif of pregnancy and birth deliberately because it is universal, even now we take for granted that we have access to care that allows most women to live! To remember two generations ago, when my grandparents were born, post-World War One, 20 to 25 percent of women might be expected to die – it’s so easy to forget that, we’re not so far away from precarity and it could come back, and I see a culture of willing it back. And there’s the sheer ecological precariousness, we’re living as if climate change isn’t real – it distresses me.” This precarity is perhaps best illustrated on Small Consolation, one of the real highlights of the album – what begins as a pregnant woman going to attend a group of fledgling swallows, fallen from

their nest, injured and dying, becomes a wonderfully detailed story of how that migration takes place, before finishing on a series of perfectly pitched declaratives. It’s Polwart’s songwriting brilliance in microcosm – poetically drawn specificity and detail, often unflinching, and then broader brush strokes, sucker-punches when you are at your most vulnerable. ‘For every breath that leaves me now, another comes to fill me / And for every death that grieves me now, I swear the next will surely kill me.’ Do not approach this song without a box of tissues in the vicinity.

“ We’re living as if climate change isn’t real – it distresses me” Karine Polwart

One thing that’s always set Polwart apart as a folk singer is her willingness to push the genre forward. Even when interpreting older material, it’s always contextualised in a way that makes it relevant to a contemporary audience: “I sing them and hear them now, I don’t hear them as historic period pieces,” she says. “I hear them as potentially relevant. I’m not interested in singing them for any other reason.” The inclusion of The Death of Queen Jane (appearing here as Sphagnum Mass for a Dead Queen), another song which had a previous life for Polwart having featured on 2007’s Fairest Floo’er, is a good example. Its story of a troubled and ultimately tragic labour mirrors the themes of the rest of the record, but even the initial concept of the piece – a more thematic, expansive work based off of folk song

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principles and ideas – speaks to her ambition and artistry. “Amongst the folkies I know there’s a desire to bust out of the conventional gig and album format, definitely, not just in Scotland – to try things in a slightly different way.” One of the reasons she cites for this comes from the activity around the Scottish independence referendum, and how that brought together a lot of artists from disparate fields, and encouraged a kind of wider creative community. This was where she first came into contact with Greig, as well as becoming aware of the likes of Loki – there’s definitely a shared DNA between the spoken word elements of her songs and the storytelling of Scotland’s hip-hop scene, even if they feel sonically separated. Karine Polwart has been on the scene for coming on two decades now, from solo work to collaborative projects like Songs of Separation, to this, to future plans for everything from podcasts to children’s books – and another solo album expected late next year. “I feel like I’m stepping into what I really want to do,” she says as our conversation winds up. Momentum is a funny thing – one chance phone conversation which leads to a spontaneous pitch, a scratch-gig, and then all of a sudden you’re picking up speed. Collaboration has always been key, whether that be migrating geese aiding each other in their flight, or musicians pushing out beyond their scene to create new and important work. Wind Resistance, captured perfectly in this record, has a bit of life in it yet – a run at the Lyceum, Perth next year, and the likelihood of one in London, will all help push the show higher. For any new fans that she acquires as a result – and the chances are there will be many – they’ll find out quickly that this has always been the direction she’s been heading in, and she doesn’t show any sign of stopping. A Pocket of Wind Resistance is released via Hudson Records on 1 Dec Wind Resistance, Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, 3-11 Nov karinepolwart.com

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Points of Refusal Camara Taylor is a prolific programmer, writer and practising artist, and one of the most active critics of poor representation within cultural institutions in Glasgow

amara Taylor will present their first solo show at Many Studios at the end of this month. Their independent visual artistic practice is one part of their involvement as a Glasgow-based artist, programmer and facilitator. In our meeting with Taylor, one month in advance, they share the surprising and insightful results of their extensive research practices. In addition, they give insight into the difficulties and tolls of experiencing and actively criticising institutional racism on a daily basis. Taylor initially began the research for the exhibition with a postcard that depicted the limbo dance in Barbados. “It began as a ritual performed at wakes in Trinidad. [But it would] start low and dancers would gradually go higher, replicating cycles of rebirth and reincarnation.” The different forms that this dance has taken through time included forms that related to the movement of slaves on slave ships and how they would move to enter the hold – “the phrase ‘being bent like a spider’ came up a lot.” In one recent video work, Taylor likens the contorted limbo shape to the strained position of Black women and gender non-conforming as “bridge”. It was then that adapting and survival practices took hold as a central organising theme for the exhibition, through thinking about the relation of the movement of the body and people and the book This Bridge Called My Back: Writings of Radical Women of Colour. Taylor describes one of the theses of this book: “the position of Black women and women of colour [is] that they always have to be this ‘in between’ between black men and men of colour and white people, and refuting that, refuting erasures and articulating life at the intersections (of race, gender, sexuality).” At this point, parallel research interests began to meet as Taylor was “thinking around the body and movement in respect to refusal and the navigation of survival practices in relation to the photography studio.” This brought together the limbo research with Taylor’s work as part of another research project about Black presences in Glasgow. Of particular importance was an encounter with the history of Frederick Douglass who led a campaign called Send Back the Money directed at the Scotland Free Church. This Church “travelled around the US raising money, and accepting money from plantation owners. It became a ral-

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lying cry for the abolitionist movement in Scotland. There’s a rumour he scratched ‘Send Back the Money’ into Arthur’s Seat.” It was one part of Douglass’ biography in particular that informed parts of Taylor’s upcoming exhibition. “He was the most photographed 19th-century American, he always made a point of having his portrait taken as a way to refute the other representations of Black people at the time.” It’s this history that has led Taylor to looking at the photography studio and photography more generally as on the one hand, “completely tied up in colonialism and imperialism.” But they also think too of the ways “people have tried to flip that, or use the tools of the camera to push other representations of Blackness in a wider sphere.” On this note, Taylor recalls a powerful encounter with the work of acclaimed artist Arthur Jafa. After accidentally queuing half-an-hour for the Grayson Perry show at one of the two Serpentine Galleries in London, Taylor describes being “stuck” on one particular image. It was a screenshot of a FaceTime conversation, with a literal note of caution written on top of it: ‘if you point a camera at a Black person, on a psychoanalytic level it functions as a White gaze... It doesn’t matter if a Black person is behind the camera or not’. More specifically, Taylor describes the technical adroitness that’s necessary in order to represent Black skin tones faithfully with current standards of available technology. On this topic, they point to Rihanna’s Fenty Beauty line. Despite never buying make-up, Taylor describes the excitement they felt personally, and that was shared widely when the Fenty Beauty line was launched, and straight away included 40 shades of foundation. “Perhaps it’s a testament to thirst for there to be more [products and technology] created by us that are for us.” On the more general influence and impact of Rihanna’s music and performances, and the anxiety, racism and sexism with which they are responded, Taylor cites with unqualified approval Doreen St Felix’ 2015 Pitchfork article The Prosperity Gospel of Rihanna on her message of material liberation. A twin suspicion of, and potential for subversion of photography form part of the rationale for Taylor’s photography studio-themed installation within the exhibition space of Many Studios. One

part of the work will be a photographic backdrop, which features in a corresponding video work, and a different area that will be clad in blackout fabric and includes an overexposed, entirely black photographic print. “I’ve always understood that one of the ways that Blackness and Black people are spoken of is in terms of excess, being too loud, too dark, too much, while at the same time being invisible.” Taylor thus considers “the contradiction of being both hypervisible and invisible at the same time.” They also think of this in terms of the way that the colour black is made in the darkroom “through an excess or overload of light” and how it contrdicts certain colour theories that blackness is an absence of light.

“ There’s this idea that the city can’t or won’t hold us” Camara Taylor

The exhibition also includes a sound work collaboration between Taylor and the DJ and promoter Sarra Wild who founded OH141, the Glasgow based platform, club night and radio show. Taylor and Wild’s soundscape brings together their shared ideas about survival, particularly in relation to music. However, while Taylor comes to music more often from reading about then listening to a musician, they think of Wild as being able to combine both a researchbased and practical knowledge of music and sound technology as leading figure of some of the most exciting club nights in Glasgow and Grassroots Glasgow. Their free workshops, events and nights intend to improve representation of women, POC and LGBTQ+ identifying individuals in the electronic music scene across music venues and organisations. One particular element of audio comes from a BBC documentary The Street, a three-episode series from 2014. In one episode, the busker Melo was interviewed on Sauchiehall Street. As he’s being interviewed, “two white men come over and

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Interview: Adam Benmakhlouf verbally abuse him and try to fight him.” In the video, Taylor identifies different modes of practising self-defense. “It’s different to most of the things you see of this kind because, for one, he’s still alive and death wasn’t the endpoint of this encounter. Throughout the video, he turns insults back onto the abusers, and these clips of Melo speaking are excerpted and included in the audio work alongside full songs of resistances and other collaged elements. Taylor speaks about the work as in process, and is clear that the opening date has been changed, following “continuous fatigue”. Taylor classifies this tiredness and exhaustion as an important context for the work, the show (and its postponement), setting it within axes of obligation, marginalisation and institutional racism. Taylor relates as one example their experience of studying in Glasgow School of Art. In their year group for Fine Art, they were one of three or four black people. Students of colour would then also leave the city immediately after graduating – or frequently before, without finishing their degree. “There’s this idea that the city can’t or won’t hold us.” Countering this for Taylor involves making it known that, “We’re here, and if we want to we can fight for a space for ourselves, and navigate that in a way that goes beyond tokenistic inclusion or a version or inclusion or representation that only serves hegemony.” One of the most dominating parts of Taylor’s experience of Glasgow since graduating has been their role on the Transmission Committee. Taylor describes spending a month or two as the only person of colour before asking for that to change. Since that point, the committee and programming has become visibly pivoted on issues of institutional exclusion and in particular questions of race, sexuality and gender. At the same time, Taylor speaks of an identifiable trend of “institutions looking at a wider variety of practices.” They go on to sound a note of caution. “I know enough of exhibition histories to be aware that this has happened before, and I’m trying to figure how there can be longevity in place of these discrete moments that are peaks, followed by a trough of silence.” Flourish, by Camara Taylor, The Gallow Gate, Many Studios until 3 Dec

THE SKINNY

November 2017

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A Defence (of sorts) Critics turned on Karl Ove Knausgård after Autumn, the first of his seemingly self-indulgent Seasons Quartet. We never like to see a poor literary superstar bullied, so Scandinavian Correspondent Dominic Hinde throws him a lifeline as Winter publishes Words: Dominic Hinde utumn, the first in Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgård’s seasonal quartet, following the global success of the My Struggle project, received mixed reviews – being accused of clichés, sentimentalism and repetition. Sadly for the Knausgård marketeers, Winter is more of the same. The set up is simple: Knausgård takes objects and concepts and writes about them as a series of notes to his unborn child. The problem for reviewers seems to be that Knausgård is a novelist and not a journalist. He is under no obligation to make things relevant or interesting to the reader, and writes with the confidence of someone with a multi-book publishing deal and money in the bank who doesn’t care all that much what the Spectator’s literary editor thinks. With My Struggle, Knausgård achieved that rare thing for a writer from a small country with a narrowly spoken language– being put on a pedestal in the English language book world as an author of global stature. There was even a cameo in a BBC documentary about Alan Bennett when Knausgård, towering over Bennett like Chewbacca over Mark Hamill in Star Wars’ throne room scene, appears at the New York public library to be awarded a ‘library lion’ medal. It isn’t apparent exactly what he has done to earn the award, but he accepts it with good grace together with the other big names the library has dragged in to attract donors. The construction of Knausgård as a literary celebrity has had a strange effect on his whole output. Like the crowds flocking to see the re-hashed films of that aforementioned Star Wars ‘franchise’, the fan base is big enough that anything with the brand on it will sell. It is a position that could be a prison but seems instead to have set him free. In Winter, Knausgård appears entirely uninterested by the events of My Struggle and has gone back to basics, almost unashamedly self-indulgent in his metaphysical wandering. Winter is a book best read a few moments at a time. The strong metaphysical bent to Knausgård’s prose is part of a long tradition of Nordic writers who have explored big questions in few words. The collection never really goes anywhere, so while it is lovely to read, the last page has much the same tone and pace as the first. Knausgård is a man passing through, but reluctant to reveal any destination. This mood is even expressed directly in a short monologue about watching a train race by a railway crossing, knowing that it has a fixed terminus and a timetable. This is the problem with metaphysical wri-

ting – the conclusion is in the form and the form needs to be translated well to make the writing work. The decision to use Ingvild Burkey – a Norwegian poet – means that the Norwegian sensibilities remain largely intact even if the English is sometimes lacking in resonance as a result. Another important factor in understanding what Winter represents is that between being written and it being translated, Knausgård separated from Linda Boström, the Swedish poet and mother of the unborn child at the centre of the cycle who is a constant presence in all of the My Struggle series. This makes the book melancholy and insightful for slightly unintended reasons. Boström is remarkably absent from Winter even though she is vital in the process of Knausgård having another baby. The thing that remains from the My Struggle books is Knausgård’s fascination with childhood development and primitivism, including his own. He talks about the jealousy he feels when his own child celebrates his birthday and the idea that birthdays are important, something he did away with long ago. He also compares the distance present in early-relationship sex with the closeness of family and cohabitation, and how children are taught all about sex as a visual but forbidden experience at the same time as the notion of romantic love is hammered into them. The point of all this self-examination is to expose Knausgård’s unwillingness to embrace his own sexuality for fear of under-performing for the woman he desires most in a constant repetition of his own teenage angst. Sex only merits one entry, but other subjects include ‘Bus’, ‘Operation’ and ‘The Moon’, like a list of words a toddler has collected assuming that what they know is all there is. Even as a fully grown and now very wealthy adult, Knausgård is a child. This is the crux of his writing, deep and precise but simultaneously primitive in its endless fascination with extremely basic processes. Like a toddler standing on a railway platform watching the same trains go past again and again, Knausgård can hold his attention on mundane things and find endless depth in them. The harsher critics of Autumn failed to see any point in this navel gazing, but like its predecessor, Winter invites readers to change their mindset and indulge in a bit of metaphysical naïvety. Give that man-child a medal.

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Vive le cinema The annual French Film Festival celebrates its 25th year with a wide-ranging programme of French cinema old and new. We take a look at some of the highlights

Winter is out 2 Nov, published by Vintage, RRP £16.99

Karl Ove Knausgård

Redoubtable

Photo: Sam Barker

ith the shadow of Brexit hanging over our heads – a bit like the Sword of Damocles, only it’s been placed there by us – the annual French Film Festival UK, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, feels as important as ever. Theresa May and David Davis would do well to make it to a few screenings; they’re clearly in need of a closer understanding and empathy with our neighbours across the Channel, and they would no doubt glean some from a few hours in the presence of the films in this year’s rich and eclectic line-up. As ever, the festival allows Francophiles to get an early look at some of the biggest French films due to be released in the UK in the coming months, as well as see many French films that won’t necessarily be making it to a cinema near you. In the former category you’ll find The Workshop, the latest thought-provoking picture from Laurent Cantet. Like his knockout Palme d’Or winner The Class, The Workshop is a film of explosive dialogue and performance. Set in a down-at-heel port of La Ciotat in the south of France, the workshop of the title is a writing group for several teenagers who are tasked with collectively penning a thriller about their town under the guidance of a celebrated crime novelist, Olivia (Marina Foïs). Much of the film concerns the electric debates about race and politics that occur between the headstrong teens, but the focus is Antoine (Matthieu Lucci), an intense young man with a 100 yard scowl, whose sickeningly violent writing and right-leaning ideas begin to intrigue and disturb Olivia in equal measure. It’s a film that crackles with energy, with Pierre Milon’s darting handheld camera capturing the film’s exchange of ideas with the dynamism of a boxing match. Another favourite of ours is Philip Garrel, whose Lover for a Day screens. An intoxicating three-hander, it concerns a college student who returns to her family home to find that her professor father has shacked up with a young woman her own age, and is full of the luminous camerawork and intimate performances we’ve come to expect from this veteran post-New Wave filmmaker. Garrel’s daughter Esther plays the college student, and if you’re keen to see what her big bro, Louis, has been up to make it along to Redoubtable, a stylistic homage to Jean-Luc Godard from Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), which sees Garrel donning dark shades and shaving his hairline to

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Words: Jamie Dunn

play the mercurial filmmaking genius. Another post-New Wave stalwart in the programme is the perennially undersung André Téchiné, whose films remain as lively and surprising as they did five decades ago. His latest, Golden Years, is based on the true story of a First World War deserter who escaped the war by disguising himself as a woman. Téchiné’s joined by the similarly prolific François Ozon, who sounds like he’s back on provocative form with kinky thriller Amant Double, which reportedly has a Brian De Palma flavour. We also like the sound of Arnaud Desplechin’s Ishmael’s Ghosts, which concerns a filmmaker (Mathieu Amalric) being visited at his beach house by his wife (Marion Cotillard), who vanished mysteriously 21 years earlier. Charlotte Gainsbourg, as the director’s current girlfriend, completes the triangle. Amalric also turns up in the festival programme on directing duty with his latest feature Barbara, a biographical drama about the idiosyncratic but hugely talented French singer Jeanne Balibar. Among the guests attending are Régis Wargnier, who will present screenings of his 1992 Oscar-winner Indochine; actor-turned-filmmaker Blandine Lenoir is here too with her second feature Aurora, as is Belgian director Lucas Belvaux with timely drama This is Our Land; rising actor Félix Kysyl represents for Redoubtable; Nicolas Silhol comes to Scotland with boardroom thriller Corporate; and slapstick masters Abel and Fiona Gordon introduce their latest comedy Lost in Paris. While soaking up the best of contemporary French cinema we’d also urge you to make room for a few screenings from the Classics strand, which this year celebrates the late, great Jeanne Moreau with a quartet of screenings (Mr Klein, Bay of Angels, The Fire Within and The Lovers) and Claude Berri, who receives a brace of screenings (Jean de Florette, Manon des Sources). As well as the familiar names above, there are plenty of emerging talents in the programme also. Take a chance on some of these less established filmmakers, you might discover the new Godard as well as see Louis Garrel playing the old one. French Film Festival UK runs 2 Nov-17 Dec in Edinburgh, Glasgow and various other cities across Scotland and the rest of the UK. For full programme details, head to frenchfilmfestival.org.uk

THE SKINNY

Due Recognition Acclaimed 75-year-old sci-fi writer Samuel R Delany has consistently produced some of the most radical examples of the genre over the previous six decades, and this month he comes to Glasgow for Arika Episode 9

Interview: Adam Benmakhlouf

The Skinny: At your stage in life, do you find yourself in the situation of not only imagining an alternate future, but also in the role of carrier of past states-of-affairs/rights that are now under threat in gradually more dangerous political climates – specifically of the current rise of the right wing? Delany: That’s a complicated question. When I read it carefully, I want to say: of course I do. As a somewhat younger reader, you (I presume) do as well. What you didn’t have is the direct experience of childhood in New York City and New Jersey and Duchess County during the 40s and 50s when there was no TV and car windows had to be rolled up and down by hand. Images from those times are some of the things fiction can provide. You didn’t have ice cream parlours with round stools up and down the counter, and racks of 10 cent comic books up the back wall, in the door beside the filling station out in the country. Presumably fiction can suggest what these images mean about the world and the limits on the technological recomplications they suggest; and science fiction provides new ways to replace those and more recent images with still others that speak about the technology in which they’re embedded in still different ways. I suppose I’ve been watching the right wing rising for years, since my childhood – and finding the division between right and left shifting in the mind of the general public along with it. What we called liberal in the 50s would be dangerously radical today. With the spread of information itself, the country – the world – gets repoliticised in ways that would have been unrecognisable before the internet. What parts of the culture and legacy of science fiction do/did you resist, and what parts lend themselves to being a genre that can accommodate radical/progressive race and queer politics? My own work was far more about accepting than it was about resisting. I was a great supporter of computers as a child (I built one in high school from mechanical elevator relays, Christmas tree lights, and double-pole, double-throw switches that won me an honorable mention in a science fair), but now computers are so far beyond me that I need an assistant who knows what buttons to push. Up until my family got its first colour television set in, say, the middle 50s, basically I knew how a television screen worked. (It was a cathode-ray tube with three guns.) Today’s plasma screens and liquid crystal screens are pretty much beyond me. Today I don’t own a television, nor do I have a landline.

Photo: Bryony McIntyre

amuel R Delany is a renowned sci-fi writer whose career began precociously in the 1960s, and has continued to the present. In memoirs, and as subject of the 2007 experimental biopic The Polymath, he has also spoken generously about his experience as an African-American writer and continuing to have an exciting and prolific sex life as a gay man then in his 60s. Now aged 75, he’s one of the many jewels in the line-up of Episode 9's weekend-long programme of events, Arika, from 16-19 November. This will consist of “4 days of performances, discussions, workshops, screenings (and a party) with sex revolutionaries, mutant dancers, fanfiction fantasists, prison abolitionist poets— transfeminist dreaming, Latinx tunes, fantasy, haunted noise, sci-fi, sex worker resistance, crip erotics, porn, militant fiction…” We met Delany to find out more.

As to your question, I don’t think science fiction or indeed any other aesthetic genre divides up that way. The question is comparable to asking what are the paints you need to paint pictures that show the workings of race and queer politics. Rocket ships? Aliens? Newly imagined cultures on other worlds? Each of those may or may not come into play, or you may want to do it with much more familiar worlds far closer to the present. Indeed, I think we need more near-future stories with minimal technological revisions. I began reading SF between summer camps (an early black one in about 1947, called Hill and Dale, whose location I do not even know, and a later one in Phoenicia, New York in 1952, called Camp Woodland) – and in my elementary school, with my friend Robert Douglas, reading Heinlein’s Red Planet, along with Freddy the Pig and Dr. Dolittle. I read them too, and enjoyed them. Science fiction lived on the edge of mainstream publishing. It was affected by the same forces of production and technology that affected the larger businesses of paperbacks and magazines. Occasionally it made its way into hardcover houses as well, such as Doubleday and the Doubleday Book Clubs (an even bigger business that had its offices in New Jersey), and... the answer just spreads out. Do you see science fiction at present as becoming more widely politicised, compared to 30 years ago? 30 years ago, I was finishing up my Return to Nevèrÿon series. That’s when I was regularly teac-

hing science fiction at the Clarion Workshops and more than halfway through my career and wondering what I was going to do with the second half. I was one of the ones who was teaching like Joanna Russ. Others like Roger Zelazny and Thomas Disch were not connected with the academy directly. 25 years before that, my sense is that science fiction was always relatively politicised, even more than mainstream literature. No one read it at the first black camp – Hill and Dale – I went to, though it was run by a retired black teacher, Mrs. Thelma Teasdale.

“ What we called liberal in the 50s would be dangerously radical today” Samuel R. Delany

Almost everyone read it at Camp Woodland, run by highly principled Jewish leftists, Norman and Hannah Studer, who also ran the Downtown Community School in New York City. Galaxy editor Horace L. Gold’s son, Eugene Gold, was in my first bunk, Bunk Five, in the boy’s ‘Tent colony.’ That’s where I learned that [sci-fi author] Theodore

Sturgeon was special in one way, and Ray Bradbury in another. It was always pretty politicised, and pretty politicised toward the left – at least on the East Coast, where much of the printing and book and magazine manufacturing got done. Can you speak about the importance of interclass relationships that can take place during casual sex encounters? Does age present a barrier to accessing these encounters? For many people, gay and straight, this is where we are most likely to encounter those of other classes. Of course age presents a barrier, as does money and the availibility of institutions and neighbourhoods in terms of cultural and individual habit. New institutions are always growing up, and there are often groups forming around what is and is not available. The damper on gun control allows single people to flip out and kill dozens if they lose it. On the one hand, gun violence has declined over the past 20 years; on the other, a single gun is now capable of killing far more people. Many groups have histories supported by institutions, and others simply by a kind of folk passage. I have an old and good friend who is married to another man and lives in a trailer park in Dover Plains, NY. He still calls me from time to time, and I still call him. Institutions like Facebook, or email, contour such relations in important ways. Because neither I nor my partner drive, we have a very different life than others who do. Arika, Episode 9: Other Worlds Already Exist will take place during 16-19 Nov in Tramway, Kinning Park Complex and Many Studios. arika.org.uk

November 2017

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THE SKINNY

Walking and Breathing Ahead of a run of shows in the UK, we speak to Stephen Bruner, aka Thundercat about the instinctual inception of his acclaimed third album and finding humour in racial tension

“I

t’s always weird when you get a bunch of musicians to do something in front of a green screen,” Stephen Bruner – better known as bass maestro Thundercat – muses on the video for his Kenny Loggins and Michael McDonald collaboration, Show You the Way. “But it turned out fantastic because that off-guardedness created the action that it needed.” That unguarded nature – with Bruner, Loggins and McDonald performing in the clouds, as a former samurai finds redemption and a new lease of life at a health retreat – is something of a microcosm

of his latest album as Thundercat, Drunk. “It still had to have that playfulness, and it had to have the reality of the music,” he explains of the video, launched a matter of hours before our chat. Similarly, Drunk finds the balance between ecstatic, playful passages and existential contemplation. That combination can be traced back to the album’s genesis, stemming partly from Bruner’s extensive collaborations with other artists after the release of his 2013 album Apocalypse; he recollects his time working alongside Flying Lotus, Kendrick Lamar and others between 2014 and

2015. “A lot of Drunk is interweaved between You’re Dead! and To Pimp a Butterfly and the few albums I’d worked on in-between those,” he reflects. Indeed, the same year Lamar released To Pimp a Butterfly, Bruner released his own EP, The Beyond / Where the Giants Roam. “I feel like it was the same train of thought that The Beyond... came from,” he explains. “If you really listen to those albums in the same breath you can feel the same energy around them. I feel like it was all one giant story.” Bruner reflects that Drunk could have been a very different album altogether. “It could have gone so many different ways,” he says, “it was figuring out how to portray the actual process and not downplay it.” Despite the myriad of ideas, there was one part of the process that was absolute, inspired by some sage advice his friend FlyLo had given him: be honest with yourself. “The advice, it kind of just hit me heavy. I’ve tried to stay true to that ever since,” Bruner says. He acknowledges that “it’s a really vulnerable place to have to express yourself through melody, harmony and lyrics,” but that doing so enabled him to make Drunk a testament to his true feelings. “It helped me to be comfortable, it made me comfortable to go with exactly what I’m thinking or feeling and not just to live up to an expectation,” he explains. “This is what I’m really, really thinking, compared to trying to make a story.”

“ You don’t need to be bombarded with everyone else’s bullshit, you can just deal with your own. That’s a lot by itself!”

Photo: B+

Stephen Bruner

November 2017

Running on instinct, pure feeling and honesty has resulted in Drunk being a much deeper dive into Bruner’s psyche than any album he’s released previously as Thundercat. It’s a sprawling, chameleonic 23-track odyssey that captures his breadth of influences, from jazz and hip-hop to R’n’B and electronica. He references anime (Tokyo alone cites characters and concepts from Dragon Ball Z numerous times) and, like on some of his previous works, video games, which pop up relatively regularly both in his lyrics and as 16-bit soundbites. “Every now and again you forget how much you play video games!” he laughs. “We were having a Mortal Kombat tournament and we just beat the hell out of everyone and then it was like, ‘Oh yeah, I play video games a lot, I just forgot there for a second!’” It’s unsurprising then that video games continue to pepper his work. “It’s kind of interweaved for me, it’s part of the conversation.” Thematically, Bruner touches on subjects that are just as wide-ranging. He veers from wondering what it’d be like to be a cat like his own (A Fan’s Mail (Tron Song Suite II)) to leaving your wallet in the club, heartbreak, and, on the shimmering, uplifting Bus in These Streets, contemplating our increasing attachment to technology. “It’s a bit of a utopia but also a bit dystopian,” he muses on the latter. “You can have a great world, you can

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Interview: Eugenie Johnson

live in your little bubble, you can do make-up all day and watch this that or the third, or you can try and use it to destroy another country, like we see our President doing!” he laughs. He concludes that it wouldn’t hurt to log off occasionally: “You don’t need to be bombarded with everyone else’s bullshit, you can just deal with your own. That’s a lot by itself!” It is a lot, and indeed Bus in These Streets is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the social and political commentary on Drunk, an album that often delves into the US’s racial tensions. “The things that we’re experiencing politically, you can see it! It’s everything that’s causing a divide and when you’re sitting you can’t help but observe it,” he says. “There’s no way it can’t translate into your day-to-day processing.” Indeed, for Bruner – having grown up in Los Angeles, attending a high school built on the site where the city’s 1965 riots started – it’s an issue that’s embedded into his psyche. “Even if it’s not outright, it’s internal. You have an eternal struggle,” he explains. On one of Drunk’s most soul-searching tracks, The Turn Down, guest vocalist Pharrell Williams states: ‘Black, white, gay, straight human beings all pee and want some ass’. It’s a line that draws stark attention to the fact that humans are the same at a fundamental, biological level, something Bruner wholeheartedly believes in. “I’m still walking and breathing. As a person, that’s what qualifies you to be a human,” he states. “I don’t have to be told that I’m a human, I know I’m a human. I can take a shit, all I gotta do is go to the toilet; I get boners, I watch cartoons, I eat food. It’s the literal consistency of what it means to be human. A lot of the time I think people lose sight of that.” Rightly, he’s entirely sure of his own sense of self-worth: “I don’t need to be told that I’m less than anything else. I know I’m not.” While it sometimes has its contemplative moments though, like Bruner himself, Drunk is also often a funny record, interwoven with wit. For him, humour is another way of telling a truthful, insightful story. “They have that saying: the truth is told in jest,” he comments. Sometimes, he weaves his humour and playfulness alongside his social commentaries, the shiny, synth-led Jameel’s Space Ride forming a perfect example. In it, Bruner just wants to ride his bike (‘Although it seems like it’s all crashing down’), but worries that the police might harass him purely because of his skin colour. “As silly as that lyric is, it’s meant to be still a bit serious. Like, ‘Yeah, it is ‘cause you’re black’, absolutely it’s ‘cause you’re black!” he laughs. He finds something absurdist in the nature of racism, something that can be laughed at. “It’s not a thing of being rich or poor, it’s just a thing that it’s funny! It’s very funny. If you watch National Geographic and you watch hippos having sex, that’s pretty funny,” he chuckles. “It’s the same to me.” Since it was released in February, Drunk has received much critical acclaim, and Bruner’s still taking it all in. “I never would have thought that this was something that would happen,” he says. “It’s far away from just playing bass for people and every day there’s a different surprise, something new.” Although he’s still processing the reception to Drunk, he’s already looking ahead to his next project, ready to explore even more avenues. “I’m really excited about being able to record again, throwing stuff out there and feeling different feels,” he says. “I’m excited for whatever’s coming next.” Drunk is out now via Brainfeeder Thundercat plays O2 ABC, Glasgow, 14 Nov brainfeeder.net/thundercat

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Coming of Rage Joachim Trier returns to his native Norway with Thelma, a psychological thriller about a teen with telekinetic abilities. The director and his film’s star, Eili Harboe, give us the lowdown

t’s the penultimate day of the London Film Festival and everyone is tired. Cinephiles across the capital have the drawn expressions and thousand-yard stares that come from spending two weeks devouring dozens of movies, while Joachim Trier is in the middle of an extensive festival tour, having presented his new film in Toronto and New York before arriving in London. Fortunately, Thelma is the kind of shot-in-the-arm movie that we all need at the end of a festival. A gripping psychological horror focused on a troubled teenage girl, Thelma owes more of a debt to directors like De Palma, Polanski and Hitchcock than you might expect from a filmmaker whose previous work was notable for its quiet introspection. Reprise, Oslo, August 31st and Louder than Bombs displayed Trier’s facility for layering sound and image to create an impressionistic, subjective experience, allowing us to explore his characters’ inner lives, so the outlandish visual spectacle of Thelma, which involved over 200 CGI shots, initially seems like quite a departure. “I am primarily interested in the interior of the character, and mental images,” Trier tells us, before suggesting that Thelma might not be as different as it seems. “There is still that curiosity about making an intimate film, but in this case it’s an intimate horror film, so I will have the dynamic of the bigger pictures and a cinematic view on the character that goes beyond what they know, which is quite rare for me. Usually I’m very eye-to-eye, but here I’m between the claustrophobic view and a more paranoid gaze on the character.” This approach makes sense, as Thelma is largely about the protagonist’s internal turmoil having external ramifications. The title character, played by Eili Harboe, is a lonely, introverted student at an Oslo university who begins suffering unexplained seizures. It quickly becomes apparent that her attacks are connected to her oppressive and strictly religious parents, and her growing attraction to classmate Anja (Kaya Wilkins). The

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deeper Thelma represses her emotions and memories, the more powerful her impact on her surroundings becomes, which allows Trier to fill his film with extraordinary images. Birds fall from the sky, windows explode, and a theatre full of people are threatened by a chandelier that swings with Hitchcockian menace; in fact, Trier and his regular co-writer Eskil Vogt had most of these images in mind before they had a story. “With this one, it was a sense of form, a mood, and a wish to fill the form with content, to work from the outside in,” says Trier. “Eskil and I wanted to allow ourselves to access more subliminal, subconscious images, nightmarish things, and we came up with a lot of set-pieces. I think we always start out with moments and images and concepts for scenes. Sometimes it can be a formal idea, like in Reprise and Louder than Bombs particularly, ways of using voiceover, ways of doing montage sequences set up against character dilemmas. We’re film geeks and I love to get a vision of a particular sequence and then try to use it.” He cites one example of this thought process from his last film. “In Louder than Bombs there’s a scene where the young son in the family is listening to a girl reading aloud in class, and then that suddenly turns into a stream-of-consciousness sequence where her voice leads it as if it was his thoughts. I hadn’t seen anyone do that before, and I thought, couldn’t that be done in movies? The boy is in love with the girl and is thinking about his mother, so then you get this strange Oedipal connection through the form. Let’s try it! So I tried to convince everyone that it would work, and not really knowing if it would until we were in the edit and crossing fingers that it would fit together. It kind of worked, but you don’t know, and I like that kind of risk-taking.” Although he likes to take formal risks, Trier is also fastidious about his filmmaking choices. His production team held open auditions to find their lead actor, meeting hundreds of young women

before settling on Eili Harboe, who is outstanding in the emotionally and physically demanding lead role. For Harboe, the chance to work with Trier was a long time coming. “Actually, it’s funny, but because Norway is a very small country, I had met Joachim a couple of times already,” Harboe tells us. “I obviously loved his work and he’s a director I had always wanted to work with, so I asked him around three years ago what he was working on next, and he said, ‘Actually, I’m writing a script about a girl who moves to Oslo and starts studying at the university. You should come to the audition.’ I was like, yeah, right, that’s never gonna happen. And then three years later I got an email from the casting director who said Joachim had asked for me to come in, and I was so happy.”

“ I am primarily interested in the interior of the character, and mental images” Joachim Trier

Although she had to go through a number of nerve-wracking auditions, the young actor clearly made a big impact on Trier. “Actually, much later on, Joachim and Eskil told me that they thought about me when writing the script,” she says. “But they said that they were very open to change if the right girl came in at the audition. Joachim is very, very conscious about even casting some of the extras and the parts with very few lines, it’s very important for him that it’s an ensemble working together.”

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Interview: Philip Concannon

Trier has just come off the back of working with a remarkable ensemble – including Gabriel Byrne, Isabelle Huppert and Jesse Eisenberg – in Louder than Bombs, which also marked his English-language debut. So how did the director find his American experience? “I really enjoyed it. I had creative control – we financed it in a smart way to ensure that. I loved the locations, and I had such a thrill working with those actors,” he says. “The tricky thing I would say was to deal with union rules in New York, that was unusual, but you find a way. It’s the eternal film school of being a filmmaker, you just learn. The upside is you’re forced to have so many people on set because of the union rules and you can get a lot of big things done quickly, you can move big lamps around in seconds. “The downside is you’re spending so much money on a team when you might want to be more fluid and take more time. Just to be one day on set in America, you shoot 12 hours but it’s ridiculously expensive, so you end up having too little time to get all the shots you need. But I think we did okay, touch wood. I want to do it again. I want to shoot English-language stuff again, and I want to be allowed to go back and forth. That would be fun.” One wonders if Trier will eventually bring his unique cinematic vision to the UK – after all, he trained at the National Film & Television School in London – but wherever he makes his films, or whatever budget he has at his disposal, you can be sure that the result will still feel like a Joachim Trier film. “At the end of the day it’s still the same. It’s my responsibility to create the mood that I want on my set. I will have to do that regardless of the country or the dynamic of unions or whatever. I just think, ‘Am I allowed to show you this? Can I create this moment?’ That’s what drives me, this wish to show you something, an experience or a place. It’s very basic, but that to me is cinema.” Thelma is released 3 Nov by Thunderbird

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November 2017

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Bro Travail Eliza Hittman’s sophomore feature, Beach Rats, is an evocative tale of a Brooklyn teen’s struggle with his sexuality. We speak to the New York filmmaker about the appeal of young characters, filming sex scenes, and gender politics in film, TV and academia rare onscreen sight of male full frontal nudity in an American film. The answer: “Not so much, actually. I asked her a little bit about how Larry Clark deals with actors in relation to sex scenes, and Hélène basically said, ‘Larry, he just does it.’ There’s no conversation; when people commit to doing this scene, they just do them. He doesn’t overcomplicate or over-discuss the psychology of the scenes. They just do them.” Louvart did, however, participate in key research for the element of the online pick-up world that features in the film. “Some of the crui sing spots along the water were real and Hélène and I spent some time in the middle of the night in those spots, observing transactional moments between men, and that informed how we shot and staged those moments.” In its focus on male physicality and a specific form of masculinity, Beach Rats has seen some comparisons to Claire Denis’ Beau Travail. In other interviews, Hittman hasn’t been keen on the comparison, not out of any dislike for Denis’ film but for the possible suggestion that two women directors can’t explore these particular masculine concerns without being directly compared.

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’m not aspiring to explain the psychology of the character to the audience,” says Eliza Hittman of her style as writer-director. “That’s not my job. In a way, I’m more interested in exploring the complexity and contradictions in our behaviour. And the audience can think about why. I’m not trying to answer those questions.” We’re on the phone to the New York-based filmmaker about her sophomore feature, Beach Rats, for which she picked up a directing award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Hittman’s intimate 2013 debut, It Felt Like Love, made some waves on the festival circuit, but Beach Rats has already picked up the kind of acclaim, and subsequent international distribution deals, that one hopes will lead to more consistent opportunities for the rising talent, who also currently works as a film professor. “I fell into academia after I made It Felt Like Love,” she tells us of her other career, “and there wasn’t that much interest in what I was gonna do next. I just kept getting all of these speaking engagements from the film, and academia kind of swept me up, I would say, and embraced me. “I’m not sure exactly how the two are gonna work together for the long haul because now my filmmaking career has become more demanding in a way. But I enjoy mentoring students, particularly female students. And I can definitely see how the gender politics even in academia begin to mirror or reflect the sort of gender politics that exist in the [film] industry. So it’s one arena in which I feel like I can try and combat and champion female directors, and help people who think that they don’t have a voice feel like they do have one.” Unlike It Felt Like Love, which was about the sexual awakening of a 14-year-old girl, Beach Rats is not centred around a female protagonist. Instead, it’s about an older male teen in Brooklyn, Frankie (Harris Dickinson), who’s got a potential new girlfriend in the form of Simone (Madeline Weinstein). However, unbeknown to Simone and

November 2017

his boardwalk bro friends, the eponymous beach rats, Frankie is hiding both a family tragedy and an interest in meeting up with older men he meets in online chatrooms. As Frankie, British newcomer Harris Dickinson is a revelation in his first feature film role, with a thoroughly convincing accent that never feels out of place with the native NYC-ers he often shares scenes with. When it came to casting people to play Frankie’s buddies, Hittman tells us she explored some non-traditional methods. “I cast a lot of the guys who play Frankie’s friends in different parks in Brooklyn that were along the water; different handball courts. I sent PAs out and they spent hours in parks getting to know people and seeing if they would be interested in auditioning. And I did most of my auditions in those parks as well. I never tried to bring anybody into an unfamiliar context because then all of a sudden they’re trying to act for you, and that’s not what we were looking for. So I tried to look at people in the context of their world. “I think I’m drawn to working with young actors and exploring stories about youth,” Hittman says of her filmography. “Young actors, for me, are a gift because they’re so open and they understand the immediacy of acting. I think you can capture something that’s authentic that is harder to do when you’re working with more trained, older actors. I think that adolescence and teenage years are defining in ways for young people in terms of the development of their identity through how they see themselves in the world. I never get bored watching movies about young people trying to figure out who they are.” On that note, Beach Rats’ cinematographer, Hélène Louvart, has previously worked with Larry Clark, the controversial director of Kids and Bully. Considering his films’ plentiful sequences of sexually active teens, we wonder if Louvart brought to the table any shooting suggestions for Beach Rats’ scenes of a sexual nature, which include the

“ Young actors, for me, are a gift because they’re so open and they understand the immediacy of acting” Eliza Hittman

Concerning how the film’s look was conceived, we find out that photography, more than any existing films, informed the aesthetic, though Hittman does tell us that the likes of Saturday Night Fever,

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Interview: Josh Slater-Williams Requiem for a Dream, Little Fugitive, The Lords of Flatbush and The Warriors were all “loose influences on my desire to make a film about lost youth in Brooklyn. “I had a lot of photography references for the film,” Hittman says. “I was looking at work by a photographer from Chicago in the 80s named Barbara Crane, and she did all these Polaroids in a series called Private Views and she captured these intimate moments between people’s bodies in the middle of a sweaty summer. And that informed some of our more fragmented close-up, physical, behavioural interactions between characters. And I was also looking at a photographer from the late 60s named Danny Fitzgerald, and he took pictures in his studio of Brooklyn gang members and there’s something very sculptural and simultaneously aggressive and erotic in the portraits.” As our call concludes, we get a little insight into Hittman’s recent foray into the world of popular television: “I did this Netflix show, 13 Reasons Why, and there was obviously a lot of thematic crossover between what I’m interested in and what the show is exploring. A lot of the crew had worked together for like 20 years – there were crew members on the set who had collaborated on The Wonder Years. So there’s most definitely this sense that this still can be a white man’s world, I guess. “There’s definitely an energy of people in that environment wanting to teach you things in this way in which they’re trying to sort of show and exhibit their power and expertise, and you have to believe in yourself and stick to what you planned and push through the day, ultimately, because they weren’t hired to stage the show. They’re hired to operate a camera or to be a second AD. It was a challenging lesson for me in how strong I needed to be in terms of my own vision and get what I needed, because in the end they’re not the ones sitting in the edit suite.” Beach Rats is released 24 Nov by Peccadillo Pictures peccapics.com/product/beach-rats

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Beat Connection For his third album, James Holden has formed a band and drawn on the ethos behind Moroccan Gnawa music. The result is an album filled with a new form of trance music

Photo: Laura Lewis

Interview: Eugenie Johnson

n Moroccan Gnawa music, songs aren’t a finished, structured product. They’re a springboard for discovering new ideas, for the musicians involved to spread their wings and improvise, and for the listener to be taken to a different, trance-like realm. It’s this entrancing effect that ensnared James Holden, igniting a passion for the genre. “Throughout my whole life I’ve liked repetitive, hypnotic things,” he muses. Gnawa music certainly provided that. In 2014, about a year on from the release of his second album The Inheritors, Holden joined fellow producers Floating Points, Vessel and Biosphere for a residency in Morocco. There, he learned about the tradition and made an EP with the late Mahmoud Guinia, a master Maalem – or band leader – of the genre. He also discovered that there was more in common between the traditional style and dance music than there first appeared. “I really like getting in a trance and Gnawa music is for that,” he says. “When they play it in private at religious ceremonies, people properly go into trances and feel healed by the music or the ritual of it.” The trance-like nature of Gnawa can be traced on his new album The Animal Spirits, not least because it’s a hypnotising journey into a heady fusion of electronica and organic instrumentation that’s filled with arpeggiated melodies, percussive beats, brass and swirling tones. As Holden says, he set out to “write trance music and then do it in the style of spiritual jazz.” It’s yet another step in his continuing musical evolution, but aside from the shift to a more organic sound, it’s an album where he’s gone through another significant transformation. He’s not just a solo

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producer anymore. He’s formed a band. The Animal Spirits after whom the album is named were born from touring The Inheritors, where Holden began revelling in the thrill of human connections on stage. “It seemed like the only way to play it was with people, and to have that messiness that you can get when you have a bunch of people together,” he explains. “Having had that amazing experience on tour, and it being the best time of my life in a lot of ways, I felt like on this next record I’d have to try and catch that.”

“ The computer is the weak link, they don’t listen to the other players, they just want to do playback” James Holden

In search of that live spirit, he began to assemble a team who shared his collaborative vision. “I couldn’t have had a celebrity guest,” Holden chuckles, “you have to imagine being on the road with them for a while, but also just having this common purpose.” There’s no guest spots on The Animal Spirits then, but instead it’s a consistent

team effort between him and five others. Longtime collaborators Tom Page and Étienne Jaumet were invited to play, joined by Marcus Hamblett, Liza Bec and Lascelle Gordon. Holden, though, had worked almost entirely alone on The Inheritors, so there was another step he needed to take. He needed to take the reins of the band. He had to become a maâlem. It wasn’t something that came completely naturally to him though. “It’s funny because I’m quite a soft spoken person most of the time,” Holden says. “That’s something where I had to step up, where I had to tell them ‘No, don’t play that bit’, or quieten them down on stage.” He looked to other acclaimed band leaders for inspiration, including the confidence-boosting experience of seeing saxophonist Marshall Allen lead the Sun Ra Arkestra at London’s Cafe Oto. “He was such a masterclass, but at the start of the set he was in such a bad mood, just shutting people up halfway through a note, shouting!” he explains. “I thought, if he can do that, I’m sure I can do it!” Don Cherry and tenor saxophonist Pharoah Sanders were also significant when formulating the vibe that characterises The Animal Spirits. In them, Holden found the rich, full-bodied band sound that he desired, but still with that pulsating hook that excites him so much. “They’re in the jazz section but a lot of their songs have got the same structure as what I was already doing,” he explains. “They have this looping, it’s simple and hooky. It’s not elitist, avant-garde music. Although it’s very intense and very wild, it’s got this structure under it.”

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Much of The Animal Spirits therefore seems structured, formed of consistent loops, but it’s driven by “subconscious activity, rather than human-written, penned-down dry thought.” To capture that sense of the subconscious, Holden attempted to instil a sense of “psychic communication” between The Animal Spirits, showing them the rough structures of songs but then letting them play off each other. Across the course of a week, they recorded two or three tracks a day in live takes with a strict manifesto: no overdubs, no editing (although Holden chuckles that he did record some vocals separately because “rules were made to be broken”). All of this instils a sense of immediacy on the record, and gives it its undeniable texture. “It’s into the fractal microdetail where the human connection comes out, the richness. It’s in the little interactions, the timing,” he explains. There was just one member that wasn’t quite playing ball, however. “The computer is the weak link,” Holden states, “they don’t listen to the other players, they just want to do playback.” Yes, the technology that had given him so much freedom in the past was forming something of a barrier to the organic, free-flowing sound he now desired. Holden wasn’t willing to just accept the nature of computers though. So, he went about humanising the machine. “It’s a bit Pinocchio, the whole thing!” he laughs. Holden’s quest to soften the mechanical was partially inspired by the deceptive simplicity of Mahmoud Guinia’s Gnawa songs. “It’s two or three riffs, with one or two chord changes, but a very simple pattern. They’ll play them for 20, 30, 40 minutes and they never get boring because they never play the same thing twice,” Holden explains. “It’s totally the opposite of dance music, it’s always varying!” He thus set out to make his own software, which helped him to harness human characteristics but with electronic sounds. “All the choosing of notes is done in the moment as opposed to me having done a little sequence of dots on a grid that the computer’s playing,” he explains. “You teach the computer the song in the same way that I teach it to my brass players.” Through it all though, there’s still one, distinctive, human touch: his own. “I’m still in it, I’m still there, with my hands on the keyboard. So it’s actually trying to augment me so I can play more notes with my own two hands!” Naturally for an album inspired by live energy, The Animal Spirits are set to take to the road with their record. Holden is particularly excited about how it will transform itself in different settings. “I found last time that depending on context – so the size of the place or the feel of it and what kind of crowd there is – all affects how we played,” he reflects. He believes those factors will only be more intense for The Animal Spirits. “With this one, having written it with live in mind, it’s got more room to expand and more room to explore. The songs are quite young, so it’ll grow,” he says. “Every live show is going to be a different thing.” Holden can’t wait to take The Animal Sprits on the road, partially to see how the new tracks will transform, but also because he’s energised by the thought of working with his band live. “It’s fun working with people like that, after more than a decade of staring at a computer!” he enthuses. The Animal Spirits are forging a new path, one that explosively fuses spiritual jazz and trance music, further cementing Holden’s place as a trailblazer in electronic music. The Animal Spirits is released via Border Community on 3 Nov jamesholden.org

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November 2017

San Quentin’s Forgotten Prison Poet The story of how a Scottish poetry lover has come to re-publish the work of Ed ‘Foots’ Lipman, the American prison poet it seems everyone had forgotten

he first poem of Ed ‘Foots’ Lipman I ever read was Because San Quentin Killed Two More Today, discovered in a collection published in 1977 called Second Coming Volume 5 No 1, where Lipman appears last out of three poets, alongside A.D. Winans and the infamous Charles Bukowski. I had never been so affected by a poem in my whole life – its honesty and sensitivity were two attributes I had never before associated with the criminal class to which Lipman belonged. So naturally, as is now the way, I searched for his name on the internet, found little to nothing, and felt overwhelmingly compelled to change that. Before experiencing his poetry, I had read a short biography outlining Lipman’s life as a prisoner and a letter that he had written; he mentions the famous prisoner poet William Wantling and asks, “Did he not once graduate from this concrete sewer?” He was, of course, referring to California’s notorious Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation state prison, San Quentin. Even in this environment and among its flawed and frightening characters, Ed ‘Foots’ Lipman was described by those who met him as “something of a legend among prisoners” – a mix between Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke and Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of Randall P. McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Born on New Year’s Day 1941, this MENSA-recognised man then spent almost 15 of his 34 years in the U.S. penal system. He was paroled from San Quentin on the 22 May 1975 and died on the 8 September of natural causes. He had been free for just three months and 17 days. Now, as I sit and write this article about the man, my bed is covered with snippets of information collected over months of research: court transcript documents, prison records, mug shots, finger prints, newspaper cut-outs dating all the way back to his first offence in 1958 - when he stole a ‘57 Buick Sedan from the Iron Coal and

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Coke Company in Wichita Falls, and drove it 6000 miles across America (evading capture eight to ten times), all at the age of 17. There’s a photograph of both him and A.D. Winans at a reading – one of the few pictures of Lipman still in existence. There’s a feature article from a magazine where an inmate recalls the time Lipman refused to give a prison guard the piece of paper that he was writing on (we must imagine it contained a poem). This resulted in a fight and Lipman – the 250pound 6ft 5" Texan – throwing the guard out of his cell. He was visited later by the ‘goon squad’ and subjected to tear gas and clubs, a combination that sent him straight to the prison hospital.

“ Hopefully this will play some small part in Lipman’s name echoing around the prison once more” These are just snippets of a life less ordinary, but my own entry into this story had begun with a late night transatlantic phone call to the San Quentin Prison public relations department, who were, despite their best efforts, not equipped to deal with this bizarre request spoken in Scottish brogue, regarding a prisoner dating back 40 years. Understandable, when all I had was a name. I fared partially better with the Californian State Archives, finding parts of information I had requested: microfiche documents of his mug shot,

Words: S.J. Lawrie Illustration: Alexis Jang fingerprints and prison record. I also submitted a freedom of information request to the FBI, on which I’m still waiting, although it has been acknowledged. At this point, having exhausted all official avenues, I decided to investigate whether the original publisher was still in business. Of course they weren’t, but fortuitously, one of those poets featured, A.D. Winans, was actually the person who had run Second Coming Press, the publisher of the collection that introduced me to Lipman. I checked whether he was alive. He was. I emailed. I waited. Three months went by. Then, a reply, from Winans, now 81 years old and as surprised by my enquiry as I was his reply. He answered all questions, most importantly regarding whether Lipman had further work. It turns out he had published one chapbook, back in 1975, titled No Capital Crime. This was all I needed. I discovered that a rare book dealer in San Francisco had a copy, so contacted him. He knew nothing of Lipman, the chapbook having been bought unintentionally, but for me serendipitously, in a job lot. With another purchase and import expense run up against the ever increasing ‘quest’ account I waited feverishly for it to arrive. It was during this time that I had the idea to re-publish all Lipman’s work. I had no experience doing this but by now was regularly corresponding with A.D. Winans, so ran the idea past him and he was more than happy. I asked Winans once more if there was anything missing, and there was. At some point in the last 40 years Winans had donated all his Second Coming Press work, which included original letters, poems and past issues to Brown University creative archives. “There has to be something in there from Lipman,” he said, sure that there was a tape of both men reading in 1975 – the only recording in existence. So, next stop from the correctional facility that is San Quentin, was the Ivy League. Winans was right, they had everything: prison letters Lipman had sent to friends, first draft submissions of poems, final drafts and newspaper clippings, but more importantly that tape of them both reading. In them, Lipman starts nervously, the first poem is short and there’s no applause from the crowd. He moves quickly on to the next. There’s a pause, then a loud cheering this time. This seems to settle him and he is then entertaining and calm the rest of the reading, even stopping in between poems to tell stories. I knew that I could never profit from another man’s work and that sales from the proposed book, however small, should go to a good cause of which Lipman would have hopefully approved. I started corresponding with a woman who runs the creative writing class at San Quentin and asked if she had ever heard of Lipman. Sadly, another who had not. But we agreed on the charity that provides her funding for San Quentin and Folsom as the best place for any profits to go. Hopefully this will play some small part in Lipman’s name echoing around the prison once more, for all the right reasons. Hopefully it will inspire others trapped behind its walls and wire. It’s difficult to talk about a man like Ed ‘Foots’ Lipman without either glorifying or vilifying him, hard not to concentrate only on his crimes as there seems little else from which to map his life. But then of course, there is the work. So, we end with a line that perfectly sums this up, the last from a short review of unknown origins translated from its original Portuguese, about the poem Prison Poem for Instance. It simply reads. ‘Don’t be misled by the apparent artlessness.’

Timeline Born in Waco, Texas 1 JAN 1941 Aged 17 13 NOV 1958: Arrested for stealing ’57 Buick Sedan Aged 18 5 MAY 1959-11 APR 1963: Awaiting trial for 3 years 11 months Aged 24 11 JAN 1965: Arrested for robbery 9 FEB 1965: Pleads guilty to robbery of first degree 23 FEB 1965: Prison term starts. Five to life Aged 26 7 AUG 1967: Escapes the Halls of Justice in Tujunga, Los Angeles, California Aged 27 2 MAR 1968: Caught after 7 months and 5 days 6 OCT 1968: Attempted escape San Diego County Jail 18 OCT 1968: Court case. Lipman pleads not guilty and acts as his own lawyer. Aged 28 11 FEB 1969: Convicted of attempted escape from lawful custody of the San Diego County Jail by force of violence and kidnapping. 10 years to life. 26 JUN 1969: Sent to San Quentin prison Aged 29 2 OCT 1970: Moved to Folsom Prison Aged 30 9 AUG 1971: Moved to San Quentin Prison Hospital Aged 34 25 MAR 1975: Granted parole 2 MAY 1975: Freed from San Quentin Prison Hospital 8 SEP 1975: Deceased

Only by Flashlight: Collected Poems of Ed ‘Foots’ Lipman is published on 1 Dec, with an introduction by S.J Lawrie. RRP £10

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Brotherly Love Benny Safdie, one half of New York directing duo the Safdie Brothers, tells us about casting erstwhile Twilight heart-throb Robert Pattinson in his breakneck indie crime movie Good Time

here are plenty of talented sibling filmmakers out there: the Wachowskis, the Coens, the Dardennes, the Russos. A pair of New York-based brothers, Joshua and Benny Safdie, should be added to this list. While they’ve been making eyecatching indie films for a decade now, including 2009’s Daddy Longlegs and 2014’s Heaven Knows What, their new feature looks set to bring them to a much wider audience. That new work is blistering crime picture Good Time, starring Robert Pattinson. The former Twilight star’s presence on the poster will no doubt help catapult the brothers’ film towards a more mainstream audience, but make no mistake, Good Time is true to its indie credentials, proving to be a breathless, heart-pounding thriller, complete with a thumping score from Daniel Lopatin aka Oneohtrix Point Never. Good Time follows Connie Nikas (Pattinson), who’s recently been released from prison and is trying to make a living by any means possible. He’s also responsible for the care of his mentally handicapped brother, Nick, played by Benny Safdie, who also co-directs with his brother Josh from a script by their regular collaborator Ronald Bronstein. We speak to Benny Safdie down the phone from New York ahead of Good Time’s UK release (his brother Josh is buried deep in the editing room somewhere else in the city working on a music video project). His speech is quick, rich with a Queens lilt, mixing local idioms with eloquent explanations of characterisation and plot. We begin with the first challenge: how did he find both starring in and directing the film? “I had done it before, but this time I could go deeper because the production scale was much larger,” he explains, referencing John’s Gone, a short film he and his brother made back in 2010.

November 2017

“I was able to do a trust fall into Josh when I could go deeper into the character.” Nick is a challenging role. He’s at the beck and call of Connie, who both protects and controls him, but he often is unable to process his emotions and the situations around him. “I could almost direct from within, and in the meantime let Josh worry about the more technical side of the filming,” Safdie adds. “It was very hectic, and there were times when I couldn’t break character and I would direct in character. I think Rob Pattinson mentioned this once, where I would slip out of character for 20% of the time, then go straight back in.” The challenge of remaining in character and directing was tough for Safdie, mainly because he didn’t want to allow the sympathy he had for Nick to influence his performance. “I didn’t want to bring my baggage to the character,” he explains. “If I felt bad about the situation that Nick was in, I wasn’t going to let that bleed into the performance. There were times when I would get very upset about it and we would have to do another take.” As you might have guessed, the theme of brotherly love is central to Good Time, and it is echoed in the filmmaking process; the casting of Robert Pattinson allowed for a surrogate third brother to be thrown into the mix, says Safdie. “Obviously, Josh is my brother, and he is protective on his end, but Rob also allowed a lot of time off the screen to develop this brotherly relationship.” Pattinson came to the project with a lot of passion for what the brothers were trying to achieve. “He was like a dog with lockjaw and he had latched on to these ideas, and he wanted to understand them to their fullest,” says the director. He was very conscious, however, of the level of fame Pattinson reached at a young age thanks to fandom surrounding The Twilight Saga.

Despite having thrown himself into less commercial projects in the last few years – working with directors ranging from David Cronenberg (on Cosmopolis and Maps to the Stars) to James Gray (Lost City of Z) – fame has continued to chase Pattinson’s heels. But the brothers felt this brought something to his performance as Connie. Like the character, “Rob also had this fear, this sense of being on the run, which comes from his level of fame,” suggests Safdie. The combination of real life experience of feeling chased, and his passion for the ideas in the film was a winning combination. “I think he really wanted to disappear into this character, and we could see that this level of commitment wasn’t just a verbal one. We could see that he really just wanted to go for it.”

“ Rob had this fear, this sense of being on the run, which comes from his level of fame” Benny Safdie

One aspect of Good Time that Safdie is particularly satisfied with, and which many critics have noted as well, is how seamlessly Pattinson dissolves into his character, and not just because of the tatty hoodie and bleach blonde hair he wears. “I don’t feel Rob entering the film, I felt Connie entering the film. I am very proud that, together, we were all able to do that.”

FILM

Interview: Joseph Walsh

We move on to the ideas in the film that Pattinson was so passionate about. Connie is a complex character: he’s a crook, but he’s also a hustler that you can, on some level, sympathise with and it is unsurprising Pattinson was so eager to play him. “Connie can’t keep up with the obstacles that life is throwing at him,” says Safdie. “He oozes the idea that he has control, but as that starts to slip, you know it isn’t going to end well. Connie is pushing against society and society is pushing back very hard.” Since it debuted in Cannes, a lot of ink has been spilled about the political nature of Good Time and how it handles the subject of race. Nick, in his pursuit to help out his brother, will metaphorically throw anyone under the bus in order to survive, and the film is peppered with incidents where Nick uses his white privilege to set up or betray black characters, two of whom are played by Barkhad Abdi and Taliah Webster. “The racial politics were a response to Rob’s character,” says Safdie. “In a way, being exposed to that knowledge he sees how he can take advantage of society to his benefit.” This includes when Nick drugs a security guard and steals his uniform to avoid being arrested by the police. “Connie knows the police won’t even question it. This is massively problematic as a reflection of society.” Yet the character Abdi plays is one of the few aspirational ones in the film, given that he can hold down a job and home (something that the Nikas brothers struggle to maintain). Safdie is keen to stress that the movie isn’t setting out to be overtly political and is very much a genre film, yet he can’t deny that avoiding racial stereotypes was important to them. “Sometimes we don’t like having a mirror held up to our society, but when it is shown to you, you can’t ignore it.” Good Time is released 17 Nov by Curzon Artificial Eye

Feature

LE Y ST FE

Photo: Joan Marcus

Could Musical Theatre Help Fix the World? With the cultural phenomenon that is Hamilton opening at London's Victoria Palace Theatre this December to soldout audiences, Intersections asks why musical theatre remains overlooked as an art form and catalyst for social change

love musical theatre. I’m one of those people. I could sing you the entire West Side Story score solo, including the duets. I harass my boyfriend into watching the old classics with me and then feel smug for the rest of the year when he even marginally enjoys himself. I triumphantly lift my cat in the air to Circle of Life at least bi-quarterly. I wrote my dissertation on Fiddler on the Roof. So the minute I caught a whiff of Hamilton – a hip-hop musical set during America’s revolutionary years – blowing across the Atlantic, I was all over it. A few days in and I’d already listened to the whole soundtrack too many times to admit. I became one of a tidal wave of fans pushing the show to ridiculous levels of success, watching it hoover up 11 Tony awards and making the creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda, a very rich man indeed. It’s a little over two years since it was first performed, and the show has already spread from its sold-out Broadway home, onto Chicago, then on a US tour, and finally to London. The curtain goes up on the West End debut in December, and tickets are almost impossible to obtain. That is, unless you, like me, spent an hour hunched over the refresh key praying to catch a couple of seats for a matinee performance in 2018. And that’s all the more remarkable for the fact that Hamilton is literally a play about dead guys arguing about constitutions and financial policy. Okay, fine, there is a revolutionary war, a couple of tense gun duels and a pretty seductive love triangle, but ultimately the subject matter wouldn’t be out of place on an A Level History paper. It’s the last story you’d expect to find set to a hip-hop and R’n’B soundtrack. But somehow, it works. It’s witty, catchy, and by Act II it feels totally natural that the founding fathers of the USA would conduct their congressional debates in the form of a rap battle. But Hamilton isn’t a sensation just because it’s a damn good musical – there’s way more to it

Lifestyle

than that. It’s an example of how powerful the popular musical can be when it comes to reflecting and commenting on real social issues. The Musical Theatre Myth Musical theatre isn’t just frivolity and glitter. Rent tackled the AIDS crisis. Anti-Vietnam War protesters adopted many of the tunes from Hair as their anthems. Chicago explored what happens when the media interferes with the course of justice (relevant enough today). Cabaret is about the rise of Nazism. These are not light-hearted topics. And in these musicals – and so many others like them – those topics are discussed in a way that, unlike a lot of straight theatre, the audience doesn’t need a tertiary education to understand. So why do we continue to regard musical theatre as tacky – fun for an evening, but not worth mulling over for longer? That myth trickles into academia, too. Though those responsible for my English Literature undergrad syllabus couldn’t get enough of medieval hymns and Reformation operas, any musical written in the last century was apparently unworthy of mention. When I proposed that Fiddler on the Roof essay, my supervisor reacted with nothing but a blank stare and a dubious: ‘…OK.’ Musical theatre may be one of the most well-loved genres in the world, but the academic canon clearly isn’t up to speed. I’ve got a couple of theories about why this is. First of all, musical theatre is mostly enjoyed by women and gay men. You wouldn’t describe it as the realm of the straight male. I can’t help but think, if it was, it might be taken a bit more seriously. The kind of stuff that is predominantly written for female audiences – chick flicks, romance novels and the like – are often considered lesser forms of art. That attitude goes all the way back to the days when Jane Austen, our new £10 gal, was encouraged to write novels as opposed

to poetry or plays, because novels were full of airyfairy girly stuff and easy in comparison. On the other side of this equation, rampant homophobia and the marginalising of anything enjoyed or created by minority groups plays its insidious part in diminishing musical theatre’s respectability rating. The second reason: musical theatre is accessible. Loved by the hoi polloi. The lowest common denominator. And, according to old men in tweed jackets, the bigger the crowd of fans, the more vapid the content. It’s why you still get people finding excuses to shit on Harry Potter despite it being one of the most widely read series of books since the Bible, and countless examples of revolutionary modern musicians being dismissed simply as ‘pop stars’. But how exactly do the gigantic audiences of Hamilton and Harry Potter differ from those of Dickens and Shakespeare? That’s the mystery.

“ Hamilton has done one simple thing: acknowledged that history isn’t all about white dudes” A beacon in a troubled world Hamilton came along at the end of the Obama age, when things seemed to be going swimmingly in the Free World. Now that everything’s gone to absolute shit, the show and its creator have become major players in the anti-Trump resistance. Protesters at the women’s marches back in January held golden signs emblazoned with the Hamilton quote: ‘History has its eyes on you!’ Lin-Manuel Miranda’s

INTERSECTIONS

Words: Rae Glasman

tweet telling the commander-in-chief to go to hell on the ‘fastest golf cart you ever took’ got more than 300,000 likes. All over the internet, it’s inspired memes and fan-art and inspirational posts that cheer for diversity, representation, and tolerance. The show even got an ‘overrated’ stamp from Trump himself, which is really the highest accolade it could have achieved. And why has Hamilton gained this status as a liberal beacon in dark times? It’s done one simple thing: acknowledged that history isn’t all about white dudes. In a country that’s so obsessed with its origins that it carved its founders’ faces into the side of a mountain, the story of Hamilton carries a lot of cultural weight. Taking almost biblical-status figures like Thomas Jefferson and George Washington, giving them an R’n’B libretto and casting black actors in their roles is a powerful statement to make. Sure, Alexander Hamilton was white, and so were most of the other people the show’s characters are based on, but this story isn’t really about them. It’s about who gets to talk through and for them. Who gets to pick and choose which version of history is the right version. Hamilton takes back control over the past, and gives the reins to Americans who’ve always been overlooked and ignored. With that in mind, I implore you to whip open Spotify and stick on the soundtrack. It’s free to listen to. You’re losing nothing. Listen to it from the very beginning, in its intended order. Listen to Lin-Manuel’s genius lyricism and masterful internal rhymes. Notice the beautifully crafted characters brought back to full-bodied life after 300 years of lying dead in textbooks. Learn something about American history. Don’t immediately disregard it because the poetry is set to a rap or a tune, or because the musical style is unfamiliar to you. Give it the same attention you’d hope a novice might devote to getting into Mozart or Chekhov. You just might hook into the zeitgeist and discover a piece of art that’s relevant to the here and now.

THE SKINNY

Dead Women Walking Theresa May’s Frida Kahlo bracelet was more than an intriguing or misguided sartorial choice; it was another example of the worrying way we treat the faces of deceased female icons like Monroe, Winehouse and Princess Diana Words: Kate Pasola Illustration: Jacky Sheridan

magine for a second you can paint. Really fucking fantastically paint. Imagine your works are potent enough to form part of a post-revolutionary movement that reforms the identity of a nation. Imagine your body, battered in your early life by polio, is broken again in a traffic accident. Imagine you persevere, bed-bound, as an artist who chooses your own flesh as a subject. Completely in control, you commit images of your body to technicolour essays that scream uncompromising sentiments on gender, on the colonisation of places and bodies, on fairness, on race, on yourself. Your self-portraits are the vehicle you use to control the world’s perception of you, your paintbrush the steering wheel. Then imagine, 63 years after your death, whenyoucannolongerpaintnorscream,yourmasterpieces are shrunk to thumbnails and printed on to a bracelet. On 4 October 2017, that bracelet ends up on the wrist of a ruinous politician who, tasked with leading a fractured country, splintered it even further. She’s nightmarish, and she addresses a room of despicable people about her despicable actions. Suffering a coughing fit, she balls her hand into a fist and splutters. At that moment, the world gets a lingering look at your self-portraits – six or seven of them in a ring around her wrist. We still don’t know why Theresa May chose to emblazon her right arm with Frida Kahlo’s face at the 2017 Conservative Party Conference. “She clearly has an interest in clothing and jewellery, and her style is used as part of her public identity – at times perhaps to appeal to a broader audience than her politics,” says Alison Slater, a Lecturer in Design History at Manchester School of Art. Slater posited that May perhaps wore the bracelet to signal strength, or perhaps simply due to an appreciation of Kahlo’s paintings and the design. After all, Kahlo’s image is currently in the zeitgeist: think Beyoncé’s meso-American pregnancy shoot; think eyebrow trends; think the V&A’s upcoming Kahlo retrospective. Despite her rich, traumatic, hotly political and contradictionriddled life, Kahlo’s death has transformed her face and aesthetic into a convenient marker of cultural awareness, artsiness and non-committal feminism. “One would think that May or her team of advisers would have some awareness of how what we wear is read and how a wider audience might interpret an item,” Slater continues. “For a party that has spent so much time emphasising Corbyn’s and McDonnell’s socialist views as a potential threat to stability, it is highly unlikely that a Conservative PM would decide to wear something that she (or her team) thought may be read by some as a symbol or representation of communist ideology.” Though we don’t know May’s motive, we do know that Kahlo wasn’t alive to consent nor condemn. “It’s suggested that the bracelet was bought at the Tate after the Kahlo 2005 exhibition,” Slater says. “While later versions are available online, it’s likely the Tate version was (to some degree) endorsed by the Frida Kahlo Corporation.” But would Kahlo herself have approved of such an endorsement – especially if she’d known into whose hands the bracelet might fall? If the reactions of other artists dragged into the 2017 Tory circle-jerk are anything to go by – perhaps not. Take Calvin Harris, who tweeted his 12.5 million followers to denounce the Conservatives’ use of his song at the conference, claiming, “I do not support nor condone happy

November 2017

songs being played at such a sad event.” Likewise, Florence Welch proclaimed to her own fans that the hugely ironic inclusion of her track You Got the Love was unapproved, asking the party to “refrain from using our music in future.” But using the images and art of the deceased is a unique circumstance as the subjects have no agency to respond. It’s a behaviour prevalent across the media, advertising, and the entertainment industry. Take the late Hugh Hefner, who bought early nudes taken of Marilyn Monroe when she was a struggling actor, and used them, without consent nor compensation on the cover of the first issue of Playboy. And that was while she was alive. Now, he continues to exploit her from the grave after buying the burial plot next to her dead body, telling CBS Los Angeles, “It has a completion notion to it. I will be spending the rest of my eternity with Marilyn.” Take also Mitch Winehouse, who continues to benefit financially from opportunistic endeavours linked to Amy’s name: books with unseen handwritten notes, fundraising events for The Amy Winehouse Foundation (which he founded), even, according to The Sun, plans for a West End Musical about her life. Or there’s Princess Diana, whose personal life trickles across the public consciousness in lucrative documentaries and films, creating the illusion that we understand and own the rights to her image and personal history. “In a world of Kardashians” – women are told in meme after patronising meme haunted by her smiling face – “be a Diana.”

“Disempowered women can’t say ‘no’. Dead women can’t say ‘no’. But an absence of no does equate to a yes” Slater is also fascinated by the use of deceased icons, mentioning their use in perfume and chocolate adverts, where original and remastered footage is combined, “blurring the line between past, reality and fiction.” She mentions the likes of Chanel No. 5’s 2013 advert ‘featuring’ Marilyn Monroe, and Dior J’Adore (2011) which starred forcibly revived versions of Monroe, Grace Kelly and Marlene Dietrich. “Interestingly all were shown at the peak of their glamour,” note Slater. “While Monroe died young, and therefore she remains associated with the youthful image beloved by the fashion media, other stars have grown old... Perhaps the most fascinating example I’ve come across are the Galaxy chocolate adverts featuring Audrey Hepburn. They have nothing to do with the product, but sell an image of both a woman, and by extension her films... again at the peak of her career.” She suggests that there are several things at play when it comes to media and capitalist obsession with the faces of the deceased. “A recognisable face for any brand is an essential

marketing tool. A glamorous one who is associated with a luxury lifestyle is even better. But ... it only takes one image or one story for a celebrity to fall from grace. I wonder if playing into the former identities of people whose lives are closed offers a security to a brand image?” According to Slater, it’s also a question of how well equipped those left behind are to take control of a dead relative’s image. “Kensington Palace certainly wouldn’t allow Diana’s image to be used in a way that they deemed unfit or inappropriate, so perhaps it’s also about money and whether one’s estate can afford to maintain your image after death?” It’s important to point out that this issue plays into another, wider debate about consent. If there’s anything recent allegations made towards Harvey Weinstein has taught us, it’s that Hollywood still has lessons to learn about waiting to hear the word ‘yes’. Disempowered women can’t say ‘no’. Dead women can’t say ‘no’. But an absence of no does equate to a yes. But it’s the cultural cryogenesis described by Slater that feels the most insidious and infuriating. Of course, the faces of dead men are also

INTERSECTIONS

frequently iconised – just look at Elvis, Che Guevara and Bob Marley – but the deadness of women seems particularly convenient for those seeking to profit. Complex, autonomous women are diluted and recontextualised for the gain of the industries that made room for their deaths. Where it’s difficult to divorce Marley from his music, religion, attitudes and advocacy of marijuana, Guevara from his status as Marxist revolutionary, and Presley from his middle-aged bloating and lengthening sideburns, the women in question are frozen in time. Because of this, maybe Theresa May mistakenly assumed we’d be too busy admiring Frida’s flower-crown to recall everything she stood for. In a landscape of identity politics and distraction tactics, it’s not expected that we’ll consider context and histories. But the public’s reaction to May’s bracelet is perhaps a testament to the worth of not only art itself, but the importance of the self-portrait. As mentioned by Slater, she “perhaps retains more control in the portrayal of herself than the other women discussed here.” Though Kahlo herself can no longer scream, her art still does.

Lifestyle

Anna Wachsmuth A

nna Wachsmuth is a German artist and photographer, living and working between Glasgow and Berlin. She is a co-founding member of Salon 16, a cross-disciplinary platform for a discussion on contemporary arts in relation to its social and political accountability, and self publishes books and fanzines such as HalfHaiku. Anna has exhibited in Bielefeld, London, Amsterdam, Berlin and Glasgow, the latest being a ‘game-performance’ of Reise nach Jerusalem in the GoMA. She is co-hosting Radio Dacha on Subcity Radio and some new work will be part of the Fertiliser Showcase Exhibition at Worm Aberdeen between 3-18 November. Reise nach Jerusalem Reise nach Jerusalem (Journey to Jerusalem) is the established German name for the game musical chairs, a highly competitive game, mostly played by children on festive events without any reflection on possible relations to the name of the game. The most common explanation is the lack of space on boats to Palestine (under the Ottoman era until 1920, when Palestine became a Mandate of the United Kingdom) related to the Zionist movements: first around the publication Der Judenstaat (The Jews’ State) by Theodor Herzl in 1896, as a response to the increasing antisemitism in Europe, and finally the escape to Israel (from 1948) around WWII.

From this point Wachsmuth developed different strings of research around the element of game/play, language and its normative power shaping our reality and therefore history, repetition and connectivity of human behaviour throughout history represented in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Strategies of play are crucial to Palestinians in order to deal with the oppression through the state of Israel. An example of the play with symbolism is the sculpture Seven Rocks. The common Arabic kids’ game serves as a reference for the rock as a symbol of resistance of the Palestinian people (first/second Intifada) against the IDF with rubber coated steel bullets. The materiality is juxtaposed: rocks are cast in rubber that are piled up against bullets cast in concrete, also referring to the territorial dimension of the Israeli West Bank barrier, just as the glass sheets with the same width as the barrier elements. A reflection on the creation of the body of the Other, as manifested in Western historiography, is visually introduced in the beginning scene of Leni Riefenstahl’s Olympia, (black and white wallpaper), while the Mediterranean Sea (wallpaper waves) has always functioned as a natural border between Europe and the African continent to geographically reinforce this division. annawachsmuth.de

SHOWCASE

THE SKINNY

November 2017

SHOWCASE

Living in Copenhagen If you can get past the bureaucracy, the Danish capital offers a life that blends the great outdoors with top-notch drinking and nightlife Words: Brian Cloughley & Caroline Cloughley

The people of Copenhagen Danes tend to feature highly on lists of life satisfaction, happiness indexes and so on. If you spend an afternoon in Copenhagen, strolling about the parks and harbours, and through the mix of contemporary and 17th century architecture, the reasons for this happiness will become apparent. You’ll spot a million reasons why people should be happy but we bet that the first impression you’ll get of Copenhagen residents is that they’re a fucking grumpy bunch. This brusqueness isn’t a symptom of an underlying dissatisfaction or unfriendliness, rather it comes from Danes’ rejection of small talk. People are to-the-point, to the point of insult. There isn’t even a word for please. You’ll hear people say ‘må jeg bege om...’ – literally ‘I’m begging you’ – but that’s not quite the same. However, and without wishing to go down the road of stereotyping entire nationalities, underneath that gruff exterior lies a heart of gold. It’s not that the people aren’t nice, they can just be a bit tough to break down and tend not to be too chatty with strangers. Let’s just say they’re a bit more Edinburgh than Glasgow in that respect.

Lifestyle

The Danish language Danish is a difficult, weird-sounding language. It’s the pronunciation that makes it so tricky. A language so extraordinarily guttural, that there’s a fine line between speaking and expectorating. Did you know that a handful of Danes die preventable deaths every year because on-lookers fail to distinguish between asking for directions and choking on a sandwich? Obviously you didn’t know that because we just made it up, but it feels quite truthy. The joke in the other Scandic countries is that Danes speak as if they’ve got a potato in their mouths. This isn’t a funny joke, but it is fairly accurate (Danes are by far the funniest Scandinavians so don’t let this example of regional banter dissuade you from coming). Need you bother yourself with such a troublesome language? Well, most people between the ages of 12 and 70 can speak pretty good English and you can find work in the tourist and hospitality industries with English alone. On the other hand, as much as they might enjoy speaking English, people tend to slip back into Danish after a beer or two, and, as we might have mentioned, most Danes take a drink. Fortunately, free Danish lessons are available at different levels of expertise and intensity. As well as their intrinsic value, these lessons are fantastic for meeting some of the diverse peoples arriving Copenhagen for reasons of love, work or war. Cycling and the outdoors You really need to get yourself a bike. People cycle everywhere. This is partly because of high taxes on cars and partly because cycle lanes are built

Credit: Thomas Høyrup Christensen / Copenhagen Media Center

Nightlife and LGBTQ life in Copenhagen You know how we said three sentences ago that we wouldn’t stereotype the population of an entire country? Well, we’ve changed our mind. Danes like a drink. Happily, there’s lots of places where you can join in. At the bottom of the budgetary scale are an abundance of cheap bodegas. These are invariably brown, smoky rooms populated by middle-aged men playing dice (you might also find a table or two of hipsters). The smokiness comes from actual cigarettes, because pubs under a certain size can allow smoking if they want to (and they all want to). At the opposite end of the scale you’ll find plenty of cocktail bars more than happy to empty your wallet. The cocktail scene in Copenhagen is serious and seriously good. Throughout the city you’ll find places with radically different moods and clientele – Ruby and The Barking Dog are two to check out. In between these extremes there’s a burgeoning craft beer scene, led by the impeccable breweries Mikkeller and Brus. The beer epicentre is the rapidly gentrifying Nörrebro area. Copenhagen’s also a fantastic place to be gay; the LGBTQ scene is huge and constantly evolving. As well as the bars and clubs on Studiestræde and elsewhere, there are a couple of events that tie things together. Copenhagen Pride is in August, and is palpable throughout the city all weekend. Perhaps more noteworthy is Copenhagen MIX, one of the oldest LGBTQ film festivals in the world. It’s held in November with some extra open air screenings in the summer. How does Stranger by the Lake in Ørstedsparken sound? That might be a specialist taste, but regardless of your sexual orientation you’re probably going to end up at Cosy sometime. It’s open 'til 8am for when, for whatever reason, you don’t want the night to end.

Credit: Jacques Holst / Copenhagen Media Center

Moving to Copenhagen If you’re thinking about moving to Copenhagen, well, good luck. This beautiful, cool, safe city is becoming increasingly inaccessible to people from outside the EU which, and we apologise if we’re the ones breaking the news to you, could soon include you. The hard-line Danish immigration minister is in the process of making moving to Denmark as difficult and unattractive as possible. Copenhagen is generally more liberal than the rest of Denmark, and votes accordingly, but the national mood over the country these past few years is causing the door to this fine place to gradually close. Even immigrants from within the EU will face some institutional barriers. Most government agencies in Denmark are fond of a bit of Kafkaesque bureaucracy, so be prepared for some head-breakingly frustrating regulations. You won’t be able to open a bank account without a Danish ID-number (CPR), but you need an address to obtain a CPR. The punchline is – and we’re sure you saw this coming from a mile away – it’s impossible to get a flat without a bank account. Getting a job is the key to answering this riddle. If you manage to sort out a job before you get here, then you’ll be able to get a CPR and things will fall into place a bit more easily. Or alternatively you could study. It’s free and even international students are eligible to apply for government support. Regardless of how you do it, the system can be tough to break in to but rewarding once you do. Generous parental leave, sick pay and holiday entitlements are the promised land for 40 years of form filling. These come at the price of being one of the highest-taxed places on earth, but if you avoid studying your payslip too closely it seems a price worth paying. Finding a place to stay is tough too. Social media is probably the best way to find a rented room or flat, particularly Facebook. No matter where you end up, you can be guaranteed that the bathroom will be tiny, more than likely with a shower that’s pretty much on top of the toilet. If you manage to find a reasonably priced place with a bath, then you’re either extremely lucky or a blatant liar.

into the infrastructure, but it’s mostly because it’s an ingrained cultural norm. You live in Copenhagen, you cycle. The number of cyclists is just staggering. Hazardous too, if you forget to look where you’re walking. Buying the right bike involves a tricky balancing act. You want a decent bike if you’re going to be using it every day, but you don’t want something so good that it's going to get stolen ten minutes after you’ve bought it. Bike theft is very common, in a city with otherwise relatively little crime. Mind you, this writer’s current bike is pretty decent and has lasted three years now with only a stolen saddle to report (and that was pinched from the Roskilde music festival rather than in Copenhagen). You should probably wear a helmet but few people do, and you’re also going to get severely wet occasionally (Copenhagen weather, sadly, is only a slight upgrade on central Scotland). As well as cycling, people in Copenhagen really seem to enjoy active outdoor lives, even in the city centre. There are tons of parks, from the seemingly never-ending Fælledparken to wee bits of greenery that have been snuck into unexpected places. There’s lots of places to skateboard, play football or slide down a chute depending on your

TRAVEL

preference, age and level of inebriation. But really, the pinnacle of outdoor life in Copenhagen is swimming in the harbours at Amager Strand and Islands Brygge. On a hot summer day (and you are guaranteed at least a couple every summer), it’s an unmatched delight. Get down there and show off your peely wally body posthaste. Style and fashion Danish design is largely about functionality and simplicity. Decorative things need to serve a purpose, and not be over-designed or unnecessarily frivolous. This distaste for excess spans across jewellery, ceramics and clothes – you’ll see it reflected in the independent shops and markets across the city. Copenhagen people are stylish in the same way. Sleek but comfortable is the rule here, and go easy on the make-up. Even in fanciest of places you’re likely to see more trainers than stilettos, and fashion is understated and subtle. That’s not to say there aren’t a few normcore tragics lurking around but in the spirit of diversity and inclusiveness that Copenhagen fosters, this should be tolerated as best one can. Find out guides to moving to cities around the world at theskinny.co.uk/travel/livingabroad

THE SKINNY

Bubbling Up We try our hand at the noble art of fermentation, and do our best not to blow anything up in the process

Words: Peter Simpson Illustration: Sonny Ross

e’re sitting in Aizle, the delightful forageto-plate restaurant in Edinburgh’s southside, eyeing a range of glasses with varying degrees of suspicion. There’s the kombucha blended with grenadine, and there’s the kombucha that’s been mixed with ginger and citrus. They’re delicious, intriguing sippers that have a nice tart kick to them. Then there’s the kombucha that’s been working away for two months, mixed with nothing. We take a sip – don’t know if you’ve ever been punched in the face by someone made entirely of vinegar, but that’s the vibe here. Challenging, we believe is the word. The kombucha, akvavit and citrus cocktail is lovely, as is the puffed beef tendon with Xo sauce and purslane. Also on the table is a small brown paper bag, but we’ll get to that in a second. First of all, a quick primer on one of the year’s hottest food trends – fermentation. Put extremely simply, fermentation takes place when the sugars in a food are broken down by yeasts and bacteria. That breakdown creates the acidity, the funky smell and flavour and the ‘good bacteria’ that allow you to smell something like kimchi at twenty yards away, and has powered everything from sourdough to kefir to the aforementioned kombucha. Food or drink goes in, funky version of food or drink comes out. Sounds fairly straightforward, we thought, so we decided to arm ourselves with some rudimentary fermentation gear and give it a bash. We haven’t died or sparked a botulism outbreak, so we’re already off to a positive start. Tepache We decided to kick off with something easy, something that would probably taste nice, something whose main ingredient was on special offer in the supermarket at the time. Tepache is a Mexican beverage made up of pineapple, ginger, cinnamon, chilli, brown sugar, and water. This one’s pretty simple; start by taking all those marbles and pencils out of that mason jar you bought at IKEA, sterilise it (the jar, not the whole of IKEA), and throw in your ingredients. Stick the lid on, close the lid, and – here’s the crucial part – make a note of when this first stage took place.

“ A kombucha scoby looks a bit like a mushroom that's gone off the rails” You see, ginger’s very active when it comes to fermentation, and it’ll team up with the natural yeasts in the pineapple rind to begin the process. Those two start to break down the pineapple solids and the sugar, converting the sugars into alcohol but also producing carbon dioxide. Because it’s sealed, this process will keep going until a) it runs out of fuel, b) you let some of the gas escape by opening it or c) the CO2 builds up and builds up and blows the whole thing to pieces, covering your kitchen in pineapple and broken glass. Just don’t give it longer than a week and you should be fine. Next step is to strain it off and bottle it up for secondary fermentation. This stage allows the liquid to carbonate, so you’ll need to leave a good amount of space at the top of the bottle unless you fancy playing the lead role in TepOUCH-e: The True Story of How An Exploding Glass Bottle Broke One Man’s Nose. Seal up your ‘pache, leave it on the counter for a few days and boom – you have yourself a sour, tangy, fruity drink that goes well with a splash of rum. As a beverage, it’s

November 2017

decent – fizzy tropical drinks are quite easy to find in shops and most of those don’t require setting aside sections of your kitchen – but as a grownup science experiment it’s a surprising amount of fun, provided you like looking at things in jars. Kombucha And if you like looking at things in jars then you’re in luck, because-good lord-kombucha is a Thing in a Jar. First developed in China two millennia ago, kombucha’s a tea-based fermented drink that’s packed to the brim with good bacteria (like those Yakult adverts always talked about). The theory is that those bacteria help your gut and aid in your ‘general’ health; we’re not doctors, so we can’t say definitively whether that’s the case, so we’ll just end this sentence here having thrown some doubt on the subject. To make kombucha, you really don’t need many ingredients – you’ll need tea, sugar, water, a jar to put it all in, and one other thing. The thing that was in the paper bag from earlier; a thing that, in its

purest form, looks like a blobfish fucked a Danish pastry. A scoby (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast) is basically a portable kombucha factory; leave it in some sugary tea and the bacteria inside will release themselves and turn the liquid into kombucha. It looks deeply strange, a bit like a mushroom that’s gone off the rails. Suspend anything in liquid and it’ll take on a bit of a ‘weird things happening down the lab’ vibe, but this particular organism takes the biscuit, then spits it out having turned it into kombucha. The kombucha process doesn’t take long – the bacteria go to work immediately, so your kombucha will be on the way within the week. Strain most of the liquid off once you’re happy with the flavour, add some fresh tea and sugar, and it’ll start again. The scoby keeps growing and growing, so you can give layers to your friends and/or enemies to get them involved. It’s basically the liquid equivalent of a sourdough starter, and the culinary equivalent of a puppy in that it demands your attention, smells a bit funny, and has a habit

FOOD AND DRINK

of attracting nearby owners and enthusiasts. Then there’s the taste. It’s pretty sharp – some of the bacteria that make up the kombucha scoby are the same that power your favourite vinegars – as well as being tangy and sour, so if you’re in this for shits and giggles rather than for your health you’ll probably need to blend it up with something else. Some recommend bottling it up with fruit juices to give it a sweetness while also keeping the bacteria fed with sugar, while Aizle primarily use finished kombucha in cocktails or mixed drinks to get a bit of funkiness into otherwise funk-less beverages. We have a large jar of the stuff sitting in our kitchen, so are open to suggestions. Is kombucha the nicest flavour in the world? Honestly, no – but it does have a certain something about it. And if you’re looking for a healthy alternative to homebrewing, or just fancy getting a very low-maintenance pet who lives in your kitchen, then we have your winter sorted. We’ll be the ones trying to offload bits of scoby on everyone who passes...

Lifestyle

Food & Drink News Exciting beers, vegan food festivals and the beginning of the Christmas food and drink season feature in November’s food events guide Words: Peter Simpson

e’ll keep things simple to start this month, with the innocuously-titled Street Food event at this year’s Dundee Science Festival. Having lured you in with that straightforward name, you’ll explore the links between bacteria and ice cream, find out about malaria’s link to gin & tonic, and try what are euphemistically referred to as ‘surprising snacks’. We’re sure they’ll be totally fine. 2 Nov, 6pm, Discovery Centre at University of Dundee, £5, dundeesciencecentre.org.uk Over in Glasgow it’s soup time, with the Momma’s Boy noodle pop-up at top-drawer beer and curry outpost Crossing The Rubicon. Meatlovers can bash into a bowl of chicken broth, veggies can grab themselves a Japanese-inflected Scottish soup, and everyone can have a lovely beer. What’s not to like? Nothing, we say. 2 Nov, from 5pm, 372-374 Great Western Rd, Glasgow Here in the food section, there’s only one thing we like more than challenging, complex beers – and that’s obscure references to The Simpsons. Salt Horse’s Max Sour Week provides both, and it’s centred on eight ‘barrel aged, wild, funky, tart beers’ from across the country. Head down, try something a bit different, be unsure at first, come around eventually, thank us later. From 8 Nov, 57-61 Blackfriars St, Edinburgh, salthorse.beer If you want to keep things healthy ahead of a predictable December blowout, Glasgow Vegan Festival is a solid option for this month. Promising 50 stalls featuring the best of vegan produce and goodies, as well as full programmes of talks and demos and a wide range of food vendors, it’s our pick of November if you want to keep things meatfree and healthy. Seriously, from here on in it’s mostly just beer and sweets. 11 & 12 Nov, 10.30am -4pm, Trades Hall, 85 Glassford St, £3, facebook. com/glasgowveganfestival Next, beer and sweets! Depressingly absent from a lot of fancy drinks menus, the combination of bitter beer and sugary confectionery is a winner. Grunting Growler in Glasgow’s West End know what’s up, serving up an Old School Sweets and Beer pairing evening this month in collaboration with Stirling brewery Fallen. For the cost of admission you’ll get five beers and a big load of sugar – that sounds like a solid evening to us. 16 Nov, 6pm, 51 Dumbarton Rd, Glasgow, £12, facebook. com/glasgowgrowler On the same day over in Edinburgh, you can make an early start on your Christmas shopping with the Vino Winter Wine Tasting event. OK, we say ‘Christmas shopping’, we mean Christmas booze planning, for this is a land of top-notch wines and spirits waiting for your carefully-honed palate. Plus you get a free glass which we’re sure you could use as a Christmas present, so everyone’s happy! 16 Nov, 7.45pm, Summerhall, Edinburgh, £15, vinowines.co.uk Craft Beer Revolution festival returns this month for a weekend-long takeover of Assembly Roxy in Edinburgh. Beer-wise there’s an impressive line-up of brewers from across Scotland and from further afield – The Skinny heartily recommends getting a pint of Munich’s own Schneider Weisse, and to check out Stone Brewing Co. from California – as well as the usual mix of street food and music that turns a day at the pub into the more socially acceptable ‘day at a beer festival’. Two thumbs up. 23-25 Nov, various times, 2 Roxburgh Pl, Edinburgh, £6-14, revolutioncraftbeer.com

Lifestyle

Nam Tuk

New Venues From top-drawer pizzas to brilliant new beer bars, our pick of the best new spots in Edinburgh and Glasgow Words: Peter Simpson East Pizzas We have some bad news to pass on. One of our favourite pizza joints in Edinburgh, Wildmanwood, is closed until next year thanks to building work right outside its front door. The good news is that East Pizzas, another addition to the crop of new venues down at the Shore, is here to fill the gap. Tasty Neapolitan-style pizza made with great local ingredients, a simple menu and some tasty local beers to go with it – it’s all we really want a lot of the time, and now we know where to get it. 7 Commercial St, Edinburgh, facebook.com/eastpizzas Chameleon On the edge of Stockbridge, Chameleon has plenty going for it. The food is an inventive mix of tapasstyle small plates so there’s a chance to bash into lots of flavours in one sitting. The drinks menu is full of intriguing cocktails with interesting-butnot-ridiculous names. The decor screams ‘tasteful Batcave’, so expect to find yourself spending a bit of time inside working through those menus. 48 Howe St, Edinburgh, facebook.com/chameleon Nam Tuk Tram Stop Do you ever struggle to find a dinner spot on which everyone in your group can agree? Well, the days of leaving the most infuriating friend at the bus stop are over, thanks to the pan-Asian flavours of Nam Tuk Tram Stop. The menu genuinely has a bit of everything on it – sushi, Thai soups, Japanese katsu, Taiwanese Old Fashioneds, five kinds of Soju – so it could prove to be a boon for the dinnerplanners of Glasgow’s West End. 2 Partick Bridge St, Glasgow, namtuk.co.uk

Koelschip Yard 17 lines filled with independent beers from breweries around the world, with a focus on funky and interesting tipples. A rarely-spotted ‘no cash’ policy that means an evening at the pub doesn’t have to end with you jingling like a drunk piñata, £15 in coins lining your pockets. ‘Outstanding Scotch Eggs’ and rabbit salami in lieu of a kitchen. Koelschip Yard, how have you managed to read our minds so thoroughly? 686-688 Pollokshaws Rd, Glasgow, koelschipyard.beer Wee Beer Shop Also new to the Southside is Wee Beer Shop, a great option if you want to get your hands on some great beers but don’t fancy dealing with any pesky members of the public. WBS’ range is a diverse one, pulling in cans and bottles from breweries from all over the map, so if you have even the most passing interest in beer then check out the shelves. We think you’ll be pleased with what you find. 623 Pollokshaws Rd, Glasgow, weebeershop. co.uk Loop and Scoop Churros – they’re comforting, they’re sugary, they’re delicious, and now they have their very own home in Glasgow. That’s the ‘Loop’ part of the equation at Loop and Scoop; the rest comes in the form of tasty, tasty gelato. Combine the two together and you’re laughing (while you wipe the sugar and chocolate off your face). 665 Great Western Rd, Glasgow, facebook.com/loopandscoop Vote for your favourite new food and drink spot in The Skinny Food & Drink Survey at theskinny.co.uk

East Pizzas

FOOD AND DRINK

THE SKINNY

November 2017

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Illustration: Mica Warren

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Under the Influence

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With The LaFontaines’ sophomore record – Common Problem – just released on 27 Oct, the band let us in on some of the artists, albums and songs that helped inform the record

Photo: Ryan Johnston

Interview: Tallah Brash

Bedřich Smetana I usually write most of my ideas in the car; it’s one of the few places – outside a studio environment – where one can scream and shout without being judged too much. When I’m not writing songs in the car, I’m avoiding road-rage in the car, [which] is where Smetana comes into the picture. He will always be one of my favourite composers to pop up on Classic FM in-between all the adverts about life insurance, cruise holidays and over-50s dating sites. His Moldau movement is one of those numbers that gives your brain total peace and leaves your soul feeling all massaged and new. Ironically, the man himself went completely deaf, suffered a mental collapse and died in an asylum – not ideal. [John Gerard] Tennessee Ernie Ford This guy’s voice always puts a smile on me. He serves as a good reminder that you don’t need a rack full of multi-band compressors, CPU-melting reverb plug-ins and a dozen synth sequencers. His biggest tune, Sixteen Tons, is a rough-andready ode to fatalism, which was probably recorded live with no more than four microphones. No artist tickles as me as much as Ernie. The bassbaritone voice, mousy wee moustache, sharp suits and overall overload of old-school manliness makes for one enviable combo. Thanks to him I don’t let the little technicalities of songwriting bog me down, I just remember to have fun with it. [JG] Blur – Song 2 [Blur, 1997] Due to the nature of our sound it can sometimes be quite worrying how each song is going to sit next to each other on an album. Obviously once the vocals are on it's a lot easier to picture this but these are usually the last part of the puzzle and the music lives as instrumentals for many

November 2017

months and sometimes years. One thing I began doing when writing for this album is putting distortion on all of the drums in order to try and make it sound like this song. I kept doing it on every demo and eventually it became a subtle musical way of linking all of the tracks together. When we began tracking the album the first thing Joe Cross – who produced the album with us – picked up on was this effect and how it tied everything together, which you can hear in the final product if you listen out for it. [Darren Caughey] Benji B Benji B broadcasts on BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra from 1am to 4am every Wednesday night/Thursday morning and I have been listening to his show every week for around the last two years. The show has no set genre or playlist constraints and through this I have discovered numerous MCs, artists & producers who have inspired my production style and led me to think about music differently. He also co-produced the song Fade by Kanye West, which inspired the closing track on the album, Asleep. [DC] Royal Blood I’m not even that big a fan of this band but when they came out it was refreshing to see two people making heavy, aggressive riff-based guitar music in a modern pop format, and for it to be so well received and sound so huge. This inspired me to think we could do something similar and not to hold back on throwing some heavier elements and riffs into this album, especially on the album opener Explosion, and Armour. [DC] Run The Jewels – Run The Jewels 3 [Run The Jewels, Inc., 2017] Since releasing our debut album Class, I hadn’t written in over a year-and-a-half. Not one single

verse. Caught between touring, life, and just not having any desire to actually sit with some music, I needed something to kick me up the arse. I feel like RTJ3 put me through some sort of lyrical boot camp, and it provided the perfect soundtrack to inspire the troops. I think with everything that was going on in the world at the time (and even more so now) it showed me that it was sound to get politically charged on a record, as long as it was coming from a genuine place. As a side note, that’s why I didn’t like the recent Eminem BET cypher everyone was losing their shit over. It just felt like forced aggression to me. [Kerr Okan] TV On The Radio – Wolf Like Me [Return to Cookie Mountain, 2006] I was driving home from Edinburgh about 2am last December, listening to DLZ by TV On The Radio. Apparently I was swerving all over the road (if you listen to the tune, you’ll maybe know why. It just feels like you should be doing big swooping turns in your car to that song…) – I was pulled over by the traffic polis. Anyway, after getting a slap on the wrists I jumped back in my car to find I had an email from Daz (Darren) with a new demo, ROW it was titled. I fired it on, and it instantly gave me the same sort of feeling that Wolf Like Me did. It’s the overall energy of the song. The drum beat on the toms and the driving bass line throughout. I came up with the rhythm and parts of the lyric before I got home. That song is now called Hang Fire and you can hear it on our new album. [KO] Stormzy – Big For Your Boots [Gang Signs & Prayer, 2017] We recorded the album down in Manchester and I can [remember] drivin’ from our digs to the studio [and] this came on the radio. I was horrified. I had never heard anything worse. Absolutely fuckin’ hated every second. I thought the lyrics were

Music

total drivel, shite beat and felt it was all style over substance. The more it came on the radio, the more nauseous I felt. Anyway, after the bazillionth time, I listened from a different perspective and understood it. I really like Stormzy now and listened a lot down in Manchester. There’s still an element of it to me that’s absolute guff, but if you just take it for what it is then it’s actually great entertainment. [Jamie Keenan] Anderson .Paak – Malibu [Steel Wool Records, 2016] We toured with Anderson .Paak round Europe the year before [he recorded] this album. He’s probably the most talented guy that me, or the band have met personally. Unbelievable singer/ rapper and performer. He’s also one of the best drummers I’ve ever seen. Frighteningly good. At night time down in Manchester when the rest of the boys went to bed, I sat up drinking beer and watching his videos on YouTube. Him and Chance the Rapper. A particular highlight for me is his Tiny Desk concert. [JK] Oasis – (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? [Creation Records, 1995] I used to put my headphones in and swagger along to this. It still excites me listening to this album, straight from the first bars of Hello. Liam Gallagher’s voice is great on it. Arrogant, optimistic and full of youthful energy. The lyrics are brilliant too. I love every song on that album. [JK] Common Problem is released via A Wolf at the Door Records on 27 Oct; The LaFontaines play Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, 31 Oct and Barrowlands, Glasgow, 18 Nov thelafontaines.co.uk

Review

Spirit Animals With their debut album, Fly Invisible Hero, set for release this month, we speak to BDY_PRTS about their writing process, pop sensibilities, friendship and, surprisingly, llamas... Interview: Stephen Butchard

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“ We met the day that we wrote our first song, which is probably quite unusual” As frequent travellers, we ask why Glasgow makes for a good base? “People will help one another out,” says Reeve. “Everybody’s skint as well, and that comes into it too. You do it because you love it... We received funding from Creative Scotland and PRS Women Make Music. We’ve been able to pay people that we love and respect the money that they deserve for doing the work, but I think even if we didn’t have that, they’d do it anyway.” O’Sullivan agrees, “Nobody is up their own arse.” The openness of the Glasgow scene has given the band a greater pool of sounds to play with, but their connection is key: “What the song is exists between me and Jill in the room while we’re writing,” Reeve says. “We’re not really sure where the original idea comes from,” O’Sullivan

Preview

LILURA

Photo: Cameron James Brisbane

LILURA, Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, 5 Nov LILURA – real name Jemma Tweedie – hails from the small seaside town of Nairn, just outside of Inverness, so it’ll come as quite the surprise when you hear the dark electro-pop music she’s creating. Set to release her brand new single Darkest Desire this month, it was co-written by Dan Richards, who’s best known for his work with One Direction. Needless to say, LILURA is one to watch. Support comes from fellow Highlander Josephine Sillars & The Manic Pixie Dreams. You can also catch them at The Hug & Pint, Glasgow, 7 Nov.

Photo: Michael Carver

The last time Mike Hadreas, aka Perfume Genius, graced us with his undeniably beautiful presence, it was in support of The xx at the SWG3 Galvanizer’s Yard at the end of August, but now he’s back and headlining his own show at The Art School. Expect hips that won’t quit, gorgeously heartfelt vocals and soundscapes that will make even the tiniest hairs on your arms stand on end. Support tonight comes from the stunning Julianna Barwick.

Tune everything, you end up with a really sanitised sound, and I don’t think that’s us at all.” BDY_PRTS have had success already, but streaming has made it more challenging to survive. Reeve is audibly frustrated. “We had almost a quarter-mill plays of Cold Shoulder. While that’s good, the amount of money that we had for those plays was not good...” Suddenly, our connection collapses. Eerily, Reeve’s voice breaks up the moment we mention Spotify. We suspect subterfuge. But the duo know each other well enough to translate thoughts, it seems. After a moment of silence, O’Sullivan concludes: “I think you can get to a point where you think, you know what, there’s sometimes more power in doing things yourself.” Fly Invisible Hero is released via Aggrocat Records on 24 Nov BDY_PRTS play Beat Generator, Dundee, 29 Nov; Stereo, Glasgow, 1 Dec; Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, 2 Dec bdyprts.com

Sylvan Esso, SWG3, Glasgow, 12 Nov

Perfume Genius, The Art School, Glasgow, 2 Nov

adds. “It sort of feels like an organic creature that’s growing and getting new limbs as it grows...” Reeve continues: “This is the thing! You could never say ‘Oh I wrote that melody.’ The lyrics tend to happen at the same time. “Then we go to Jonny [Scott] who’s working with us on the production, who’s also our drummer. Jonny’s take on things then informs how that song takes shape.” Tyler, The Creator, Kendrick Lamar and 90s R’n’B are just some of the surprising influences that appear on Fly Invisible Hero, while much of its humble swagger evokes Fleetwood Mac. “There are influences coming from all over the shop,” says Reeve, “but I’m taking cues from what Jill is doing, and vice versa.” Self-releasing means the pair have total control and every element can be their own vision, heard in the raw vocal presentation. “It is those things that make albums or songs human,” O’Sullivan says. “If you rule all that stuff out and you Auto-

Jenny Reeve

Do Not Miss

Perfume Genius

BDY_PRTS

Photo: Stephanie Gibson

in that house.” O’Sullivan adds, “We were put in a room that was quite cold. At some point, James Yorkston wandered in and sort of boasted about how him and Scott from Frightened Rabbit were playing in a room that had a fireplace, so me and Jenny were like, ‘Our goal now is to oust them’, and we somehow managed to convince them that the room we were in was better than theirs.” “I think that was about six hours in and they were finished anyway…” Reeve recalls; O’Sullivan adding: “Aah those bastards!” It was two years after writing those initial songs that BDY_PRTS became fully-formed. “We were just too busy having a nice time,” Reeve laughs. “It would be ‘let’s just go out for one pint’, and somehow, it [would be] five in the morning in front of a casino.”

North Carolina-based Sylvan Esso are Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn, and they’re bloody great. It’s as simple as that really. If you need proof, just listen to their back catalogue – which includes bangers like H.S.K.T., Coffee, Just Dancing, and Radio – and if you’re not 100% in and dancing your butt off by the end, we’ll give you your money back (not really though). In all honesty, they’ve two excellently bleepy pop records under their belt, and they don’t play over here very often so you should check them out live while you can. Go on, treat yourself!

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Sylvan Esso

Aldous Harding

Aldous Harding, The Art School, Glasgow, 17 Nov The inimitable talent that is New Zealander Aldous Harding, who released her sophomore record Party via 4AD back in May, self-describes her sound as “gothic-folk.” Her album is one of stunning beauty – wrought with emotion, Harding’s voice twists and contorts throughout, yet is always identifiable as her own. Live, Harding appears almost possessed by her music; utterly bewitching, intense and an absolute must-see.

THE SKINNY

Photo: Cat Stevens

e and Jenny both used to have fringes, and llamas kinda have those wee fringes?” Jill O’Sullivan cackles. “Llamas – they seem social yet dignified, compassionate yet, y’know, they won’t take shit from anybody.” “They’ll spit on you,” Jenny Reeve interjects. “They have, over the years that we’ve been writing, developed into our spirit animal. They’ve worked their way into our consciousness. They chose us. We didn’t choose them.” This llama chat isn’t out of the blue – Reeve is currently on the outskirts of Brisbane, Australia visiting family. The large farmland she’s staying on has alpacas, who the band would throw into that same ‘spirit animal’ category. “The alpacas are at the bottom waiting for their breakfast. There’s a collie dog called Sally and she’s at the door right now whining. Sally’s my new pal,” Reeve says. “And there’s chickens as well! Every so often the chickens will run past the window.” “That’s amazing!” O’Sullivan responds. The two have some light catching up to do given the time difference (O’Sullivan is currently in Glasgow), but travelling is nothing new for the duo. Both have family abroad – O’Sullivan’s are in Chicago – and the relentless life of a touring musician is initially what drew them together. “You see a van and your bandmates,” O’Sullivan starts. “We tour with guys so – I’m just going to go ahead and say it – you see your bandmates’ hairy butt cracks. That’s not a complaint, I just think that we bonded in that way.” Conversation is shockingly fluid for a threeway Skype, which is in part down to the pair’s professionalism. Both have lived much of their lives in bands – Reeve, as well as having performed with the likes of The Reindeer Section and Arab Strap, is perhaps best known for Strike the Colours, and O’Sullivan’s work with Sparrow and the Workshop is just as celebrated. After working in an indie-rock background, BDY_PRTS are one of many acts exploring the thrill of contorting pop music’s usual shapes. “We met the day that we wrote our first song, which is probably quite unusual...” Reeve tells us of their involvement in the Fruit Tree Foundation musician’s workshop in 2010. “We could have been put together with any combination of writers

If Walls Could Talk Jonnie Common's been so busy lately he wrote a song about it – we catch up with him at Glasgow's Hug & Pint to talk about his recent appearance on the Beeb and making music out of museums The McManus by using the building as an instrument in its own right. Incidentally, The McManus does house a bunch of musical instruments, though most are too precious to touch. “Some of the stuff could totally crumble as soon as you tried to tune it,” Common explains. Even the ones that can still be played may only be used under strict supervision. “They have a piano that’s like 300-years-old and they’re in the process of getting each key recorded,” he says. “That apparently is a two year process just because of the risk involved to the actual piece. Everything is super red taped-up.” Common has applied to ring a single silver bell, but whether he’ll be the one who gets to ring it is still up in the air. “It’s one of the few instruments they actually have on public display and I just thought, yeah, what’s ringing that once really gonna do to it, is it really going to harm it?” It’s understandable, then, that he’s more interested in the sounds of the building itself. “The most exciting thing is I’ve been doing impulse responses in the actual gallery,” he says. “You put a speaker at one end of the room, put mics at the other, and then you pump out a sweep that goes

through all frequencies and the mics record that. Then you subtract the original recording from it, squash it down, and you can then use it as a reverb.” What he ends up with is like a sonic profile of the space which he can then attach to any piece of audio in order to subtly modify how it sounds, almost as if each room had its own accent.

“ Some of the stuff could totally crumble as soon as you tried to tune it” Jonnie Common

And if giving new meaning to the term ‘chamber pop’ wasn’t enough, Common also recently made his national television debut appearance on the BBC Two broadcast Missing Episode. Written by Edinburgh-born poet Ross Sutherland, it cen-

Jonnie Common

Strange Behaviours: Winter Party, Tolbooth, Stirling, 18 Nov Remember when Strange Behaviours threw their summer party back in July? Well, they’re back with a flippin’ wonderful winter edition featuring some of our favourites. Throughout the evening you’ll be able to catch a veritable feast of eclectic acts across three different stages, including revered psychedelic Eigg-based pop folky Pictish Trail; Paisley grime artist Shogun; and The Lochbacks, an a capella group featuring Be Charlotte, members of Pronto Mama and Louie from Hector Bizerk.

October 2017

Jonnie Common will perform live at the Light Night celebrations; Drawn to Light, The McManus Gallery, Dundee, 25 Nov jonniecommon.com | mcmanus.co.uk

Kllo, Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, 28 Nov

Belfast post-rock mostly-instrumentalists And So I Watch You From Afar recently released their fifth studio album, The Endless Shimmering, via Sargent House (Deafheaven, Chelsea Wolfe, Boris) who they’ve been with since 2013’s All Hail Bright Futures. The Endless Shimmering exemplifies the phenomenal talent of ASIWYFA as it’s filled with precise, punishing breakdowns and rapid-fire, disorienting changes in tempo and mood. Live, they create a wall of sound. Earplugs at the ready!

And So I Wacth You From Afar

David Thomas Broughton

David Thomas Broughton, The Hug & Pint, Glasgow, 27 Nov David Thomas Broughton is one of those unique singer-songwriters who has the ability to instantly silence a room when he starts singing. Touring 2016’s Crippling Lack record this winter will see DTB enlist the help of different collaborators every night, making each show different, so if you’re willing and able, it might also be worth your while catching him at James Yorkston’s Tae Sup wi’ a Fifer night at the Adam Smith Theatre, Kirkcaldy, 25 Nov and (at the time of going to print) a still-to-be-confirmed venue in Edinburgh, 26 Nov.

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Photo: Eugene Cheah

Pictish Trail

Photo:Jassy Earl

And So I Watch You From Afar, Òran Mór, Glasgow, 25 Nov

tres around a 1997 episode of Eastenders which aired the same night he was involved in a car crash as a teenager. In the programme Sutherland paces around the living room of his family home, retracing his steps from that fateful night before abruptly breaking the fourth wall. “20 years ago obviously my mate Jonnie wasn’t making music in my airing cupboard,” he says as he sidles up to Common, who’s holed up in the tiny space with a pair of headphones and a MIDI keyboard. “I’m in it for like ten seconds!” says Common. “I thought I was in it way more because I couldn’t tell what the camera was looking at, so I was pretty self-conscious the whole time.” Common provides the soundtrack for almost the full half hour, a performance that involved a great deal of coordination. “It was something else, man. I think I was probably the most nervous person on the crew,” he admits. “The director was really calm, Ross was absolutely nailing it, but there were things where you’d have a perfect take and then in the last few minutes something would go wrong and it was just like, ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe we can’t use any of that.’” The piece was filmed as a single continuous shot, so every minor slip up meant starting from the beginning. “We did 20 [takes] the week of filming but we had technical problems right up until pretty much the second-last day, so I think they had way less than 20 to choose from.” To top it all off, Common’s also been working on his new album. He dropped a teaser last month in the form of single Restless, an ode to workrelated exhaustion that includes the line ‘The weekends mean less when you work for yourself’. Needless to say, he’s feeling a bit strung out. “The last couple of months have been insane,” he admits, though the song itself is warm and humorous, tapping into the same positivity that characterises all his music. “I think it’s reluctantly upbeat. Well, not reluctantly, like almost accidentally upbeat. I can’t seem to make very dark music even if talking about dark stuff. It’s like maybe I don’t understand minor keys or something and everything just comes out a little bit major-y.” He hopes to release the record early next year and we’re stoked to hear it – though not before he’s had a well deserved break.

Kllo are cousins Chloe Kaul and Simon Lam, an electronic pop duo from Melbourne, Australia. The pair have just released their debut album, Backwater, via Different Recordings and are on the road this month in Europe to celebrate. A fusion of 90s electro and R’n’B, it also gives a firm nod towards the likes of James Blake and The xx. Tonight’s support is the perfect match, coming in the form of Edinburgh ambient electro duo, Super Inuit. Kllo also play Broadcast, Glasgow, 27 Nov.

Kllo

Preview

Photo: Hayley Louisa Brown

hat does a museum sound like? That’s the question that’s been on Jonnie Common’s mind as of late. The songwriter and splendidly moustachioed musical tinkerer has been tasked with composing a piece of music to mark the 150th birthday of The McManus, Dundee’s historic gallery and museum. Both he and visual artist Duncan Marquiss were invited to ‘respond’ to the museum and its collection as part of a public celebration called Drawn to Light, which in Common’s case means translating the essence of the building and its contents into sound. It’s an odd remit, but if anyone can make inanimate objects sing, it’s Common. In 2016 Common released Kitchen Sync, an album inspired by utensils and appliances found in his kitchen. The thud of the oven door supplies a kick drum, pot lids resonate like tiny gongs and wine glasses whistle in harmony. Tracks are themed around specific pieces of equipment and express something of their ‘personalities.’ Keep Refrigerated, for instance, is a chilly ambient track in which a fridge’s electrical hum doubles as a meditative drone. Common hopes to do something similar for

Photo: Mario Cruzado

Interview: Andrew Gordon

Album of the Month James Holden & The Animal Spirits The Animal Spirits [Border Community, 3 Nov]

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James Holden’s latest project is a dizzying, immersive work which blends natural and synthetic sounds together – shot through with jazz and Moroccan influences – to create a schizophrenic, cinematic world that’s as expansive and diverse as it is terse and claustrophobic, and it’s stunning. Incarnation for Inanimate Object opens the album. A fitting title, the album seems to wake slowly, eerie choral vocals setting the tone immediately. The choir fades as the second track, Spinning Dance, begins. Synths and acoustic chimes hover and mould into some kind of rhythm, gradually picking up in intensity as flutes, initially backgrounded, move forward and join a skittery drumbeat and a softer version of the choir from a track before. Motifs come and go across this album. Instruments and melodies build and fade only to reappear, or disappear altogether before they’ve even been fully realised. The Animal Spirits evokes an entire world – a surreal, psychedelic reality – by blending bassy synth riffs and directionless free jazz horns into a seamless, organic whole. The closest thing to a conventional track is Each Moment Like the First. Dominated by nervous, shimmering synths, it seems to start off unsure of itself but asserts its power as it goes on. It’s the most straightforwardly electronic track, a marching snare drum the only prominent live instru-

mentation. Instead, heavily vocoded voices and waves of synths wash over the core rhythms. The Beginning & End of the World is a change in tempo but not in atmosphere. A funereal drumbeat accompanies the gradual build-up of Berlinera Bowie style wails – from saxophone and synthesiser – towards a lethargic climax that fades away to just a single fingers-on-blackboard sax and electronic feedback. If the album opens with an awakening, an incarnation, it closes with the reverse. Go Gladly into the Earth’s horns and riffs are calmer than elsewhere, more contemplative and reflective, and certainly less fraught with nervous energy. They’re given space to grow, expand and contract naturally, before fading gently. The world of The Animal Spirits retreats on its own terms. Despite the extensive experimentation, The Animal Spirits is underpinned by earworm hooks and basslines. While it’s a million miles from the techno of Holden’s earlier career, its rhythms and hooks are infectious. The Animal Spirits is, put frankly, one of the most complex, immersive and impressive albums of the year. [Corrie Innes] Listen to: Pass Through the Fire, Each Moment Like the First, Thunder Moon Gathering

James Holden

Converge

Mt. Doubt

Sleigh Bells

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The Dusk in Us [Epitaph / Deathwish, 3 Nov]

Converge have pretty much always been about looking forward, from album to album, searching for how they could possibly add to their already densely layered sound. The Dusk in Us, their ninth full-length, is perhaps the first that sees the heavy-hitting four-piece look back at themselves and create something more stripped down. This is perhaps the cleanest sounding record they’ve ever produced, thanks to production maestro and guitarist Kurt Ballou and to Jacob Bannon’s surprisingly restrained voice. Worry not, long-term fans, as this actually adds to The Dusk in Us’ incredible songwriting which is ranks among the band’s best ever. The band’s push and pull between genuine beauty and brutal heaviness is employed with incredible mastery, thanks also to their dynamic rhythm section, bassist Nate Newton and drummer Ben Koller. The news that they’ll be performing 2004’s cult favourite You Fail Me next year is telling as it’s the closest comparison point to their latest, though The Dusk in Us also slips in guitar references to Ballou’s first true love, Slayer, all over the place. Converge may be slowing down their output, but this is perhaps the band’s best record since You Fail Me, keeping in mind the three albums in-between are not to be sniffed at. [Adam Turner-Heffer] Listen to: I Can Tell You About Pain, The Dusk in Us, Reptilian

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Moon Landings EP [Scottish Fiction Records, 3 Nov]

Kid Kruschev [Lucky Number / Torn Clean, 10 Nov]

Mt. Doubt’s latest EP, Moon Landings, is a solid if conventional offering from the up-and-coming Edinburgh band. It offers five tracks of reflective, Americana-indebted indie rock in the vein of bands like The National, albeit with a distinctively Scottish lyrical and vocal dimension. Leo Bargery has a voice like caramel, with just a hint of something grittier alongside. He croons his way through the record with a seductive nonchalance. Lyrically, the eloquent wordiness and earnest sincerity are typical of just about every Scottish indie band since Scott Hutchison first picked up his thesaurus. ‘Undulate with me / I’m deaf dumb and blind with the sadness’, he sings on opener A Shy Distance. Things are just beginning to get slightly repetitive, slightly unimaginative before the arrival of the eponymous third track. Midway through, an impassioned yell from Bargery unleashes walls of guitar noise, a popping synth riff dancing over the top. It’s euphoric. Mouthwash, which follows, is an upbeat pop number marked by danceable riffs and chirpy vocals. Mt. Doubt are clearly indebted to numerous bands on both sides of the Atlantic, and while there’s little on Moon Landings which hasn’t been done before, it’s a solid, enjoyable record which hints at the potential for greater things from its creators. [Corrie Innes] Listen to: Moon Landings, Mouthwash

Kid Kruschev’s lead single, And Saints, provides something of a false premise. Giving the impression they’ve changed their stripes, the airy vocals and measured instrumentals fail to crescendo into the harsh guitar riffs we’ve come to expect. However, an exploration of what else the album has to offer suggests quite the opposite. Opener Blue Trash Mattress Fire delivers the amped-up, glam-rock vibes with which Sleigh Bells have become synonymous. It’s true that the album strikes a more level note though, with the slamming drums swapped out for low-key

Golden Teacher No Luscious Life Golden Teacher Records, 3 Nov

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“This is not an album by any intention or through any concept,” explains the accompanying press release for the latest musical offering from Glasgowbased party outfit Golden Teacher. Don’t be fooled by the eclectic sextet’s nonchalant dissertation, though – this debut LP packs plenty of rhyme and reason into its seven wide-ranging compositions. No Luscious Life begins in earnest with the excellently-titled Sauchiehall Withdrawal, a kinetic pop-funk opener that takes issue with our current socioeconomic climate and begs, ‘I’m always

RECORDS

synths and a sprinkling of piano. Despite taking a shift towards a more mature sound, they remain open to experimentation and humour, particularly evident on the playful lyrics of Favourite Transgressions, so there’s no need to despair for the loss of Sleigh Bells’ anarchic attitude. Kid Kruschev comes just a year after Jessica Rabbit and marks a singular, decisive change of direction. Despite retaining many of the fundamental components of Sleigh Bells’ sound, there’s a shift of intensity and a new meditative quality. Florida Thunderstorm, for example, is more reflective and melancholic than what we’ve seen from Sleigh Bells before. Kid Kruschev sees Sleigh Bells strike a delicate balance, branching into new creative waters whilst staying true to the musical formula which first garnered them attention. [Megan Wallace] Listen to: Blue Trash Mattress Fire working so hard / And for what?’ A dramatic about-face follows in the form of Diop, a percussive instrumental piece. No sooner have you recovered from Diop’s jungle-driven journey and No Luscious Life thrusts you into the bubbling synthesized beats, handclaps and hi-hat hustle of Spiritron, a love-struck electro ballad that purrs. You should be getting the gist by now that this assured debut album is about as multifarious as it gets. From the eerie, lascivious shudder that propels Shatter (Version), to the ambient orchestral beauty of its eight-minute eponymous closing track, No Luscious Life tosses you from one moment and mood to the next with no reprieve. It’s a chaotic, wonderfully soundtracked journey from one of best underground musical collectives to come out of Glasgow. [Claire Francis] Listen to: Sauchiehall Withdrawal

THE SKINNY

Photo: Laura Lewis

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Fly Invisible Hero [Aggrocat Records, 24 Nov]

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Those who have experienced a live show by Glasgow’s BDY_PRTS will know that the performance is as integral to the band as the music. Their carefully crafted costumes and choreography give a glittering, tongue-in-cheek visual pivotal to their aesthetic. But the group’s debut album, Fly Invisible Hero, proves that stripped of that performance, it’s powerful pop prowess that really shines through. At the core of BDY_PRTS are a pair already intertwined with Scotland’s music scene. Belfast-born, Chicago-raised Jill O’Sullivan and multi-instrumentalist Jenny Reeve have been involved in an array of groups, with O’Sullivan known primarily for her part in Sparrow and the Workshop and Reeve most notably with the likes of The Reindeer Section and Arab Strap. Together with The Kills’ drummer Jonny Scott as producer, they’ve created a collection of instantly infectious electro-pop.

Spinning Coin

Permo [Geographic / Domino, 10 Nov]

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Given all the “legendary” names attached to Spinning Coin’s debut album, Permo – a reference to being on a permanent drug trip as made famous by Glasgow comic Limmy – one might be surprised that they’re not superstars already. In

Slow strums open first track IDLU before a sudden gear shift and the introduction of O’Sullivan’s impeccable vocal. It’s country-tinged in the vein of Neko Case with a pristine pop patina. Both voices meld effortlessly and are exquisitely utilised over the frantic electro handclaps of the sassy Welcome. Similarly Cold Shoulder and Take it to the Top are thick with attitude, the latter laden with big beats and offbeat samples, before tremendous single Rooftops, with its nod to electro pop-punk band Republica and their hit single of the mid-90s, Ready to Go. The pace of the record slows mid point, with tracks like Ghost in the Maze and the superb single Warrior more subdued and somewhat sinister. Fly Invisible Hero is a record unlike any other to come out of Scotland in recent years; gorgeous electro art pop, with clean beats and production, flawless vocal harmonies and just the right amount of self-assurance. Reeve and O’Sullivan are strong talents in their own right, but together as BDY_PRTS they’ve created something truly special. [Susan Le May] Listen to: IDLU, Take it to the Top, Rooftops

BDY_PRTS

their three years as a band, though their story as Glasgow art-school musicians goes much further back, they have toured with Teenage Fanclub, signed to The Pastels’ Domino imprint Geographic Music and recorded with Edwyn Collins, with upcoming shows with Girl Ray and Dinosaur Jr. to come. There’s a playfulness between songwriters Sean Armstrong and Jack Mellin that keeps things fresh and exciting even when the band are at their most reminiscent of 90s jangly indie-rock. New single Sleepless, for instance, has a Pavement-

esque slacker quality to it, showing their ambitions lay far beyond just Glasgow, while Sides, which precedes it, is a post-punk song of Wedding Present distraction. However, for every stirring pop song, there are also the more intentionally awkward songs like Metronome River, or the mysterious Starry Eyes which shows an inventiveness that goes beyond pure pop. On top of working with those aforementioned highly notable names, Spinning Coin manage, across the 14 songs of their first full length, to sound like a cross between all of them. The

Baths

Charlotte Gainsbourg

EERA

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Revelations [Father/Daughter Records, 3 Nov]

Surviving your youth can be a tumultuous experience. Norwegian-born, London-based musician Anna Lena Bruland – aka EERA – understands that more than most. It’s telling that Reflection of Youth was mostly composed in the small hours of the night – it’s an album that perfectly suits the dark, as it’s often painted in haunting, stark guitar melodies. If there’s any point that sums up the theme of the album in a nutshell, it’s Survived, which builds from its fragile start into a triumphant hook where Bruland simply states: ‘I survived.’ While Reflection of Youth doesn’t always capture the more brutal side of growing up sonically, Bruland does give off the sense that she’s come out of the other side, older and wiser. [Eugenie Johnson]

After surprise-releasing Hope earlier in the year – which initially heralded a distinct shift towards guitar-led music – Shamir continues to be inspired by punk and country roots, moving far away from the glossiness of 2015’s Ratchet. It’s quite often stripped back to the bare essentials and luckily, Shamir injects enough variation – from the childlike melodies of Games to the relative crispness of Astral Plane – to prevent each track from feeling overly similar. The minimalistic approach means Shamir’s words can become the central focus and, as the album title might suggest, he has a lot on his mind. While it may be far musically slimmer than Ratchet, Revelations fills that gap with earnest, heartfelt emotion. [Eugenie Johnson]

Romaplasm [Anticon, 17 Nov] Los Angeles nerdsmith Will Wiesenfeld finally emerges from a four-year silence (for this moniker, at least) with a third Baths record, and it’s as stately and complex as anything he’s made so far. We’ve got the same generously layered compositions – jangling synth melodies tangled up with found-sound percussion, the crackle of vinyl hiding beneath his breathy falsetto, ecclesiastical piano backed by strings – with everything sliced, diced, shuffled and kaleidoscoped. It’s all reassuringly consistent and distinctively Baths, managing to be both personal and kinetic as well as fantastical and otherworldly. Wiesenfeld may not have switched up his style between albums, but now with this hat-trick of gems, there’s no need. [George Sully] Listen to: Adam Copies, Out, Broadback

November 2017

Rest [Because Music, 17 Nov]

Charlotte Gainsbourg’s latest album Rest is her first new music since 2011’s Stage Whisper; the first time she’s written an album herself, it still boasts impressive guest stars. The album features production work from Ed Banger’s SebastiAn along with appearances from Sir Paul McCartney, Connan Mockasin, Owen Pallett and Daft Punk’s Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. The constant changes in tone that come with such disparate collaborators means Rest never settles into a comfortable groove. A bizarre/endearing secret track featuring Gainsbourg’s daughter singing a nursery rhyme that is suddenly enveloped in glistening orchestral backing is demonstrative of the album as a whole; it’s a fun idea, well executed, but it doesn’t really fit with anything else that’s going on. [Lewis Wade] Listen to: Rest, Dans Vos Airs

Shamir

Reflection of Youth [Big Dada, 3 Nov]

Listen to: Beast, Survived

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Listen to: Straight Boy, Astral Plane

RECORDS

quintet may wear their influences on their sleeve, and pretty broadly at times, but there is such a fascinating range of them for such a young band that Permo can only be seen as a success, both as a record but within a long line of great Glasgow bands. Long may it continue – Spinning Coin are clearly destined for far bigger stages. [Adam Turner-Heffer] Listen to: Raining on Hope Street, Sides, Sleepless

Miya Folick

Princess Nokia

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Give it to Me EP [Terrible Records, 3 Nov] On her debut EP Strange Darling, Los Angeles-based Miya Folick began exploring the type of artist she wanted to be. Two years and two stand-alone singles later, Folick has returned with a new EP. Give it to Me captures the energy and ecstasy of her live performances, with Trouble Adjusting’s explosive burst into life heralding the arrival of a bolder, even more confident incarnation of the singer-songwriter. Whether it’s the guitar sweeps and rhythmic drums that lend a sense of mystery to Aging, or the smattering of piano that lends a melancholy edge to Let’s Pretend, no two tracks feel the same. Fittingly, Give it to Me is the perfect foundation for Folick to build her own distinctive legacy. [Eugenie Johnson] Listen to: Aging, Woodstock

1992 Deluxe [Rough Trade, 10 Nov] On her 2016 mixtape 1992, formidable and charismatic MC Princess Nokia provided a vivid, feminist portrayal of the proverbial mean streets of New York City, which has been extended here with eight new tracks.Although the album ostensibly feels like an extended diss to a fragile, flamboyant masculinity that has dominated hip-hop for decades, there are many stories that bolster Nokia’s underdog appeal. She reflects on a difficult upbringing with equal doses of disdain and optimism, the way one shuns their teenage awkwardness while reveling in those rose-golden, carefree years, with moments of humour underpinning topical social issues. The bulk of 1992 Deluxe, however, displays a versatility that appears directionless but is nevertheless entertaining and engaging. [Ross Devlin] Listen to: Green Line

Photo: Kate Johston

BDY_PRTS

Shifting Shapes Dave House, aka The Reverse Engineer, on his forthcoming album Elusive Geometry and how ‘experimental’ music can still be dancefloor friendly

n the Saturday morning we call to chat with Dave House, the Google doodle illustration is celebrating the 66th anniversary of the first studio of electronic music, built in Cologne in 1951 and ‘hailed as the first modern music studio, a home for electronically synthesized sound.’ It’s seems an apt coincidence – and interesting point of discussion – as we speak to the experimental electronic musician whose own work is created via improvisation, experimentation and algorithms. House moved to Edinburgh in 2011 to study a Masters in Visual Composition and Performance. Prior to this he lived in Brighton for close to a decade, and during his time in Edinburgh he also upped sticks and lived in Berlin for a year; “living the cliché,” he laughs. While in Berlin he became friends with the German DJ and producer Jona, who has released music on the Get Physical and Planet E labels. House explains, “We met at language school in the first couple of weeks I was there. We basically just chatted about techno for the whole lesson. He had this project he was working on where he was collaborating with various people, so he wanted me to be involved in that. So the 12” Transmission Breakdown was released about a year and a half later, it took a little while to get off the ground. He’s had records out on various labels, so it was great to be asked to collaborate with him.” Of his stint in Berlin, House says, “we had a nice lifestyle – drank a lot of coffee, hung out a lot, went clubbing a lot,” he chuckles. But, he adds, “in comparison to Berlin, I find Edinburgh much more... manageable. I know more people – it’s kind of cosier! And I think there’s some interesting stuff happening there... what I really love about Edinburgh is it’s a city that feels like people are doing stuff. You know, people get stuff done. When I lived in Brighton, it felt a little bit like everyone had an idea, and everyone had their ambition that they wanted to achieve, but they all

Review

just sat around smoking weed and drinking and never got on with it. Maybe I’m just talking about myself now,” he adds with a laugh. House is a graphic designer, sound artist and electronic musician, known as The Reverse Engineer. Describing his live performances, he says “I use the computer, and some controllers, so it’s kind of an electronic performance. [But] I hope it’s more than a guy behind a laptop, twiddling knobs and stuff,” he laughs. “One of the interesting things that emerged when I started performing this music is I just started to move around to it! I guess that makes sense, because if I want the people to move to it, I should lead by example!”

“ I hope it’s more than a guy behind a laptop, twiddling knobs and stuff” Dave House

November marks the release of House’s new album, Elusive Geometry. The style of his music – made up of “African rhythms, found sounds, [and] field recordings” – is pitched as experimental and abstract, but when you listen, the record is full of emotive, dancefloor-focused moments. When asked if he believes the term ‘experimental’ music can be an off-putting label for a listener, House responds, “when people say to me ‘well what kind of music do you make then?’ I think a lot of musicians flounder on the question. And I certainly do, I never quite know what to say. Genres can be useful to a certain extent. We do tend to want to apply labels to things, because it makes it easier – it’s kind of shorthand isn’t it? At the same time, it is restrictive.”

Interview: Claire Francis He continues, “There are elements of the stuff I make and I can see how they’re slightly less obvious and approachable, in some respects, but it’s coming from a background of club music, you know? It’s from that world. I’ve been doing this for nearly 20 years, and DJing throughout that time as well, and I’ve sort of gone through my phases of you know – drum ‘n’ bass, techno. It does surprise me sometimes when people react like it’s this crazy, unapproachable thing.” What inspires him as a musician, he reveals, “are artists who are sort of breaking down those structures, examining them, and putting them back together, as it were. I think dance music as an artform is established enough now that it’s kind of self-referential. Whereas in the past it used to have to refer back to disco, or funk, or [old vocal] samples, now it can refer to itself.” Elusive Geometry slyly addresses these genre boundaries with its opening and closing tracks. House points out that “on the album, the first track is called Proto, and the last track is called Post. And that’s a kind of a nod to these sub-genre labels. You know, people will talk about protojungle or proto-techno when you hear something from the 70s; and then that moves on and people start doing different things with it and then it’s called post-punk, or post-techno, or whatever. So it’s my little nod to that.” The forthcoming album was conceived in House’s own studio The Noisefloor, a self-described ‘unique DIY music studio’ based in Leith. “It’s aimed at anyone who works with sound, really, who lacks a suitable space to work in,” he explains. “It came about because in all the years I’ve been doing this, I’ve always wanted to get into a studio, but it’s prohibitively expensive. And often there’s so much there that’s surplus to requirements. If I just want to go in, plug in my laptop, and have a decent soundproof room and some speakers, I don’t need an audio engineer, I don’t need a live room, I don’t need a million bits of outboard gear

CLUBS

and hardware and all this kind of stuff. “So, it was kind of me thinking, ‘well, I need this, there must be other people that do,’ and it turns out that yeah, there are indeed,” he laughs. “One of the main remits is to keep it as affordable as possible, because we’re ‘struggling artists’ and we all need a space to work in!” Though the new album was made primarily with computerised sounds, it also features renowned harpist Esther Swift, BAFTA award-winning cellist Atzi Muramatsu, and percussionist Pete Vilk. House’s sister, the Brighton-based jazz singer Matty Eeles, provides vocals on two of the tracks, including the minimal, atmospheric lead single Metastability. His brother, the acclaimed photographer John House, has also contributed a set of limited edition art prints to the CD edition of the album, created in response to the music. Of his siblings’ involvement with the new record, House says, “it’s really fascinating seeing their response. Seeing how they interpret the sounds. My brother, he kind of almost performed the photos that he did. So he set up still lives essentially, and lit them, and then he put the music on and moved around with the camera. It’s actually quite touching and humbling when people connect that much with what I’ve done.” Summing up the process of his work, House muses, “when I was at uni, there’s the sort of the ‘academy’ side to it; the academic side to music. I dipped my toe into [it] for a little while, and that feels quite lacking in emotion to me. Why else would you make art, other than to elicit some kind of emotional response?” he states frankly. House’s compositions may be the product of some complex engineering, but at the heart of Elusive Geometry, there’s still a very human touch. The Reverse Engineer plays Henry's Cellar Bar, Edinburgh, 11 Nov and The Rum Shack, Glasgow, 26 Nov Elusive Geometry is released in Nov thereverseengineer.co.uk

THE SKINNY

November 2017

Review

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THE SKINNY

Guest Selector: MR TC MR TC, aka Thomas Clarke, is the Glasgow-based talent behind the regular Night of the Jaguar parties at in Glasgow. In the run-up to his next Art School show, Clarke shares ten banging tracks that have recently been on high rotation in his sets Interview: Claire Francis

Tafi All Stars – Cantata (Autonomous Africa) This is a track from a release that I was part of that recently came out on Autonomous Africa. Last year, Conal Blake (from Whilst/Domestic Exile) and I got some funding from Creative Scotland to travel to Tafi Atome in Ghana to record some music with our friends at the Tafi Cultural Institute. We came back with these six tracks and everything was finally mixed down in Green Door Studio in Glasgow. The rhythms in this track are a traditional form of drumming called Cantata that’s played on narrow drums with sticks. The whole track was built around this one drum-take and we just added some effects and electronic sounds over the top. I love how weird and dark it sounds after all the processing. Naná Vasconcelos – Bush Dance (Antilles) I got put onto this recently by a friend in Canada. It’s a great percussive mid-tempo, slightly psychedelic, kind of fourth-worldy jam with great vocals layered over a steadily rolling 707 drum machine beat. Gunnar Haslam – Ajapajapam (L.I.E.S) This is a great slow and soft acid builder by Gunnar Haslam that came out on Ron Morelli’s excellent L.I.E.S imprint back in 2014. I’ve recently been getting a lot of enjoyment out of revisiting the early stuff from the label.

Sheila Fleurator – E-Moon (Food For Thought) (Neubau) I’m a sucker for weird sounds or details in a track that make it stand out, and the vocals in this track absolutely do it for me. Neubau is a relatively new label from Vienna that has put out five amazing releases so far. This is kind of deranged and dark, you understand what he’s saying but it doesn’t make sense; then there’s those industrial and electronic sounds whirling in the background. It’s amazing. Colours of Infinity – Replicator (Discos Del Quebranto) This track is on a split EP that came out recently on Discos Del Quebranto, a sub-label of Brokentoys. It’s dark and crunchy, slow and trance-inducing. Perfect for setting an atmosphere in the beginning of a set. Otto – Full Auto (self-released) Otto is one alias/side project of SpAceLex and Cid Hohner, two DJs from Berlin who run Club Cosmic at Sameheads. As Otto they make music using only vintage organs and groove boxes. It’s kind of cheesy and tongue-in-cheek but also groovy and weird. I had the pleasure of seeing them play live this year on the last night of Camp Cosmic festival. I just remember everyone dancing to this track and it being a really nice moment. Top stuff. Make sure to also check out their other project Aufgang B! Identified Patient – Een Lange Zwarte Weg (Mexico Relief) Identified Patient aka Job Veerman from Amsterdam is one of my favourite producers at

the moment. His stuff is super heavy, dark and really addictive. This track is part of a fund-raising compilation for victims of the disastrous earthquake that happened in Mexico recently.

by the great Unit Moebius from The Hague. I love the combination of the bizarre Dutch singalong/ oratory style vocals and the kind of funky driving bassline and rhythm underneath.

Bourbonese Qualk – Technophobia (Praxis) I discovered this thanks to Tolouse Low Trax who posted it on Facebook a few months ago. It’s got a kind of big, ravey feel to it but it’s still relatively ‘slow’ for a dance track.

Chen Yi – Rug (90% Wasser) Again, another insane vocal! This track just got reissued as part of a compilation EP on the Melodies Souterraines label (the original album that came out in 2006 goes for a lot of money on discogs). I can’t find too much information about the people who made this but apparently they existed as a commune in London in the late 70s to early 80s. I would have loved to have been there when they were recording this. It’s totally wild.

Unit Moebius, Satò Mentale, Reverend Cor Gout – Fietsenmaker (World of Rubber) This is one of those tracks that make you listen up and go “what the hell is this?” A collaboration

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Clubbing Highlights The nights are getting colder but these November club picks will keep the dancefloor red hot Numbers present Avalon Emerson, Lord Of The Isles (Live) and Bleaker @ Sub Club, Glasgow, 3 Nov Avalon Emerson’s performance was one of the highlights of the Optimo 20 festival back in August. The American talent known for her colourful sets returns to Glasgow this month to headline Sub Club, with locals Lord Of The Isles and Bleaker providing a solid warm up crew.

Sub Club XXX Tour: Harri & Domenic @ The Ice Factory, Perth, 4 Nov Sub Club’s year long 30th birthday celebrations continue with the Sub Club XXX Tour, featuring original residents Harri & Domenic at the helm. Making sure almost every square corner of Scotland joins in this epic milestone, the duo play this date in Perth as well as dates in Stirling, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness this month.

Sonica Club Night @ The Art School, Glasgow, 3 Nov As part of Sonica 2017, this one-off club event brings together some exciting genre-pushing artists for a night of DJ sets, video projections, and sound and light spectacles. Dublin duo Lakker will perform their acclaimed album Tundra for a special live show, while Robbie Thomson will perform his XFRMR project by harnessing the power of that famous 19th century invention, the Tesla coil. LAPS and VAJ Power also feature on this electrifying line-up.

Mind Yer Self presents Damiano Von Erckert @ The Berkeley Suite, Glasgow, 5 Nov The Mind Yer Self bi-monthly nights at The Berkeley Suite bring exciting up-and-coming DJs and producers to Glasgow while also raising awareness about mental health issues among young people. All profits from the club nights are donated to Penumbra, one of Scotland’s largest mental health charities. For their fourth event, the MYS crew have brought in Cologne DJ and AVA Records label boss Damiano Von Erckert for a night of soulful house music with touches of disco, funk and hip-hop.

November 2017

Midland & Prosumer All Night at Wasabi Disco @ Sneaky Pete’s, Edinburgh, 18 Nov Midland’s star just keeps on rising, thanks in no small part to his latest project, his FabricLive 94 mix, which was released in September. He’s joined in the capital by another DJ who knows his way around a mix: fellow FabricLive alumnus Achim Brandenburg, aka Prosumer. Sensu presents Tale of Us @ Sub Club, Glasgow, 24 Nov It’s time for Sensu’s self-proclaimed yearly tradition of bringing Tale of Us to Sub Club. This time around, they appear on the back of their recently released Monument EP, which featured a collaboration with Vaal. This is a golden opportunity to witness Italian duo Carmine Conte and Matteo Milleri at work in such an intimate space. Electric Frog & H+Px10: Talaboman @ Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Glasgow, 24 Nov Following on from the Vitalic show within the incredible setting of the Kelvingrove Art Gallery &

CLUBS

Words: Claire Francis Museum, Electric Frog have teamed up with Huntleys + Palmers to continue the latter’s 10th anniversary celebrations. Talaboman is the portmanteau of Sweden’s Axel Boman and Spain’s John Talabot, the fun-loving duo who released their excellent debut album The Night Land earlier this year. Pulse 8th Birthday @ The Mash House, Edinburgh, 25 Nov Pulse are celebrating their eighth birthday by bringing in esteemed techno producer Blawan for a special three hour set. Your pre-party playlist should be his Nutrition EP, released last month on Blawan’s own Ternesc label. Bicep (Live) @ Barras Art & Design Centre, Glasgow, 30 Nov Following on from the release of their hotly anticipated debut LP, beloved Irish duo Bicep are back in town to perform their renowned live show. The event will take place in the unique surrounds of the Barras Art & Design Centre (BAaD). theskinny.co.uk/clubs

Review

Bard is a Four-Letter Word Our poetry columnist looks at the T.S. Eliot prize shortlist and an exciting announcement from StAnza

ith the 25th anniversary of the T.S. Eliot prize fast approaching, waiting for the shortlist is finally over. In honour of the landmark year the prize has been bumped up to £25,000, but a record total of 154 submissions has made the task of choosing even tougher for judges Bill Herbert, James Lasdun and Helen Mort. The taglines ‘grief, pleasure, place and history’ are apparently the main linking threads between the shortlisted collections. This hurdle is the real lap of honour, as all have passed the most difficult stage of being singled out from so many peers; under such circumstances, winning is only the cherry on top. As usual, there is a satisfying lot to chew over; St Andrean wordsmiths Douglas Dunn and Roddy Lumsden are in the final ten with The Noise of a Fly (Faber & Faber) and So Glad I’m Me (Bloodaxe). These, along with Irish poets Tara Bergin and Leontia Flynn, plus Welsh poet Robert Minhinnick, mean the Celtic contingent

Demi-Gods

By Eliza Robertson

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Summer in 1950, at a beach house in British Columbia. Nine-year-old Willa is left to entertain herself while her mother focuses on fixing a morning drink, and fighting with her new beau, Eugene. Then Willa’s step brothers arrive at the beach house, and her life tilts from childhood innocence to the first awkward awareness of sexuality. Patrick, the younger of the brothers, subjects Willa to cruel games, their childishness only intensifying their brutality. In the background is an adult world of gestures and glances that Willa only half-understands (though the moment when a summer party becomes an orgy is confusingly unmissable). These formative moments influence the next five decades of Willa’s life, glimpsed through episodes of contact with Patrick. He continues to bewitch Willa: at her sister’s wedding, in their house in LA, on a boat trip. Only when the power dynamic is finally reversed, and Willa inflicts a kind of torture of her own, is the spell broken – though the results are not what you might think. A past winner of the Commonwealth Short Story Prize, Robertson’s prose is swift and sharp. She has a shrewd eye for vivid detail, capturing the dissolution of childhood with remarkable intensity. It’s a gripping debut novel from a very promising writer. [Galen O’Hanlon] Out 2 Nov, published by Bloomsbury, RRP £12.99

are very strongly represented. It is pleasing to see that the North of England is also making its mark, with Caroline Bird’s In These Days of Prohibition (Carcanet) and Michael Symmons Robert’s Mancunia (Cape Poetry) in the running. Ocean Vuong, Jacqueline Saphra and James Sheard are the final three, ensuring a real mixture of ages, experiences and influences. The shortlist readings will take place on Sunday 14 January 2018 in the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall, hosted again by Ian McMillan. Speaking of anniversaries, StAnza, Scotland’s International Poetry Festival (Wednesday 7-Sunday 11 March 2018) will be celebrating its 21st anniversary soon.”Next year’s festival is a significant milestone for StAnza which held its very first festival twenty years ago in 1998,” says StAnza Festival Director, Eleanor Livingstone. “We’re delighted to be welcoming some of the biggest names from the literary world and friends of StAnza old and new to St Andrews to celebrate

our special anniversary year. “Over the last twenty years we have endeavoured to bring together a diverse mix of well known talent with new, up-and-coming poets to create a programme which is fresh and vibrant. This year we have pulled out all the stops to put together a programme which is truly fitting of such an exciting year for StAnza and we look forward to revealing more names over the coming months.” Among the headline poets appearing will be Sinéad Morrissey, winner of the prestigious Forward Prize for Poetry and former Belfast Poet Laureate and T.S. Eliot prize winner. She is joined by former Scots Makar Liz Lochhead and Scottish poet and jazz musician Don Paterson, who will be in conversation with Marie-Elsa Bragg, daughter of Melvyn Bragg. Also on the programme for 2018 is Gillian Allnutt, who was awarded The Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry earlier this year; Tara Bergin, winner of the Seamus Heaney First Collection Prize in 2014 and continually ascend-

Translation as Transhumance

By Mireille Gansel, tr. Ros Schwartz

Translation as Transhumance is a remarkable and illuminating memoir by French translator Mireille Gansel, faithfully rendered in English by Ros Schwartz. Sparse yet richly told, the memoir borrows from the form of the novella, depicting in an almost impressionistic manner Gansel’s evolving relationship with the act and art of translation. Gansel’s life is a fascinating one: the daughter of exiled Hungarian Jews, she had relatives across Europe whose textured and inflected German told of a Mitteleuropa no longer in existence. As a student writing her dissertation on the playwright Bertolt Brecht, Gansel crossed into East Berlin each night, and she later translated the work of East German poets unable to find publication in their home country. The emotional heart of the book, though, is Gansel’s time in Vietnam during the war, translating the culture’s poetry in defiance of America’s threat to ‘bomb ‘em back to the stone age.’ Interspersed with this narrative are Gansel’s insightful reflections on translation, a process she views as both deeply poetical and alive with political potency. This is a book full of fascination and joy for anyone involved in or simply curious about translation. Beyond this, with its call to look beyond our own borders, it is a remarkably prescient book for our times. ‘In these times of solitude and solidarities: translation, a hand reaching from one shore to another where there is no bridge.’ [Annie Rutherford]

ant Scottish poet William Letford. Sasha de Buyl, Literature Officer at Creative Scotland adds: “StAnza has established itself as one of Europe’s leading showcases of contemporary poetry over the last 20 years. Since its inception in 1998, StAnza has continually offered a diverse programme of world class contemporary poetry to growing audiences of all ages, celebrating some of the most exciting local and international names in poetry and nurturing emerging talent.” StAnza traditionally focuses on two themes which interweave with each other to give each annual festival its own unique flavour. Next year’s themes are ‘The Self ’ and ‘Borderlines’, offering much potential for discussing current affairs through poetry, as well as celebrating the art of self-expression in its own right. It will also have a focus on the younger generation, as part of Scotland’s Year of Young People. Selected Poems by Colette Bryce is out now, published by Pan Macmillan, RRP £14.99

The Alarming Palsy of James Orr

Classic Ghost Stories

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By Tom Lee

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Words: Clare Mulley

James Orr’s life is a piece of picture-perfect middle-class paradise. He works a respectable job in the city, then returns home to his loving wife and their two adorable children, safe and snug in their idyllic home in the middle of a woodlandbordered private estate. He is, by all accounts, a respected and respectable member of his home, workplace and local community. However, when a form of palsy leaves the left side of his face limp and immobilised, it acts as the slight surface crack that reveals the instability of his entire world. Suburbia has often been used as the setting for examinations of modern life’s artificiality – while the city houses the grime and fire of the post-industrial age, the suburbs show it in uncannily cleaned-up form, the darkness hidden beneath a thin veneer of civility. Coming off the back of his acclaimed Greenfly collection, Tom Lee continues this tradition in a lean, easily digestible novel. He writes with the same kind of technical acumen and easy style that made Booker darlings of Ian McEwan and Julian Barnes, but also with the same bloodless quality. His debut novel is an easy read and perfectly enjoyable but the slight Kafka-esque turn which sets it in motion fails to elevate it above another cleanly told tale of white male middle-class life. [Ross McIndoe] Out 2 Nov, published by Granta Books, RRP £12.99

By Various

‘I can assure you,’ said I, ‘that it will take a very tangible ghost to frighten me.’ And I stood up before the fire with my glass in my hand. ‘It is your own choosing,’ said the man with the withered arm. And H.G. Wells’ confident youth goes upstairs, alone, to the red room... Be you sceptical or superstitious, Vintage Classics’ Classic Ghost Stories is the perfect book to curl up with on a winter’s evening. The collection features tales by many of the most well-known writers of the 19th and early 20th centuries, inluding Conan Doyle, Dickens, Gaskell and Oliphant. Some are best known for spine-chilling stories – for others, spectres are unexpected. Reading E. Nesbit’s Into the Dark, it is strange but somehow satisfying to recall that she wrote children’s classic The Railway Children. There is more, always, than meets the eye. The anthology is haunted by unearthly lights, eerie cries and strange visions. Some apparitions appear as warnings, others are malevolent or vengeful, others still are lovers yearning to keep a tryst. You seek to call a warning to the insensible protagonist, or are frozen, united in terror with one who suspects but does not know what is to come. Pull the blanket around your shoulders, pause at the sound of a creaking door, convince yourself that old houses make noises on their own. And enjoy... [Ceris Aston] Out now, published by Vintage, RRP £12.99

Out 1 Nov, published by Les Fugitives, RRP £10

Review

BOOKS

THE SKINNY

This Month in Scottish Art November brings exciting solo presentations across Edinburgh, Dundee and Glasgow. John Akomfrah's acclaimed contribution to the 2015 Venice Biennale comes to Talbot Rice, as Dundee showcases artist Ulay's long legacy of politically charged performance Words: Figgy Guyver

Install View

Sue Tompkins

The Modern Institute

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“This is a reminisce!” shouts Sue Tompkins in Country Grammar (2003), and indeed, this is. Despite being one of her earlier works, the performance piece is the focus of a new film by Luke Fowler, a previous collaborator and Derek Jarman Award winner. For this, Tompkins’ fifth Modern Institute exhibition, the Aird’s Lane gallery space has been transformed into an auditorium, its walls covered in untidy orange emulsion and a selection of small paintings by the artist. Her wall-projected performance is a stream-of-consciousness game of word association, backed by an internal metronome that paces her distinctive ‘shoutsung’ delivery. Phrases are abstracted, but in series, and Tompkins’ textual process is always on display. Within ‘verses’ there is no jump in cognition that isn’t directly spoken: “for you

faster/ four years later/ this is for you faster.” Fowler’s collaged video runs parallel, though not in-sync, with Tompkins’ verbal unfolding. His 16mm camera shifts from recording studio, to domestic interior, to outdoors, each time presenting a procedural interrogation of the everyday: removing books from a shelf, peeling back a corn cob husk. There are moments when meaning almost accumulates, before being discarded in a kaleidoscopic flourish for a juicier fragment of word or image. In the adjacent Brick Space Gallery, a new body of Tompkins’ painting is also on display. Her use of shop bought canvases and from-the-tube colour reflects the reworking of the commonplace found in her performance. Unlike recent exhibitions of her painted works, the use of text, here, is limited. Images tread a fine line between abstraction and representation, with thickly layered colour obscuring any semblance of fixed meaning: a toothbrush, sort of; maybe a glue-smeared horizon. This is wordplay reflected as paint-play. The art of transience and pure process. [Jonathan Coward]

ovember kicks off midway through Sonica, a festival of visual sonic art from fourteen countries in venues across Glasgow. Don’t miss Phase Transition by Kathy Hinde, in which the artist converts the abandoned Govanhill Baths into a sound installation. Blocks of melting ice will become instruments in a sonic performance raising awareness of climate change. There are a huge range of events during the 11 day festival, so be sure to check out the full programme at sonic-a.co.uk. Continuing on the theme of sonic art, Glasgow’s David Dale Gallery will open a new exhibition by Norweigan artist Hanne Lippard on 4 November. Lippard’s practice typically explores the production of language using only the voice, and this show, entitled numb limb is set to continue her investigation of form and content. Over in Edinburgh John Akomfrah’s Vertigo Sea (2015) has been installed at Talbot Rice Gallery. The three-screen installation was a stand-out piece at the 2015 Venice Biennale, and uses new and archive footage to explore the beauty and cruelty of man’s relationship with the sea. Prompted by a radio interview with young Nigerian migrants, the themes range from whaling to slavery and the current refugee crisis. Vertigo Sea will be screened alongside At the Graveside of Tarkovsky (2012), which will see Talbot Rice’s Georgian Gallery filled wall-to-wall with pebbles. The weekend commencing Friday 10 November will be a busy one if you’re in Glasgow: exhibitions open at Tramway, The Modern Institute, Transmission and Mary Mary Gallery. Tramway presents a new body of sculptural work by Amanda Ross-Ho. This will be the LAbased artist’s first solo exhibition in the UK, and will include her trademark production of comically oversized objects. The new pieces are inspired, in part, by Charlie Chaplin’s political comedy Modern Times (1936), and will appear within an installation resembling a factory floor.

Opening at The Modern Institute’s Osborne Street space will be a new selection of appropriated photographic works by Anne Collier. The New York artist typically uses found images to examine the embedded meaning and cultural value of photographs. Mary Mary gallery will present its second exhibition in its new premises on Oswald Street. A trio of painters, Lisa Alvarado, Alex Olson and Daniel Sinsel will present new works reinterpreting their medium and challenging how the viewer reads the painterly surface and the image. At Transmission curators from Black Radical Imagination will be taking over the gallery programme for the month. The collective will present baby boy, a visual art exhibition exploring BlackAmerican male identity in its numerous forms. The exhibition will be bookended by a pair of films, Baby Boy (2002) by John Singleton and Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight (2016). Meanwhile, in Edinburgh, Fruitmarket opens a new major show on the weekend of 10 November. The gallery will present a mid-career exhibition of sculpture, installation, photography, film and drawing by Glasgow-based artist Jacqueline Donachie. Returning to the theme of identity, the artist will use sculpture to explore how we construct and support ourselves in the world. A new incarnation of the artist’s Advice Bar (1995/2017) will also be unveiled at Fruitmarket: simultaneously installation and performance piece, Donachie will host a programme of advice sessions throughout the exhibition. On the other side of the Forth, Dundee will also be hosting significant works from an acclaimed performance artist. Ulay is known for experimental photography and action works as well as collaborations with Marina Abramovic. Running throughout the month So you see me will present challenging works examining the ethical functions of art as well as the appearance and performance of identity. [Figgy Guyver]

Verica Kovacevska, The House We Grew Up In, 2017

Captured State Summerhall

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The former Yugoslavian country Macedonia seems rather distant to the UK, with it being likely that audiences here are not attuned to the Macedonian art scene. However, curator Jon Blackwood unites six art practitioners with work centring around ideas emerging across the international art world. The familiarity of themes such as urbanism and consumerism frees the spectator to attune themselves to the cultural specificity of Macedonia, a nation which is infrequently reported on by British media. Despite stressing the internationalism of artists featured, the exhibition is firmly rooted in Macedonian history and contemporary social issues. For example, Verica Kovacevska’s video piece The House We Grew Up In (2017) explores the impact which temporary, prefabricated houses had upon the urban space of Skopje, an

November 2017

anarchic influence which bypassed the dominant architectural voice of the city. Elsewhere, in The Artist (2013) Kovacevska interrogates the role of the artist, measuring the worth (or lack thereof) placed upon the occupation by society. Ironic humour is made manifest via a deliberately cold, detached atmosphere. With this sense of critical distance between viewer and subject, Kovacevska draws on the social documentary’s claims of objectivity in order to highlight the frame of prejudice through which the arts are viewed. A similar theme is picked up by artistic collaborators OPA (Obsessive Possessive Aggression) who use faux seriousness to explore the role of the artist in a society where creative opportunities are limited. Against the backdrop of a politically ensnared economy, OPA questions how artists are able to survive without bending to dominant values and aesthetics, while simultaneously underscoring the power and necessity of art as a tool for political critique. [Megan Wallace] Ulay, Dunes, 1973

Until 30 Nov

ART

Review

In Cinemas The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos Starring: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Barry Keoghan, Raffey Cassidy, Sunny Suljic, Alicia Silverstone, Bill Camp Released: 3 Nov Certificate: 15

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Taking inspiration from Euripides’ tale of Iphigenia, idiosyncratic Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos follows up absurdist comedy The Lobster with a disturbing home invasion thriller featuring his trademark bizzaro atmosphere and deadpan dialogue. Colin Farrell plays Steven, a wealthy, skilled surgeon with an overly polite pragmatism to his speech, who appears, well, a little too clean cut. He lives with his beautiful wife (Kidman) and two children. Family life appears idyllic, but behind the doors of their lavish suburban home there is a sense of disquiet. Steven has been a teetotaller for three years, and displays what can only be described as odd sexual habits, not to mention a neurotic interest in watches. Steven also has a mysterious friendship with a 16-year-old boy, Martin (a chilling Barry Keoghan), on whom he lavishes gifts and regularly meets for meals at a local diner. The exact nature of their relationship isn’t clear at first, but it is evident they’ve known each other for quite some time. As the plot smoothly unfolds it becomes apparent that the reasons for their friendship are sinister, but not in a way you might suspect. To reveal more would spoil the carefully crafted plot, but there is still plenty to praise, particularly the performances. Keoghan is controlled and measured – it shows he is a talent to keep an eye on. Kidman, meanwhile, continues her midcareer renaissance with one of her finest performances, holding back just enough so as to not reveal too much. Devoid of the otherworldly concept found in The Lobster, this work from Lanthimos is grounded in a world closer to our own. Beautifully shot by Thimios Bakatakis, and with a domineering score, The Killing of a Sacred Deer delivers hightension, eerie and unsettling cinema: you’ll feel deeply uncomfortable while watching, but in a twistedly enjoyable way. [Joseph Walsh] Released by Curzon Artificial Eye

The Florida Project

Director: Sean Baker Starring: Bria Vinaite, Brooklynn Prince, Valeria Cotto, Willem Dafoe Released: 10 Nov Certificate: 15

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Following on from his breakthrough film Tangerine, which looked at the lives of two transgender sex workers and was shot on a modified iPhone 5, Sean Baker’s follow-up also opts to look at the lives of the disenfranchised. The Florida Project takes place among vibrantly coloured $35 a night motels located a stone’s throw away from the blue-tipped spires of Disney’s Magic Kingdom. Willem Dafoe costars, and it’s a role like no other he has taken on

before. He plays the motel’s manager Bobby, who has the unfavourable task of fixing ice-machines, debt collecting and dealing with the woes of the poverty-line tenants. He’s kind but worn down, trying as best he can while contending with his demanding boss who sets him an endless list of menial tasks. The Florida Project’s focus is six-year-old Moonee (Prince), a bright, cheeky and rebellious tyke with a lust for life. She spends her days storming around the rundown motel looking for mischief with her pint-sized pals, and is unaware of the difficulties faced by Halley (Vinaite), her unemployed single mum. The drama rests on how Halley will make the weekly rent. She was a stripper, but has lost her

Thelma

Good Time

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Director: Joachim Trier Starring: Eili Harboe, Kaya Wilkins, Henrik Rafaelsen, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Ludvig Algeback, Isabel Christine Andreasen Released: 3 Nov Certificate: 15

Review

Released by Altitude

Director: Ben Safdie, Josh Safdie Starring: Robert Pattinson, Ben Safdie, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Barkhad Abdi Released: 17 Nov Certificate: 15

A shy and insecure young woman starting life at an Oslo university, Thelma (Harboe) already has enough anxiety to deal with in her life before she falls in love with a female classmate (Wilkins) and begins suffering debilitating seizures. Things only get worse for Thelma from there, as her repressed emotions and desires begin manifesting as telekinetic powers, leading her to explore her strictly religious upbringing as she searches for answers. Thelma ultimately gets a little bogged down in backstory in its second half, with too many flashbacks stalling momentum, but when it is focused on the protagonist’s subjective experience, director Joachim Trier’s imaginative framing and editing is as immersive as ever. This may feel like new territory for the Norwegian director, with its large-scale set-pieces (including a wonderfully suspenseful scene that takes place under a heavy chandelier) and numerous CGI effects, but at its heart Thelma is another perceptive and empathetic character study, with Elie Harboe’s measured lead performance as the complex Thelma marking her out as a new star to watch. [Philip Concannon]

Robert Pattinson, dressed in a series of scuzzy hoodies and wearing a mop of bleached blonde hair, is low-level bank robber Connie. At the core of this frantic New York crime drama is Connie’s relationship with his brother Nick (co-director Benny Safdie), who has learning difficulties. Both are desperate to get out of New York and start a new life, even if they have to borrow and steal to achieve it. A botched bank robbery sets in motion a series of events across one desperately dark night, with tension ratcheted up with the help of the extraordinary, adrenaline-drip of a soundtrack from Oneohtrix Point Never. The cinematography from Sean Price Williams, meanwhile, is all retro grain and full of absorbing overhead views of the rougher streets of New York as the brothers dart about the city. Its stylised vintage aesthetic might have you thinking this is more show than substance, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. This tale of two brothers trying to get by in a world that seems dead set to stop them has both beauty and depth. [Joseph Walsh]

Released by Thunderbird

Released by Curzon Artificial Eye

Marjorie Prime

Beach Rats

Director: Michael Almereyda Starring: Lois Smith, Geena Davis, Jon Hamm, Tim Robbins Released: 10 Nov Certificate: 12A

The Killing of a Sacred Deer

gig. She flogs discount perfume to tourists, but gets chased out the park; borrows money where she can, but this isn’t going to last. With her options dwindling, she knows there is one thing she can do to guarantee the rent money. Like last year’s American Honey from Andrea Arnold, this is an exercise in mood and tone, exploring the day-to-day struggles of America’s poorest. Moonee and Halley’s relationship is a beautifully tragic one: the mother rarely makes the right choices, but you can’t help but sympathise with her plight. Baker portrays this with the lightest of touches, never patronising, offering a documentary style view to the on-screen action. [Joseph Walsh]

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Director: Eliza Hittman Starring: Harris Dickinson, Madeline Weinstein, Kate Hodge, Neal Huff, Nicole Flyus, Frank Hakaj Released: 24 Nov Certificate: 15

It’s the future and gossamer lighting is all the rage, as are holograms that act as replacements for dead loved ones. We’re not sure if these ‘primes’ are in every home yet, as we only visit one: a beautiful beach house belonging to octogenarian Marjorie (Smith), who has dementia. She lives with her tightly-wound daughter (Davis) and brooding son-in-law (Robbins), as well as prime Walter, a digital facsimile of her late husband at around 40. We understand why she plumped for the younger model: he looks exactly like Jon Hamm. As the years pass, other primes are downloaded, and much of the film is concerned with characters having conversations with these holograms, who learn to be more real by absorbing stories about the person they’ve replaced. This relies on human memory, which can be deceptive (or defective in Marjorie’s case). Michael Almereyda’s modest film is limited in scale, but asks grand questions. Imagine Blade Runner 2049 on a microbudget or an episode of Black Mirror with a turbocharged IQ, and you’ll get something close to this soulful and quietly moving sci-fi. [Jamie Dunn]

Writer-director Eliza Hittman made a splash on the festival circuit in 2013 with It Felt Like Love, an intimate portrait of a 14-year-old girl’s rush into sexual discovery. Her follow-up feature, Beach Rats, similarly deals with the sexual awakening of a teen, albeit with key differences. The first is that the protagonist, Frankie (Dickinson, a Brit newcomer with a convincing Brooklyn accent), is an older male teen. The second is that he’s already well-versed in courting girls; what he’s navigating in secret, hidden from his boardwalk bro buddies and a potential new girlfriend, is an interest in meeting up with older men he messages online. Frankie’s evasive about more than just rationalising his bi-curiosity: he’s bottling up emotions about a recent family tragedy, and whiling away the summer with weed and weights. Hittman’s film, gorgeously shot on 16mm, focuses on young male physicality in a way rare for American cinema, and this combined with its study of a specific form of masculinity makes Beach Rats like an intoxicating mix of Saturday Night Fever and Claire Denis’ Beau Travail. [Josh Slater-Williams]

Released by Bulldog Film Distribution

Released by Peccadillo Pictures

FILM

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THE SKINNY

Sorcerer

The Voice of the Moon

Vampir Cuadecuc

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Director: William Friedkin Starring: Roy Scheider, Bruno Cremer, Francisco Rabal, Amidou, Ramon Bieri Released: 6 Nov Certificate: 15 Practically every great filmmaker of the New Hollywood – that moment in the 1970s when directors’ power was equal to their ambitions – has a boondoggle on their CV. Over the years, many of these box office disasters have rightfully been reclaimed as flawed masterpieces (say Scorsese’s New York, New York or Cimino’s Heaven’s Gate) while others remain beyond rehabilitation (Spielberg’s 1941). William Friedkin’s Sorcerer lies somewhere in between. A jungle-set remake of The Wages of Fear following four truck drivers on a hairbrained scheme to transport unstable nitroglycerin across uneven terrain sounds like a Hawksian hoot, but the French Connection director is aiming for something far more existential. Death is everywhere in this brutal thriller, particularly in the unremittingly grim extended prologues that introduces our sweatybrowed anti-heroes: Roy Scheider’s New Jersey getaway driver, Bruno Cremer’s crooked Parisian banker, Amidou’s Palestinian bomber and Ramon Bieri’s hitman. Life doesn’t get any less brutal in the South American hellhole the men find themselves in, with an oil drilling explosion leading to more dead bodies and rioting in the streets. A TNT suicide mission suddenly looks appealing. It is for the audience too, as Friedkin’s film only gets into gear once the trucks hit the road. The gritty vérité style gives way, the Tangerine Dream score is cranked up to delirium and a nightmarish intensity takes hold as the men’s lumbering trucks skirt crumbling mountain roads and swampy jungle passes. Then there’s the showstopper: crossing a rickety rope bridge during a thunderstorm from hell. It’s a breathtaking set-piece, one of cinema’s greatest. The sequence’s shoot was gruelling, and you feel the effort, especially as you yourself have had to slog through over an hour of blunt-force filmmaking just to experience the glorious spectacle.

Director: Federico Fellini Starring: Roberto Benigni, Paolo Villaggio, Nadia Ottaviani Released: Out now Certificate: 12 Though warmly received in his native Italy, this final offering from Federico Fellini was denied the chance to reach a substantial international audience. Dismissed on the festival circuit, it saw the director fail to secure American and British distribution for the first time in his career. He died three years on from its release and the movie has languished in obscurity ever since. Credit, then, to Arrow Academy for making a beautiful restoration available to interested parties. Fellini devotees will find plenty to sink their teeth into here, though all but his most hardened fans will likely find The Voice of the Moon a testing watch. As late works often do, the film confidently surveys all that came before it, nodding to confirmed classics such as Amarcord and La Strada. By 1990, however, Fellini was 70-years-old and something of an anachronism. Four decades on from his debut feature, he seems sure of himself as an artist, but less certain of his place in a changing world. He engages unconvincingly with popular culture of the era, while his trademark excesses are by now disconcertingly crass, almost unpalatable. With little narrative to speak of – an eccentric, slightly philosophical man wanders a dreamlike landscape, encountering all manner of oddballs along the way – Fellini has free rein to indulge his every whim, veering from autobiography to invention. He gets committed performances out of a cast spearheaded by Roberto Benigni, but the series of vignettes with which we’re presented pile up aimlessly. Fascinating, flawed and very much less than the sum of its parts, The Voice of the Moon is an important testament to its creator’s weakness and integrity, though is best not approached as an entertainment in its own right.

Director: Pere Portabella Starring: Christopher Lee, Herbert Lom, Soledad Miranda, Jack Taylor Released: Out now Certificate: E Catalan director Pere Portabella – confined to his native Spain by General Franco’s regime for his part in producing Luis Buñuel’s ‘blasphemous’ Viridiana a decade earlier – had been looking for a way to produce a revisionist Hollywood genre picture, with a stated aim to both deconstruct and demystify the process of industrial cinema, and push the medium forward. When the director heard that Jess Franco was scheduled to shoot a faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula with Christopher Lee in Barcelona he asked permission to film the production with his own crew. The resulting film, Vampir Cuadecuc, contains echoes of the great early vampire films by Dreyer and Murnau in the drifting, high-contrast black and white photography. Portabella, with one notable exception, strips his images of dialogue and diegetic sound, and instead imposes upon them Carles Santos’ varied score of dreamy music and harsh discordant sounds. The effect is gorgeously dreamlike, as the actors, who are captured alternately in character and as themselves, appear as automatons, moved by some shadowy unseen force. Portabella playfully strings together moments of Franco/ Stoker’s familiar narrative, but adds touches of documentary – such as shots of set dressers or actors applying makeup – in order to produce an unclassifiable, yet fascinating film that is neither entirely documentary nor fiction. It is ironic that as Franco toiled nobly to produce a true-to-the-text rendering of Stoker’s novel, Portabella used the same basic ingredients to simultaneously craft a radical, avant-garde mood piece that is among the most mysterious artefacts in cinema.

Extras An illuminating conversation between Friedkin and Nicolas Winding Refn is this new disc’s highlight. The scrubbed up Blu-ray image doesn’t do any favours to the gritty first half of the movie, but the more expressionistic second half set in verdant jungle is gorgeous. [Jamie Dunn]

Extras Pick of the extras is little-seen doc Towards the Moon with Fellini, which includes interviews with Fellini, Roberto Benigni and Paolo Villaggio where they discuss the production. First pressing will also include a booklet by Pasquale Iannone, who is a wealth of knowledge on Italian cinema. [Lewis Porteous]

Extras This beefy package includes two of Portabella’s recent shorts and a lengthy appreciation of Vampir Cuadecuc by writer and curator William Fowler. Most significant is an exceptionally insightful 29-minute interview with Portabella himself, in which the director skips lucidly between authoritative discussion of film theory and the nitty gritty of the production. [Tom Grieve]

Released by Entertainment One | Also re-released in cinemas 3 Nov

Released by Arrow Academy

Released by Second Run

November 2017

DVD

Review

Youth of Today Chrysalis festival returns with another programme championing youth theatre in Scotland

e felt there was a gap in high-profile performance platforms which championed and promoted creative work by young emerging artists, and so the Chrysalis festival was brought to life,” explains Kenny McGlashan, the CEO of Youth Theatre Arts Scotland, founders of the aforementioned festival, which is set to return to the Traverse Theatre this month for the third year running.

The festival, which acts as a platform for ambitious performance by young theatre makers, features seven theatre groups from across the UK, each of whom will present new work, written by the companies themselves, and will be staged over three days, from Friday 17 until Sunday 19 November. Launched in 2015 by Youth Theatre Arts Scotland in partnership with the Traverse Theatre,

CCA Highlights W

hen we talk about finding our voice, it is to describe much more than words. And something of this idea runs through the exhibition Lilt, Twang, Tremor (Sat 18 Nov-Sun 14 Jan). It brings together three Scottish artists whose work examines how the voice shapes, and is shaped by, the world. For Hanna Tuulikki the voice is a meeting point, mediating ourselves and the environment; while for Sarah Rose it explores the nuance of prejudice in the subtleties of rumour, translation and inflection. Then there’s Susannah Stark who homes in on the fate of language in our tech-driven and digital culture. Meanwhile, Local art house Cryptic’s biennial festival Sonica brings plenty of sounds and visuals to the autumn and winter programme. Glasgow School of Art graduate Heather Lander is not only interested in the limit of our horizons but how virtual reality may expand them into the unreality of an imagined, rather than natural, world. Australian artist Lynette Wallworth uses VR to experience a time without technology. Collisions takes us to 1950s the Pilbara, one of Australia’s remotest regions, to tell the story of Aboroginal elder Nyarri Morgan meeting technology for the first time. Norwegian artist Solveig Settemsdal brings Jerwood Drawing Prize-winning Singularity to Glasgow. The work demonstrates order arising from chaos. Musician Kathy Hinde complements the work with a score where abstract sounds evolve into a coherent soundtrack. Remember the dog listening to the gramophone from the HMV logo? It turns out that terrier might have been onto something. Mexican artist Manuel Rocha Iturbide showcases Zzzzzzzzz, using the artistic apparatus of an old abandoned record player that emits occasional sounds. It seems ‘His Master’s Voice’ might be alive rather

Review

Emergence is the audience, as it gives them the chance to give feedback to the companies that will impact the future development of the work. This year, the three companies taking part are: Lyceum Youth Theatre, Citizens Young Company and Performance Collective Stranraer, and McGlashan is keen to see how the works are received, following the success of earlier works. “The project offers three companies the opportunity to showcase a new piece of work they are currently developing for performance. They receive mentorship throughout the process and audience feedback to develop their work to the next stage […] Last year How to Save the World..ish by the Beacon Young Company was presented as part of ‘Emergence’ and is now returning as a main stage show in 2017.” The purpose of Chrysalis, explains McGlashan, is to let audiences see work by young people in a different, and more critical light, and to cast aside some prejudices towards that work that some people may have. “We’re too often led to expect that theatre made by young people will be of a lower quality, or irrelevant to an adult audience – but this isn’t the case at all. The young companies selected to perform at Chrysalis are tackling really important subjects in new and dynamic ways.” Tickets and festival ticket packages are available via the Traverse Theatre Box Office traverse.co.uk or 0131 228 1404 For more information visit: ytas.org.uk/chrysalis

CCA's latest programme of events mean there's no need to travel out of Glasgow to see everything from the remote Australian outback to pre-revolutionary Cuba Words: Ben Venables

than just there for our appreciation of music. Sentient technology is always thought of as futuristic, but maybe it has been conscious all along, or in this case – as the title suggests – having a good old snore. For those who enjoy their music both alive and live, there are several ways to sample America’s music scene. Brooklyn’s indie-rock fourpiece Big Thief (Mon 6 Nov, 7.30pm) are on the road with the release of second album Capacity. Adrianne Lenker’s songwriting has advanced beyond even the quartet’s debut... not bad given that this is the band who modestly named their earlier album Masterpiece. Memphis’ Julien Baker (Wed 8 Nov, 7pm) has plenty of new music inspired by her sexuality and faith from assured new album Turn Out the Lights. And don’t miss Protomartyr (Fri 17 Nov, 7pm) who power in from Detroit. Their latest album Relatives in Descent is a post-punk cry against injustice. Political stirrings can also be found at the Havana Glasgow Film Festival (Thu 9 – Sun 12 Nov). Cuban film star Luis Alberto Garcia will present a couple of his classic films. He starred in 1987’s Clandestinos, which is set in the years before the military coup. The plot revolves around a group of revolutionaries that set up a secret printing press to challenge the government. Another movie to look out for comes from Glasgow indie filmmaker Hans Lucas. He’s cut Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho and Gus Van Sant’s 1998 remake into a single edit (Psycho/s, Fri 22 Dec, 7.30pm). The differences between each director’s choices become evident and Lucas’s edit may challenge any notion Van Sant’s is a ‘cover version’ of the iconic original.

Havana Glasgow Film Festival

cca-glasgow.com Zzzzzzzzz

ART / THEATRE

THE SKINNY

Photo: Manuel Rocha Iturbide

“W

the festival aims to positively enhance the perception of creative work by young people within the theatre industry. After extending the run from two to three days last year, this year’s programme is overflowing with young talent, and features Manchester’s Contact Young Company, Firefly Arts from West Lothian, Reading Rep and the Beacon Young Company from Inverclyde among others, who all tackle relevant and vital themes in their work. “This year’s Chrysalis festival is filled with work created by young theatre-makers' responding to their relationship to world events and their wider social context. There’s a strong political message in a lot of the work being presented, reflecting young people’s concerns about the world around them, both on a local and global level,” continues McGlashan. “We have programmed Contact Young Company from Manchester following their acclaimed production Under the Covers which was part of Chrysalis 2015. Their new production There is a Light: Brightlight which explores cancer care for young people, has been touring England to rave reviews. We also have brand new work from Reading Rep, a new company led entirely by young people, as well as Scottish groups Firefly Arts and the Beacon Young Company, and our established ‘Emergence’ works-in-progress programme.” The Emergence strand of the festival allows companies to showcase three new 20-minute experimental works-in-progress. The key to

Interview: Amy Taylor

Stand-up Loses a Pioneer

A winner of the Perrier Award at 24 and a household name through TV quiz show Never Mind the Buzzcocks, expressive and soulful comedian Sean Hughes has died aged 51

ean Hughes was known to many as one of the original captains on Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Yet it is his influence on live stand-up which is difficult to overstate. Hughes died on Monday morning after his admission to Whittington Hospital, London, with cirrhosis of the liver. In the late 1980s, Hughes arrived in London from Dublin and started playing the Comedy Store. He sported a look, his hair flopping over a warm gaze, that makes it easy to see why he was soon comedy’s poster boy. Talking to The Skinny for our How Comedy Captured the Edinburgh Fringe series, Gilded Balloon founder Karen Koren described the young Hughes with fondness: “He wanted to be Morrissey and thought he was Beckett.” It was at the Gilded Balloon’s original home that he first performed at the Edinburgh Fringe; a joint show with one of his comedy mentors –Whose Line is it Anyway?’s Stephen Frost. A year later Hughes returned to Cowgate with his first solo work One Night Stand. His flowing delivery and contemporary outlook made this the first ‘narrative’ Fringe hour. In other words, he put on a show, rather than stringing together a bunch of funny stuff. Structure in comedy shows is sometimes viewed with cynicism. Some comedians use theatrical devices to manipulate emotions more than to compel an audience. But Hughes was using his stage time for expression and to have something to say. It was an innovative show and picked up the Perrier Award, making Hughes – at 24 – its then youngest winner. One Night Stand also formed the basis of his Channel 4 sitcom Sean’s Show. Hughes occupied an intriguing position in comedy. On the one hand he predates Newman and Baddiel as the first ‘Rock n Roll’ comedian

November 2017

Words: Ben Venables (a short era in the early-1990s which made NME cover stars of the duo). On the other, it is the expressive side of Hughes’s work which had a lasting influence – even on the same Rob Newman. Inspired by Hughes, he’s spent the last two decades writing political and cerebral material. Shortly after his friend died, Newman tweeted: “In Sean Hughes’s hands stand-up comedy became art, filled with truth, meaning and soul – and he got the biggest laughs.” After Never Mind the Buzzcocks made Hughes a regular in people’s living rooms, the fame cast a shadow over his stand-up. Crowds expected to see the bloke from TV rather than the carefully written show Hughes wished to put on. Hughes enjoyed a hiatus, not that he seems to have had much free time: he added poetry, novels and acting to his accomplishments. He returned to stand-up once his material could be seen on its own merits again. 27 years after his Perrier win he performed his last Fringe run this year at the Gilded Balloon. Never one to tread the same path, Blank Book saw Hughes and guest comedians attempt to write a story on stage. The show had been set to transfer to Soho Theatre. Live comedy often goes unpreserved and it’s fortunate that Hughes left quality recordings of much of his work. Audios of some of his early sets are available on Spotify and some of his later shows can be found on indie label Go Faster Stripe, and also streaming service NextUp. Sean Hughes is survived by two brothers, Alan and Martin. theskinny.co.uk/comedy

COMEDY

Review

THE SKINNY

Glasgow Music Wed 01 Nov MAHALIA

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £7.50

The voice behind Rudimental track We The Generation debuts her own stuff from her first, recently released, EP. STEVEN PAGE

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £25

The Canadian musician and Barenaked Ladies songwriter plays King Tut’s. NEWTON FAULKNER

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £22

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

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £19.50

Gothenburg natives splattering a broad pallet of influences against a canvas of intricate pop. SLAMBOREE

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £14.50

The one-of-a-kind dub rave massive returns for another huge party. SHORELINES

TRAMWAY, FROM 19:30, £9 - £18

A music/theatre work which explores the aftermath of the devastating North Sea flood in 1953. XFRMR

TRAMWAY, 21:00–21:45, £6.50 - £12

Robbie Thomson harnesses the power of the Tesla coil for a work that ‘bridges the technical, the spectacular... and the arcane’. GURR

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £7

The Berlin garage-pop band hit Broadcast. VALERIAN SWING (DIALECTS)

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £7

Italian trio playing experimental, anthemic, instrumental music. BNQT

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:30, £18.50

Indie super-group conceived and led by Eric Pulido of Midlake. LIARS

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 19:00, £17

Avant garde and erratic, 17-years established Liars return, stripped back to their founder Angus Andrew with a tour behind 2017 TFCF release.

Thu 02 Nov OH WONDER

QUEEN MARGARET UNION, FROM 19:00, £15

London-based pop duo, consisting of Josephine Vander Gucht and Anthony West. STEVEN PAGE

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £25

The Canadian musician and Barenaked Ladies songwriter plays King Tut’s. ROOTS MANUVA

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £20

The prolific rapper and producer (aka Rodney Hylton Smith) does his thing, with rhymes, soul and a hefty dose of bass all presentand-correct. THE ROCKET SUMMER

CATHOUSE, FROM 19:00, £15

Solo project of Texan Bryce Avery, known for playing every instrument on his records as well as producing them. GIRL RAY

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £7.50

Power-trio made up of supremely talented 19 year-olds. MALKA

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £7

Alt-pop music from former 6 Day Riot frontwoman Tamara Schlesinger. JOHN HEGLEY: PEACE LOVE & POTATOES

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £14

Beats, Daleks, soot, belief, osmosis and ‘compassionate autobiographical poems and correspondence between family members’. Verses spoken and sung. Hearts broken and repaired. Devised for adults, but tolerable to some 10-yearolds.

PERFUME GENIUS THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 19:00, £15

Seattle-based musician Mike Hadreas (aka Perfume Genius) stops by, his emotive vocal delivery so intense and intimate it’s been known to induce a pin-drop stillness in’t crowd. COM TRUISE

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £12.50

Satisfyingly lysergic retrofuturistic sci-fi sex jams care of the frankly amazing Com Truise, anyone? We thought so. ROBBI MCFAULDS

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £6

An evening of live music at Sleazy’s.

Fri 03 Nov SCOUTING FOR GIRLS

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £22.50-£25.85

It’s legit ten years since these fellas released their self-titled debut. Now they return to rake up the glory days in a celebratory show. KALEO

BARROWLANDS, FROM 19:00, £18.50

Icelandic rock group formed in 2012, returning with their second studio album, A/B. THE DOOBIE BROTHERS

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £45 - £65

The San Jose rockers make a trip our way. THE HOOSIERS

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £15

Now trading as a four-piece, the London-based chaps showcase their pop-meets-rock musical wares. CRADLE OF FILTH

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 18:00, £18.50

The extreme metal veterans from Suffolk return with a new album, Hammer of the Witches, after nearly 25 years on the road.

GOAT GIRL (JERKCLUB + EDINBURGH LEISURE)

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, TBC

Rough Trade-signed female four-piece boasting guttural guitar sounds. START TO END: DAFT PUNK’S DISCOVERY

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 22:00, TBC

Musicians from Pronto Mama, The Vegan Leather, Fat-Suit, Admiral Fallow and more join forces to pay tribute to this seminal album. SLEEPING STATES

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 20:00, £7

Bristol-based Markland Starkie in three special shows celebrating ten years since his debut release. MARK MCGOWAN

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £10

Glasgow based singer-songwriter Mark McGowan brings his divine combo of soul, blues and acoustic crooning our way. INTERVALS - GLASGOW

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £12.50

Canadian musician Aaron Marshall brings his Intervals project to Stereo, with support from Polyphia and Nick Johnston. TREMBLING BELLS (DAN O’ SULLIVAN)

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £10

Ever-adored five piece lineup, fronted by the entrancing Lavinia Blackwall.

Sat 04 Nov FOZZY

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 17:30, £16

TRAMWAY, 19:30–21:15, £9 - £18

Sonica’s triple-bill of experimental electronic musician Paul Jebanasam with Tarik Barri’s metamorphosing visuals; Martin Messier’s sonic responses to electromagnetic forces and Alex Augier’s immersive soundscape of skittering beats and layers of light. MT. DOUBT

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, TBC

An evening of live music as Edinburgh-based musician Mt Doubt brings his dark, pop sound our way. HER’S

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £7

Addicting 80s influenced dreampop from Audun Laading anf Stephen Fitzpatrick. ALL IN FOR ROHINGYA

ORAN MOR, FROM 18:30, £20

An evening will hosted by actor/ writer Sanjeev Kohli and presenter/journalist Kawser Quamer, with music from Raag and Tonic, The Violet Kind and The Bhangra Beatles. THE FALL

QUEEN MARGARET UNION, FROM 19:00, £26

Seminal 70s post-punk outfit from Manchester, led by the inimitable Mark E Smith with an otherwise interchangeable line-up. HANNAH ALDRIDGE

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £15

Sun 05 Nov PICTURE THIS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £11

Lumineers-esque makers of “hey! ho!”-peppered indie-folk. HOLY MOLY AND THE CRACKERS

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £8

Young Newcastle-based folk-indie outfit, drawing their influences from such luminaries as Woody Guthrie and Joni Mitchell. BUGZY MALONE

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £12.50

The 24 year-old rapper continues his rise as one of the UK’s most promising new artists. JAPANESE BREAKFAST

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £7

Solo moniker of Philly solo musician Michelle Zaunder, who knows her way around a damn fine melody. THE MAGIC BAND: THE MUSIC OF CAPTAIN BEEFHEART

MONO, FROM 19:30, £20

A faithful rendition of the best of Captain Beefheart & The Magic Band's music on one final tour of the UK. NORDIC GIANTS

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £12

Mysterious Brighton-based post-rock duo who perform to a backdrop of oft-dark short films.

Mon 06 Nov BOYCE AVENUE

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £11

LOSING GROUND

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £26

JULIA JACKLIN

Aussie singer-songwriter crafting rich Americana. THE WINTER PASSING

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £7

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £8

The Irish indie-rock quartet make a return visit to Glasgow.

LOGIC

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, FROM 19:30, £11

King Tut’s show from the Ayrshire folk-punks. BARROWLANDS, FROM 19:00, £19.50

BIG THIEF

Acoustic folk-pop music with meat on its bones.

LITTLE MIX

THE SSE HYDRO, FROM 18:30, £25 - £45

The Southend on Sea ensemble take their new record Broken Machine on tour. O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £18

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £15

Tue 07 Nov NOTHING BUT THIEVES

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £18.50

CULTURE

VON HERTZEN BROTHERS

A trip back to the golden era of reggae with Culture, as they celebrate four decades of their debut album Two Sevens Clash.

Finnish rock band composed of three brothers, Kie, Mikko and Jonne and their pals.

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £10

The Walford-based trio do their fiery and anthemic thing.

DINOSAUR PILE UP

Leeds-based alternative rock lot led by singer and guitarist Matt Bigland. LILURA

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £6

Witch-pop phenomenon Lilura brings dark beats to H&P. EUREKA CALIFORNIA (WHYNO)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, TBC

Catchy rock’n’roll from Athens, GA. CHEW (FLUX VELOCIRAPTOR)

BLOC+, FROM 21:00, FREE

Riffy, instrumental rock threepiece from Edinburgh.

Wed 08 Nov AKALA

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £16

Award-winning hip-hop artist and younger brother of rapper Ms. Dynamite, currently carving out his own path with his rap, rock and electro influences and now hitting the road for his 10 Years of Akala tour. TOGETHER PANGEA

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £3

Glasgow-based melody-makers, building their sound on the more mellow, melancholic side of country music.

Fri 10 Nov X-Factor 2011 winners, known for having the lowest-selling winner’s single since 2004. That said, Wings is an absolute banger. If you manage to resolve your conflicted opinions, here’s (yet) another chance to see them in Glasgow’s SSE Hydro.

Gut wrenching lyricism and rousing acoustic songwriting from Memphis-based Julien Baker.

THE SWEETHEART REVUE (SEA CUCUMBERS + ALAN CLARKE)

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £11

The Piccadilly Records 2014 album of the year artist brings her krautinfluenced psychedelic sounds to increasingly larger audiences.

Texas songwriter Hannah Read’s project plays H&P.

LA-based rock troupe out airing their new EP The Phage.

Floridian acoustic pop-meets-rock band of brothers Alejandro, Fabian and Daniel Manzano.

JANE WEAVER

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £8

With a dark, sultry, soulful voice and sounds ranging from blues in the Mississippi Delta to the dusty, Dixieland jazz sounds from New Orleans, Hannah Aldridge leaves no inspiration or influence untapped.

The most interesting thing about Fozzy is that WWE wrestler Chris Jericho is their front man. Why need know anymore?

The Maryland rapper, who also goes by the name Sir Robert Bryson Hall II (strange, we can’t recall his name in the New Year’s honours list.)

November 2017

TRIPLE BILL: CONTINUUM + FIELD & _NYBBLE_

LOMELDA (HAPPY SPENDY + MOLLY LINEN)

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £8

JULIEN BAKER

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, FROM 19:00, £16

BLOODY KNEES (HEAVY RAPIDS + WHY NO?)

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, FREE

Cambridge-based skate-punks. SON OF DAVE

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, TBC

THE SPITFIRES

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £12.50

MILKY CHANCE

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £16

German folk duo made up of Clemens Rehbein and Philipp Dausch, out with a predictably pastel new record, entitled Blossom.

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £13.50

The Georgia Satellites frontman returns with his rockin’ and rollin’ live band, Homemade Sin. CC SMUGGLERS

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, TBC

Polish rapper (and martial arts fighter, FYI), now based in London. MARTIN STEPHENSON & THE DAINTEES

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £17.50

Sunderland folk/rock/pop band who specialise in rootsy, rockabilly sound. BEC SANDRIDGE

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, TBC

Fresh indie tunes from the Australian singer-songwriter. THE WAR ON DRUGS (THE BARR BROTHERS)

BARROWLANDS, FROM 19:00, £25 - £27.50

The Philly rockers continue to combine rock’n’roll classicism in the 70s AOR mould, all psychedelic, hazy and lushly-layered, dipping heavily into the dreamy. SHREDD

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, FREE

LITTLE MIX

THE SSE HYDRO, FROM 13:00, £25 - £45

CEOL ‘S CRAIC: OCAIDICH!

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, FROM 19:45, £10 - £12

Ocaidish is Ceol ‘s Craic’s first collaboration with Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra. This magical event will feature music, dance and spoken word performances based on Gaelic myths and legends.

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, TBC

Whisky-fuelled three-man frenzy of blues-driven rock ‘n’ roll.

ENCHANTED TALES: LIZABETT RUSSO & GRAEME STEPHEN

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £7 - £9

A new work merging fairytale silent films, featuring a new score written and performed by Lizabett Russo and Graeme Stephen. THE WAR ON DRUGS (THE BARR BROTHERS)

BARROWLANDS, FROM 19:00, £25 - £27.50

The Philly rockers continue to combine rock’n’roll classicism in the 70s AOR mould, all psychedelic, hazy and lushly-layered, dipping heavily into the dreamy. NIGHT DEMON (MIDNIGHT FORCE + VENOMWOLF)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £10

Metal group from Ventura.

LUCY MAY

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, TBC

Singer-songwriter fresh offa the release of new single Counting the Days.

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

The founding member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band comes to the UK in support of the first new album in over 15 years, Soulfire. ALEX LAHEY

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £8

Alex Lahey plays King Tut’s following the release fo debut album B Grade University. FOREVER AMY

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £22.50

WOLF ALICE

Fuzzy post-punk four-piece emerging from Leeds’ DIY scene.

POPEK

LEFT LANE CRUISER (DAVE ACARI + HICKS)

Adrenaline groove for the soul Ayakara bring passionate 21st century rock’n’roll to the stage.

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £36.50 - £40

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 19:00, £20

Bedford super-group CC Smugglers swing by. AYAKARA (O141 + THE HAZY SHADES)

LITTLE STEVEN AND THE DISCIPLES OF SOUL

London four-piece fronted by Ellie Rowsell, making un-pigeonholeable folky rock with a distinctly poppy vibe.

SEAFOAL

DAN BAIRD AND HOMEMADE SIN

Pop rock fresh from the shores of Long Island, NYC.

Award-winning songwriter and guitarist, performing songs from his acclaimed albums and previewing songs from his forthcoming third album.

X-Factor 2011 winners, known for having the lowest-selling winner’s single since 2004. That said, Wings is an absolute banger. If you manage to resolve your conflicted opinions, here’s (yet) another chance to see them in Glasgow’s SSE Hydro.

Thu 09 Nov

THE LEMON TWIGS

QUEEN MARGARET UNION, FROM 19:00, £12.50

BARROWLANDS, FROM 19:00, £19

BLAIR DUNLOP

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 19:00, £20

Dark-pop musician & songwriter from blackpool, currently based in Cardiff.

THUNDERCAT

Iconic 2 Tone bands The Selecter and The Beat head out on tour together to celebrate a musical movement that’s as relevant today as it was over three decades ago.

Sun 12 Nov

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, TBC

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £7.50

Sat 11 Nov

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:00, £6

Fri 17 Nov

Surf Manchu bring their vigilante surf rock to Glasgow.

Gentle and gorgeous acoustica FFO Bon Iver and the like.

Glasgow band dishing out fuzzy garage and pop.

Mysterious Seattle duo fusing Ishmael ‘Butterfly’ Butler’s laconic rasp against percussionist Tendai Maraire’s down-tempo bongo and hi-hat combo.

NERINA PALLOT ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £18.50

Featuring Amy’s original band and the incredible Alba Plano, Forever Amy celebrates the music and live shows of Amy Winehouse.

ANGELO DE AUGUSTINE

A modern funky solo, bringing a bluesy, eruption of harmonica and beatboxing to the central belt. SHABAZZ PALACES

SURF MANCHU 13TH NOTE, 20:00–00:00, £5

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, TBC

PACO OSUNA

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 21:00, £13 - £19

The electronic music veteran brings his depth and darkness to SWG3. THE TAVELLING BAND

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £10

With honeyed harmonies and reverb-soaked guitars The Travelling Band have been quietly honing what Marc Riley described as Mancunian Americana.

ROYAL BLOOM (THE ALLIES + BLACK MANGO + MYA BROWN)

CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 19:00, £8

Ayr-hailing rock / grunge outfit. THE STONED IMMACULATE

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £7

An evening of tunes from the Glasgow four-piece. BEN POOLE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £12.50

Young blues guitarist infused with a hard-hitting in yer face rock approach.

CHEST PAINS

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, TBC

SYLVAN ESSO (BAYONNE)

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, TBC

Amelia Meath’s supposed-to-be solo project, which turned into a duo when she met electronic producer Nick Sanborn. MODUS

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £5 - £7

Alternative indie-pop, all singalongable and danceable like. PINS

STEREO, FROM 19:30, £10

Cherished Mancunian quartet whose forthcoming EP features a guest vocal from the legendary Iggy Pop. ACRYLICS (VITAL IDLES + ACID CANNIBALS + IDEAL)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 20:00, £6

Alternative indie band who formed in 2008.

Mon 13 Nov DANIEL ROMANO

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £12

The Juno-nominated Canadian crooner Daniel Romano brings his rich baritone and country vibes our way. EVERY TIME I DIE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £15.50

New York-hailing metalcore bunch. MAREN MORRIS

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £18.50

The up-and-coming American singer brings her Hero Tour to the UK. AIRBOURNE

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £21

Longhaired Aussie hard rockers known for crafting underdogchampioning anthems with reckless abandon. ANDREW HUNG

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 20:00, £8.50

A Hug and Pint set from one half of Fuck Buttons.

Tue 14 Nov THOMAS RHETT

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £22.50

Country singer-songwriter from the States, continuing the legacy of his father, country singer Rhett Akins on his Home Team Tour. BLONDIE

THE SSE HYDRO, FROM 18:30, £42.50 - £47.50

Deborah Harry and co. return to the UK for the first time since 2011, touring with their ninth studio album, Panic of Girls. CIGARETTES AFTER SEX

QUEEN MARGARET UNION, FROM 19:00, £17

Ambient pop from one of Brooklyn’s hottest exports, stopping off as part of their European tour. ANDREW W.K.

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £20

Mr Wilkes-Krier takes to the road for his UK and European tour, playing anthems for the quadraspazzed in a series of intimate club settings. All together now: “We want fun...”

After starting out as a singersongwriter, who traversed the lands of piano ballads and big-time grooves, Pallot’s entered new territory with her fifth album. See the reincarnation live tonight. O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £22.50

Flying Lotus protégée/Brainfeeder affiliated bassist, singer and producer Thundercat brings his soulful, jazz-inflected style of hip-hop to the O2. SYD ARTHUR

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £10

Young psychedelic pin-up hailing from Canterbury.

Wed 15 Nov LUCY ROSE

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £15

Singer-songwriter who has contributed vocals to Bombay Bicycle Club tracks, now striking out on her lonesome. WEAVES

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £9

Batshit polyrhythms, addicting vocals, undulating guitars and delicious pop vibes. INSANE CLOWN POSSE + MUSHROOMHEAD

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £22.50

Detroiter hip-hop duo returning to the UK for the first time in 14 years. SLUGABED (WUH OH)

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £9.50

Multi-instrumentalist Slugabed (aka Greg) specialises in big, complex beats. See his mastery live at H&P. LUCY ROSE

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £15

Singer-songwriter who has contributed vocals to Bombay Bicycle Club tracks, now striking out on her lonesome. CODIST (THE HEAD + FUMBLE FOX)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £5

The Glasgow-based lo-fi foursome play Sleazy’s. BOPPIN’ AT THE BOX (THE BIKINI BOTTOMS)

BOX, 21:00–23:00, FREE

Glasgow’s hottest rockabilly band bring two hours of off-the-wall live music.

Thu 16 Nov MILBURN

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £18.50

Sheffield’s indie rockers play the O2 some 11 years following the release of LP Well Well Well. RUN THE JEWELS

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £30

Killer Mike and El-P – aka Run The Jewels – showcase hot fire from their new album. OPETH

BARROWLANDS, FROM 19:00, £28.50

The Swedish progressive metal kings return to the UK. JOHN JOSEPH BRILL

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £7

JJB (no, not the sports store) play a headline set. YUNGEN

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £12

Fresh-faced South London MOBO nominated hip-hop MC. MOOR MOTHER

TRAMWAY, 22:00–22:45, TBC

An intensely political live musician, Moor Mother’s music helps you experience the connection between a DIY basement gig of maroon rap shanties and haunted punk-noise.

THE SELECTER / THE BEAT FEAT. RANKING ROGER

O2 ABC, FROM 18:30, £27.50

HAZEL O’CONNOR

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £25

Cult movie star turned singer/ songwriter returns to the touring circuit with a full band to deliver a live show crammed with all the Breaking Glass hits. RAG ‘N’ BONE MAN

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £22

The Only Human lad brings his richly gritty voice (and slightly wanting lyricism) to the O2. Sold out, apparently. LUCIE SILVAS

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £19.50

Kiwi-Scottish pianist and singersongwriter who’s toured with the likes of Elton John, Jamie Cullum, Macy Gray and Jamiroquai. VANT

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £10

Parlophone signed four-piece doing their indie rock thing. PROTOMARTYR + SAUNA YOUTH

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, FROM 19:00, £10

Protomartyr play CCA following the release of their album Relatives in Descent, with support from Sauna Youth. PARTY & UNITY FUNDRAISER (NENA ETZA + DJ@CHRISTELLE + DJ D-HARSH + MOOR MOTHER)

KINNING PARK COMPLEX, 20:00–00:00, TBC

Arika Episode 9 social and party with all proceeds going to the Unity Centre, featuring DJ sets with Dj@ Christelle, DJ D-Harsh, Nena Etza & Moor Mother. BLUE HAWAII

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £8

Montreal electro duo comprising Braids’ `Raphaelle Standell-Preston and Alex “Agor” Cowan. ALDOUS HARDING

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 19:00, £10

The New Zealander heads to The Art School for an evening of gothic folk. SPINNING COIN

MONO, FROM 20:00, £5

Local heroes Spinning Coin swing by after the release of their debut album Permo. PICTISH TRAIL (MONOGANON)

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £12 - £14

An intimate yuletide Eigg-nog of Hebridean casio-folk, with stripped back, twisted and blissed out regurgitations of old Pictish favourites.

TOMMY BYRNE, NOEL NAGLE & BRIAN WARFIELD (THE WOLFETONES) BARROWLANDS, FROM 19:00, £20

The Dublin balladeers play Barrowlands.

SUN ROSE + L-SPACE + DREMYSS

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £7

Four-piece Byron Bay-based outfit who play psychedelic pop / rock.

Sat 18 Nov RAG ‘N’ BONE MAN

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £22

The Only Human lad brings his richly gritty voice (and slightly wanting lyricism) to the O2. Sold out, apparently. THE LAFONTAINES

BARROWLANDS, FROM 19:00, £16.50

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £10

Motherwell outfit deftly combining portions of hip-hop, pop, rock and electro into one thumping melodic block of noise.

FAT-SUIT

Swedish melodic rock ensemble led by vocalist Erik Gronwell.

THE KVB

Experimental electronica and shoegazey minimalism straight from the Berlin based bedrooms of KVB’s Nicholas Wood and Kat Day. STEREO, FROM 19:00, £8

Instrumental collective Fat-Suit boast a line up of guitars, violins, keyboards, horns, bass, drums and percussion. Their progressive mix of jazz fusion is full of driving drums, infectious horn lines, traditional airs and jigs and meandering synth. JOE DOLMAN

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £5.50

21-year- old singer-songwriter from Leamington Spa.

DVNE (CRACKHOUSE + BOSPHORUS)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £7

Four-piece metal unit from Edinburgh.

H.E.A.T

CATHOUSE, FROM 19:00, £10

THE VASELINES

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, FROM 19:30, £13

Saramago presents a special appearance by The Vaselines. Lewd but naive and abrasive yet tender, the band’s shambling, primitivist squall remains a perfect distillation of pop at its most guileless and euphoric. EVERY BOOK IS DEAD (LAPS & HAL DUNCAN)

TRAMWAY, 16:00–17:00, TBC

Beloved and unruly two-woman band LAPS bring together an unlikely marriage of dub, industrial, riot girl, soul, electro and lounge with mashed up queer fantasy by writer Hal Duncan

Listings

AUTOBAHN (FEHM + MOTHERS LOVE)

SEAMUS FOGARTY

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £5

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £7.50

THE MARCHTOWN PROPHETS: GILLIAN FRAME (FINDLAY NAPIER + JILL JACKSON + RAB NOAKES)

5IVE + 911

Four Scottish musicians unite to play a one-off special show in Glasgow raising funds for volunteer-led Celtic Music Radio 95FM.

Leeds ragers Autobahn dose up a Sneaky’s audience with a big pile of post punk and gothy rock. DINNER

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £7

Captured Tracks-signed indie racket. HUNTER & THE BEAR

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, TBC

They supported Eric Clapton once perhaps the most remarkable thing about this industrious folk-rock four-piece. NINA NESBITT

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 19:00, £12.50 - £40

Half-Swedish, half-Scottish singersongwriter in possession of a fine technical agility and emotive style. QUEER THEORY

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £5

THE MOONLANDINGZ SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £14

THE CADILLAC THREE O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £18.50

An unholy and potentially calamitous union between members of the Fat White Family and the Eccentronic Research Council.

American Southern rock group consisting of Jaren Johnston, Kelby Ray, and Neil Mason.

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 22:00, £15

The shiny R’n’B star brings his hotly anticipated sophomore effort True to Self our way.

AMELIE LENS

Belgian techno DJ/producer treating SWG3 to a set. AMUSEMENT PARKS ON FIRE

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £10

Nottingham shoegazers; all furious, beautiful and gigantically loud sonic wizardry. CARLY CONNOR (THE JULIE ANN BAND)

BRYSON TILLER

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £27.50

THE KILLERS

THE SSE HYDRO, FROM 18:30, £45 - £65

Brandon Flowers et al do their anthemic rock thing; you may or may not care. BLICK BASSY

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £12

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:00, £8

Cameroonian singer-songwriter Blick Bassy performs live with his three-piece band.

THE BLACK LIPS

SEC, FROM 18:30, £32.50 - £42.55

Young Glasgow singer-songwriter who recently made the big move down’t London-way. MONO, FROM 19:30, £16

The Atlanta garage rockers return to the UK with their first album in three years, entitled Satanâ€™s graffiti or Godâ€™s art?. WIDOWSPEAK

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £11

American indie/folk duo hailing from Brooklyn, comprised of Molly Hamilton’s syrupy-sweet vocals, with Robert Earl Thomas on’t guitar.

Sun 19 Nov RICKY ROSS

SAINT LUKE’S, FROM 19:00, £25

Mr Ross draws from his extensive songwriting catalogue of 30 years from Deacon Blue and beyond. MARIKA HACKMAN

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £11

Sweet-voiced young folk singer/ songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. JIM WHITE

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £18

Best known for capturing the haunting mysticism of the Deep South with an occasional nod to Tom Waits, Jim White takes his twangy guitar sounds out for a whirl. BRAND NEW

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £30

JAMES BLUNT (JAMIE LAWSON)

The really quite affable former army captain turned ‘You’re Beautiful’ burden-carrier takes to the road.

Tue 21 Nov TOM WALKER

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £10

An evening of acoustic music with Tom Walker and friends. CHILDHOOD

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, TBC

The London-based four-piece, formed at Nottingham University in 2011, bring their indie pop sound to an intimate setting. THE BURNING HELL (POCKET KNIFE)

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £10

Canadian folk artist Mathias Kom returns to the UK with a full band in tow for this latest round of Burning Hell shows. PUSSY RIOT

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £15

The literally riotous protest band play Oran Mor as part of a muchawaited tour. EMPIRE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £7 - £10

Five-piece rock band.

Wed 22 Nov MR. BIG

O2 ABC, FROM 18:00, £27.50

Laid-back, Long Island rock quartet formed in a New York basement back in 2000.

The rock band bring an album that took ‘em just six days to record to the O2.

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £8

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:30, £10

TOPS (MOON DIAGRAMS)

Montreal foursome, equal parts girls and guys, delivering a raw punk take on AM studio pop. JIM WHITE

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £18

Best known for capturing the haunting mysticism of the Deep South with an occasional nod to Tom Waits, Jim White takes his twangy guitar sounds out for a whirl.

Mon 20 Nov RICKY ROSS

SAINT LUKE’S, FROM 19:00, £25

Mr Ross draws from his extensive songwriting catalogue of 30 years from Deacon Blue and beyond. GIRLI

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £7

Pop artist and rapper who specialises in hooky bars of a feminist persuasion. Not a sassy songstress, nor a pop princess.

Listings

HUNTER AND THE BEAR

Melody-rock driven four-piece Hunter & The Bear have supported many artists, most notably Eric Clapton on his 2014 UK Arena tour. STU LARSEN

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £10

Folk troubadour who, since leaving his quiet little town in Queensland, has spent the years mostly touring and recording. WILL DUTTA: BLOOM LIVE

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, FROM 19:30, £10 - £14

Exceptionally vivid new compositions with electronic legends Plaid surrounded by luminous visuals and striking production design, resulting in a technologically advanced show of untempered colour. DAVE

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, TBC

Classically trained musician whose autobiographical raps have been known to break hearts.

An alternative evening of music, poetry, comedy and drag.

Thu 23 Nov HOWARD JONES

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £30

Alternative folk and electronica wizard Seamus Fogarty plays H&P following the release of new LP The Curious Hand. CLASSIC GRAND, FROM 19:00, £30

5ive and 911 head out on their misty-eyed, combo-deal Back In The Day Tour. ECHOBELLY

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £15

Glenn Johansson and Sonya Madan (of Britpop ensemble Echobelly) return to the live circuit. BRIX AND THE EXTRICATED

STEREO, FROM 19:00, £13.50

Live band unit featuring none other than former Fall member Brix Smith-Start. EUROS CHILDS

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £12 - £14

The Welsh musician and songwriter, best known as the frontman of Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, plays the Glad Cafe. MAC DEMARCO

The synth-pop master draws on his back catalogue, including renowned albums Human’s Lib and Dream Into Action.

r rock multi-instrumentalist and artist hailing from Canada.

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £25

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £5

NELLY

Yep, that Texan rapper, who insisted on taking all his clothes off whenever he felt hot back in the early 2000s. WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £15

For the first leg of their sell-out tour of more intimate venues, the cult heroes drop into Sneaks for two nights. BAD TOUCH (MOLLIE MARRIOTT)

STEREO, FROM 19:30, £14

All new alt-sleaze Edinburgh five-piece, with greasy baritone vocals over emphatic beats. A torrid symphony of guitar, bass, organ and drums. SUNDAYS & CYBELE

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £6

Four-piece psych band formed in Hokkaido, Japan in 2004. CALUM INGRAM

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £10

Paisley-born classically-trained cellist and songwriter, imbued with Celtic, folk, jazz and blues influences.

BEANS ON TOAST (SKINNY LISTER)

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £14

Politically-charged one man folkmachine from London, via Essex.

ST JOHN’S AMBIENCE (STATIC SUNS)

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, TBC

Alternative-styled Glasgow quartet made up of members from various Scottish bands past and present.

Fri 24 Nov BRY

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £10

Irish singer-songwriter with a unique approach to life and a goal is to travel to (and perform in) every single country in the world. TOM CLARKE

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £18

The Enemy’s Tom Clarke heads out on four final intimate, acoustic shows celebrating ten years of We’ll Live And Die In These Towns. 100 FABLES

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £6

Fronted by Lyndsey Liora, fourpiece 100 Fables combine influences from the likes of Blondie, Altered Images and Le Tigre. DUKE SPECIAL

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:30, £15

Belfast piano-based folk songwriter with a distinctly accented voice and some even more distinctive dreadlocks.

STAG & DAGGER: ONES TO WATCH (BANG BANG ROMEO + CHEAP TEETH + DECLAN WELSH & THE DECADENT WEST + HEAVY RAPIDS + OBJECTIFIED + PAVES + PHOBOPHOBES + PROLETARIAT. + ROXY AGOGO + SHEAFS + SWEDISH DEATH CANDY + WITCH FEVER) BROADCAST, FROM 18:00, £24 - £27

S&D, This Feeling and Control Social Club team up to present a selection of promising up-and-comers for your delectation.

BARROWLANDS, FROM 19:00, £20 - £25

SODOMIZED CADAVER (DISPOSABLE + SCIMITAR + KINGPIN)

Welsh trio specialising in death metal and objectionable monikers.

Sat 25 Nov KASABIAN

THE SSE HYDRO, FROM 18:30, £29.50 - £55

Expect more in the way of ballsy northern anthems from the Leicester boys. THE ICICLE WORKS

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £18

Liverpudlian rockers from the same era that spawned Echo & The Bunnymen and The Teardrop Explodes.

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:30, £10

DAISYHEAD (SIBLING + CRASHES)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, TBC

Nashville four-man signed to No Sleep Records.

Mon 27 Nov PVRIS

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £19.50

American rock group from Massachusetts whose record All We Know Of Heaven, All We Need Of Hell is out now. BLAENAVON

SAINT LUKE’S, FROM 19:00, £10

AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £15.50

Belfast-based punk-rock ensemble. Also winners of our creepiest band name award that we just made up. JOHN MAUS

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 19:00, £10

Born in the decade of synth pop and sharing his birthday with George Frideric Handel, John started making music when Nirvana posters went up on every teenager’s wall. It’s this curious conflux of influences that partially helps to describe John’s music. THE LAST GASP (JACK RABBIT SLAMS)

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, TBC

90s collective fusing conscious rap, hip-hop and soul. MIK ARTISTIK’S EGO TRIP

THE GLAD CAFE, FROM 19:00, £10

Punky comedic musical icon. CRYSTAL (DASPLASTIXX)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, TBC

A Glasgow-based duo bolstered by a full band whose sound is influenced rock, grunge, blues and punk.

Sun 26 Nov SWEET BABOO

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £10

North Wales singer/songwriter all sparkling melodies and deft lyrical turns. JOSH ROUSE

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £17.50

American folky pop singer-songwriter, originally from Nebraska, before starting his recording career in Nashville, then relocating to Spain. Got that? STELLA CHIWESHE

PLATFORM, FROM 19:00, £7.50 - £10

The Queen of Mbira, trailblazer, kicker-in of doors and one of the most outstanding musicians Zimbabwe has produced, Stella Chiweshe is an institution. She plays the mbira, an instrument that consists of 22 -28 metal keys mounted on a hardwood soundboard.

PICTURE THIS

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £11

Alt-pop music from former 6 Day Riot frontwoman Tamara Schlesinger.

Lumineers-esque makers of “hey! ho!”-peppered indie-folk.

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:30, £8 - £15

A very similar sound to The Kooks of yore.

MORGAN SZYMANSKI

A Día de Muertos concert with Szymanski on guitar and special guest Lucia Pagano.

ISLAND

LA BELLE ANGELE, FROM 19:00, £7.50

DED RABBIT

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–01:00, £7

Thu 02 Nov

A band of brothers playing an eclectic mix of indie and sax funk.

USHER HALL, FROM 19:00, £25 - £49.50

PARADISE PALMS, 21:00–01:00, FREE

ALISON MOYET

JACUZZI GENERAL

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £10

STEAKNIFE (FRANK + DFA MILLER)

EVIL BLIZZARD (THE GIMMIE GIMMIE GIMMIES)

PARADISE PALMS, 21:00–01:00, FREE

BANNERMANS, FROM 20:00, TBC

DAVID THOMAS BROUGHTON

The ever-mercurial multi-instrumentalist and singer steps out for another improvisatory turn. ROBERT PLANT

SEC, FROM 18:30, £39.75 - £73.80

Aye, him of Led Zeppelin fame takes his rock’n’roll self out on the road solo with his Sensational Space Shifters.

Tue 28 Nov ELECTRIC BOYS

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, £16

Melocic sleaze-rock assualt, headered by Electric boys. Part of the Smokehead Rocks tour. JAMES ARTHUR

THE SSE HYDRO, FROM 18:30, £29.50 - £39.50

ALASDAIR ROBERTS

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £10

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £7

Sat 04 Nov

A monthly edition of bubbling musical bliss from a man who always has one foot in the deep end.

The Dundee inde-pop scamps play a trio of shows at the O2.

Inimitable folk musician and songwriter.

MALKA

The English singer/songwriter marks a return to her electronic roots, playing tracks from her new LP, OTHER.

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 21:00, £19.50

The acclaimed electro duo play to a SWG3 crowd after getting a venue upgrade due to demand.

Wed 01 Nov

Fledgling Hampshire trio built on soaring choruses and the manic energy of yoof.

The 2012 X-Factor winner now tumbling down the rungs of the pop world.

GORGON CITY

Edinburgh Music

THE VIEW

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, TBC

JORDAN MACKAMPA

BROADCAST, FROM 19:00, £6

Kinshasa-born, London-bred singer-songwriter. PRESS TO MECO (THE DARIEN VENTURE)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, £7 - £10

The alternative-styled progressive rock thugs go heavy duty on the guitars, as per.

Wed 29 Nov MIGHTY OAKS

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £11.50

Indie-folk rock trio made up of Ian Hooper, Claudio Donzelli and Craig Saunders. THE DARKNESS

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £27.50

Histrionic hair metal group continue to enjoy their unlikely rejuvenation. THE VIEW

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, TBC

A live broadcast of domestic industrious discotheque and rare musical warblings from DFA Millar and Frank.

THE SOUND MONKEYS (LITTLE LOVE & THE FRIENDLY VIBES)

A very similar sound to The Kooks of yore.

FALLING RED (FAHRAN + FRAGILE THINGS)

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:30, £8.50 - £12

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, £8 - £10

Killer triple-bill of rock.

SLEEPLESS GIANTS (BEFORE STORIES + TERRESTRIA)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5

A loud, energetic alt-rock band from central Scotland, taking influence from varied musical backgrounds to create their own unique sound. SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: APPALACHIAN SPRING

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:30, £11 - £34

Olari Elts conducts SCO in a programme of music imbued with birdsong. THE RHYTHM N’ BOOZE WHISKY CLUB: TRIO BAM ( FELIPE SCHRIEBERG + TRIO BAM)

ASSEMBLY ROXY, 19:30–22:00, £25

Blending whisky and live music, this interactive tasting will engage your senses in new and unexpected ways.

Fri 03 Nov

RSNO OUNDJIAN CONDUCTS BEETHOVEN’S PASTORAL

USHER HALL, FROM 19:30, £12.50 - £41

Peter Oundjian joins forces with Artist in Residence Jan Vogler and violinist Mira Wang in Brahms’ romantic Double Concerto, plus a Scottish premiere by one of Germany’s greatest living composers. BAD NAME + HYSTERIA

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–01:00, £10

A double-header event for classic rock fans.

GLOBAL ROOTS (GIORGIO CORONA) (ANDREA MONTALTO)

THE HUG AND PINT, FROM 19:30, £8

Join Montalto and Cornoa for an evening of jazz, disco, funk, boogie and world wonders.

MAMMÚT (BROEN)

Thu 30 Nov SHED SEVEN

PARADISE PALMS, 21:00–01:00, FREE

THE TESLA COILS (FURTHER THAN THOUGHT + PART TIME HEROS + IN STATIONS)

Hell-raising rock four-piece from Dunbar.

KERRI WATT

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5

KING TUT’S, FROM 20:30, £10

The Milngavie multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter plays a King Tut’s set. GOOD CHARLOTTE

BARROWLANDS, FROM 18:00, £27.50

Waldorf’s Madden bros-fronted pop punk outfit return with new material. THE VIEW

O2 ABC, FROM 19:00, TBC

The Dundee inde-pop scamps play a trio of shows at the O2. THE GOOD ARMS (BLACK DOG DAYS + CÃ¶RTNE AND THE MOODY CHANTS)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 19:30, TBC

Hard rock from Glasgow.

THE EDINBURGH LIGHT ORCHESTRA

A 40th anniversary concert as ELO take stock of the last four decades and pay homage to their inspirations along the way.

Sun 05 Nov SCOUTING FOR GIRLS

LA BELLE ANGELE, FROM 19:00, £22.50

It’s legit ten years since these fellas released their self-titled debut. Now they return to rake up the glory days in a celebratory show. MARC ALMOND

USHER HALL, FROM 19:00, £24.50 - £60

The Soft Cell mainman tours solo in celebration of his new LP Shadows and Reflections. SOUNDHOUSE: MARTIN SIMPSON

TRAVERSE THEATRE, FROM 20:00, £11

40 years after he recorded his first album, Golden Vanity, in 1976, Martin is known as a guitarist of formidable talent and purveyor of traditional folk, American folk and blues. HANNAH ALDRIDGE

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–01:00, £15

LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–22:00, £11

It’s legit ten years since these fellas released their self-titled debut. Now they return to rake up the glory days in a celebratory show.

Mon 06 Nov VAN MORRISON

Experimental post-punk mainstays formed way back in 1976 by Colin Newman. LOVE MUSIC COMMUNITY CHOIR & LOVE MUSIC JUNIOR CHOIR

USHER HALL, FROM 19:00, TBC

The UK’s biggest community choir, comprising hundreds voices from 8 to 90 year-old people perform another eclectic programme of music. THE MAGIC BAND

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–01:00, FREE

Original members Denny Walley, Mark Boston and John French celebrate the music of the late Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart), sharing the stage with guitarist Eric Klerks and drummer Craig Bunch to re-visit the classic tunes with renewed fervour. CHEW (NICE CHURCH)

WEE RED BAR, FROM 19:00, £5

Psychedelic spacewave from Atlanta. WIRE

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £15

Experimental post-punk mainstays formed way back in 1976 by Colin Newman. KAGOULE (CATHOLIC ACTION)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £8

Nottingham-based rock troupe picking up stateside guitar crunch to balance out their melodic songwriting. THE PAPERBOYS (SARAH JANE SCOUTEN)

LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–22:00, £11

The Paperboys are poised to bring their adventurous vision of Canadian roots music to dancehalls everywhere, spreading good cheer and great music.

Tue 07 Nov MARK EITZEL

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–01:00, £14

Live set from the respected American underground musician, best known as the lead singer of American Music Club.

Wed 08 Nov OYSTERBAND

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:00, £20

English electric folk bunch, formed in Canterbury in 1976. SCO: BEETHOVEN SYMPHONY NO 5

USHER HALL, FROM 19:30, £11 - £34

Principal guest conductor Emmanuel Krivine leads pianist Robert Levin and the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in a rendition of Beethoven’s Fifth. LAFIDKI (GLASSMASTERER)

WEE RED BAR, FROM 19:00, £5

Dancey electronica from Phnom Penh-hailing artist Saphy Vong. NIGHT DEMON (MYTHRA)

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, £10

Metal group from Ventura.

THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE, FROM 20:00, £45 - £75

The OBE-furnished Irish singer/ songwriter plays a set cherrypicked from his back catalogue.

BANNERMANS, FROM 20:00, £3

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 19:00, £24

The Britpop also-rans revisit their glory days.

ISLAND (LEIF ERIKSON)

LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–22:00, £7.50

WEE RED BAR, FROM 19:00, £5

Garage punk-duo from southern Germany.

The Dundee inde-pop scamps play a trio of shows at the O2. Icelandic rockers who started out as an all-female trio before enlisting two more members in 2004.

Four bass players and a singer drummer make up this Preston/ Birmingham-hailing sonic assault on your eardrums.

WIRE THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 19:00, £14.50

THE INDOS

Alternative rock band who take influence from the mod, pop and heavier rock that emerged from British rock bands of the 1960’s. HOLY MOLY & THE CRACKERS

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 11:00–14:00, £6.50 - £8

Newcastle folk rock band Holy Moly & The Crackers set out on tour around the UK to promote the release of their acclaimed new album, Salem. BLUE ROSE CODE

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 20:00, TBC

London-based folk group, fronted by Dan Heptinstall and Lorna Thomas, delivering a reliably foot stomping show.

THE SKINNY

THE TRAVELLING BAND

RSNO SCHEHERAZADE

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £10

USHER HALL, FROM 19:30, £12.50 - £41

With honeyed harmonies and reverb-soaked guitars The Travelling Band have been quietly honing what Marc Riley described as Mancunian Americana. CHILDCARE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £6

Annie Mac-approved explosive music with jagged guitar riffs and anthemic vocals. EDINBURGH QUARTET

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 15:00, £12 - £15

A programme of emotionally charged works by Haydn, Tchaikovsky and more.

Mon 13 Nov JAKE BUGG

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:00, £25

MY VITRIOL (…AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD) SUMMERHALL, 19:00–23:00, £19.50 - £23

London based alt-rock band My Vitriol – oft credited with ushering a “new wave of shoegaze” dubbed NuGaze in the early 2000s – return after a lengthy hiatus with their limited release album The Secret Sessions. RACHEL ALICE JOHNSON SINGLE LAUNCH (CHUCHOTER + DENI SMITH)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £6.80

ECA graduate with sultry rock’n’roll vibes.

Thu 09 Nov NOVEMBER LIGHTS

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 19:30, £6

Bleeding elements of American pop and Americana from November Lights. BLACK STAR RIDERS

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 18:00, £28

The latest incarnation of Thin Lizzy – made up of Scott Gorham, Brian Downey, Darren Wharton, Ricky Warwick, Damon Johnson and Marco Mendoza – take their new project on the road. THE KING IS BACK

USHER HALL, FROM 20:00, £26.40 - £32.45

Tribute show from Ben Portsmouth. SON OF DAVE

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–01:00, £14

A modern funky solo, bringing a bluesy, eruption of harmonica and beatboxing to the central belt.

VUKOVAR (ROSE MCDOWELL + SNIDE RHYTHMS)

WEE RED BAR, FROM 19:00, £5

Indie rock/pop born out of brutalist Northern England. BATTALIONS (PSYCHOTIC DEPRESSION)

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, FREE

A night of sludge and doom. SPLOCO (ONETHREEONE)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £4

SPOCO is a Edinburgh-based indie band. Soda-pop meets post-rock. Sunny D meets cherry Coke.

SOUL LEGENDS THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE, FROM 19:30, £30

A night of classics from yesteryear, including Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Sam and Dave, Tina Turner and others. RSNO SHOSTAKOVICH TWELVE

USHER HALL, FROM 19:30, £12.50 - £41

A Remembrance Day concert in collaboration with Poppy Scotland. THE NEW 52 (DREAM TOBACCO)

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, FREE

The Dublin band play a set at Bannermans. TOO MANY ZOOZ (SUPA & DA KRYPTONITES)

LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–22:00, £18.50

Hardcore drum ‘n’ brass from NYC. Support from local legends.

EMPTY LUNGS + LOST LOVE (PAPER RIFLES + TRAGICAL HISTORY TOUR + STATE SCHOOLS)

LEITH DEPOT, 19:00–00:00, £6

A joint headline show of catchy melodic punk from Canada and Northern Ireland

Sat 11 Nov FOREVER AMY

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:30, £22.50

Featuring Amy’s original band and the incredible Alba Plano, Forever Amy celebrates the music and live shows of Amy Winehouse. LATE NIGHT IN THE BIG CITY (MIRACLE GLASS COMPANY)

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:00–01:00, £5

Miracle Glass Company continue their new bi-monthly night at The Voodoo Rooms, playing an extended live set, including brand new material, supported by guest bands and DJs for your aural pleasure. PAT MCMANUS BAND

BANNERMANS, FROM 20:00, £12 - £15

The Irish rock legend returns to Bannermans. REGRETTA GARBO (PILOTCAN)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £25 - £45

Theatrically shambolic three-piece likened to “the sonic equivalent of what it must be like to airlift a panda from precariously thin ice”.

HARRY HARRIS

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:30, £16.50 - £18.50

KAT (ROMAN KOSTRZEWSKI)

Polish thrash band who formed in the 80s. LEITH DEPOT, 20:00–22:00, £5

Songwriter Harry Harris returns with a new release, Andre The Giant, a collaboration between himself, graphic designer Gavin Day and producers Chemikal Recipe. These new songs combine Harry’s innate storytelling ability with a wider, more expansive sound.

Fri 10 Nov THE TUBES

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £25

Legendary San Francisco rockers well-known for their 1975 smash White Punks on Dope and their theatrical live performances. LULU

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:30, £45

The vocal powerhouse returns. CC SMUGGLERS

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:30, £10

Bedford super-group CC Smugglers swing by.

HORSE: WINTER TOUR

Esteemed vocalist and guitarist Horse plays a show with her full band at Queen’s Hall.

Sun 12 Nov

BRUSSELS PHILHARMONIC (NIKOLAJ ZNAIDER)

USHER HALL, FROM 15:00, TBC

Bruch’s dazzling first violin concerto with Nikolaj Znaider and Brussels Philharmonic. BEN POOLE

THE CAVES, 19:00–22:00, £14

Young blues guitarist infused with a hard-hitting in yer face rock approach. PETER BRUNTNELL TRIO

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–01:00, £12

Peter Bruntnell is a songwriter with rare and mysterious qualities – such is the particular appeal of the quiet Devonian’s songwriting craft.

Young Nottingham-born folkmeets-indie singer/songwriter, known to his mammy under the slightly less cool moniker of Jake Edwin Kennedy. SOUNDHOUSE: DOMINIC WAXING LYRICAL

TRAVERSE THEATRE, FROM 20:00, £11

BLACK ACES

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, £6 - £8

The Australian Rockers hit Edinburgh. VISTAS

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £8

Indie-rockers Vistas (formerly known as Friend of a Friend) head our way. KANE STRANG

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £7

Kane Strang, from Dunedin NZ, makes stripped back, taut and pensive indie. FFO Kurt Vile, Big Thief, Cloud Nothings, Real Estate, Woods and DIIV. GRAHAM MACKENZIE AND SNUFFBOX

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:30, £15 - £18

A show from the multi awardnominated fiddler who hails from the Highlands. CALLUM BEATTIE

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, TBC

WITCHSORROW (THE MOTH + KING WITCH)

LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–22:00, £17

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, £10

Chuck Prophet and The Mission Express bring their raucous, glorious and majestic show to Edinburgh. SCO: CHAMBER SUNDAY

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 15:30, £14

Gordon Bragg conducts a mixture of experienced SCO players and young RCS musicians in an afternoon of Strauss.

Mon 20 Nov

MOLSKY’S MOUNTAIN DRIFTERS

TRAVERSE THEATRE, FROM 20:00, £11

The Grammy award-nominated fiddlng, banjo and guitar talent presents his new group at The Trav’s Soundhouse gig series. SHAWN JAMES & THE SHAPESHIFTERS

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, £10 - £12

After a successful debut solo show, Shawn is back with the full band. QUARTETTO DI CREMONA

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:45, £12 - £22

One of Italy’s best string wuartets in concert, performing Boccherini, Verdi, Puccini and Respighi.

Baroque folksters who describe their things as ‘tales of graffiti, truancy and despair, with the odd toilet roll and vacuum cleaner thrown in for good measure’, which is nice.

The young Edinburgh singer/ songwriter shares his acoustic indie-pop gems. Surf Manchu bring their vigilante surf rock to Glasgow.

Four East Coast Village lads making a rammy of rock sounds.

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, £10 - £12

Sat 18 Nov

BANNERMANS, FROM 18:30, TBC

UNLEASH THE ARCHERS

Award winning Canadian metal outfit hit Bannermans for their only Scottish date.

Tue 14 Nov LUCY ROSE

THE CAVES, FROM 19:00, £15

Singer-songwriter who has contributed vocals to Bombay Bicycle Club tracks, now striking out on her lonesome. ELEPHANT SESSIONS

THE VOODOO ROOMS, FROM 19:30, £10

SURF MANCHU

LEITH DEPOT, FROM 20:00, £5

VANT

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 19:00, £10

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:00, £25

Alt rock band who formed in 1988, broke up in 1996, reunited in 2001 for a one-off, before finally coming together in 2015 to begin to record and tour. Basically, the Ross and Rachel of bands.

Wed 15 Nov BILLY BRAGG

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:00, £20

The Canadian rocker returns for a special show.

WEE RED BAR, FROM 19:00, £7

Local post-rockers We Came From The North are joined by Northeners The Cities We Light and alt-rockers Maps And Plans. THE DERELLAS (THE BROTHEL CORPSE TRIO + THE NO-THINGS)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £6

RIDE

WILL BLACK

For the first leg of their sell-out tour of more intimate venues, the cult heroes drop into Sneaks for two nights.

WE CAME FROM THE NORTH (THE CITIES WE LIGHT + MAPS & PLANS)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £8

Slugabed makes bass music of a sort, but it’s part jazz odyssey, part hip-hop beat tape, part future-pop deconstruction, part Part John Carpenter soundtrack, part post-rock adventure.

DEAF HAVANA

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:00, £16.50

WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS (FISKUR)

Garage punk rock at Bannermans.

NIGHT MUSIC: SLUGABED

Tue 21 Nov

Parlophone signed four-piece doing their indie rock thing.

Award-winning neo-trad quintet forged in the Highlands of Scotland.

BANNERMANS, FROM 20:00, £7 - £9

MOTION POETS (STELLAR)

The indie rockers play Sneak’s.

SPINNING COIN (KEEL HER + ROCKY LORELEI)

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:00–22:00, TBC

Local heroes Spinning Coin swing by after the release of their debut album Permo. JEREMY KITTEL TRIO AND PATSY REID

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:30, £15 - £18

Award-winning fiddler, violinist, and composer Jeremy Kittel plays a show with Patsy Reid and her four-piece band. WE CAME FROM THE NORTH (THE CITIES WE LIGHT + MAPS AND PLANS)

WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £7

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, TBC

Wed 22 Nov SHED SEVEN

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £24

The Britpop also-rans revisit their glory days. THE DIVINE COMEDY

USHER HALL, FROM 19:00, £32.50 - £42.50

The folky orchestral poppers tour their 11th album, Foreverland. SERENDIPITY (FOREIGNFOX)

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–01:00, FREE

Serendipity feeds on inspiration. As a multi-arts event it aims to become a haven for restless minds where they can open wide and feast on creativity. Bands will be playing during the evening and they will be sharing their space with an exhibition. SYTERIA (THE FILTH HOUNDS)

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, £8 - £10

Jax Chambers of Girlschool returns back with her Band Syteria (who kick ass).

WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS (FISKUR)

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 19:00, £7

Local post-rockers We Came From The North are joined by Northeners The Cities We Light and alt-rockers Maps And Plans.

Sun 19 Nov

For the first leg of their sell-out tour of more intimate venues, the cult heroes drop into Sneaks for two nights.

YONAKA

ASSEMBLY ROXY, FROM 20:00, £13

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:45, £10 - £15

The fiercely political singersongwriter hits the road again. CHELOU

Chelou brings his delicate blend of fragile vocals and intricate guitar to The Mash House. SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £7

Brighton quartet championing dark pop and heavy riffs.

Thu 16 Nov RICKY ROSS

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:00, £25

Mr Ross draws from his extensive songwriting catalogue of 30 years from Deacon Blue and beyond. FURY (DAKESIS)

BANNERMANS, FROM 19:30, £7 - £10

Two killer metal bands return to destroy our stage. SYD ARTHUR

THE MASH HOUSE, 20:00–22:00, £8

Young psychedelic pin-up hailing from Canterbury. FABRIC BEAR (THE HEAD + ID KID)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5

Fuzz-fueled riffage.

Fri 17 Nov VISTAS

THE MASH HOUSE, FROM 19:00, £7

Indie-rockers Vistas (formerly known as Friend of a Friend) head our way.

November 2017

RSNO’s own Principal Cello Aleksei Kiseliov stars in a performance of Scheherazade.

CHUCK PROPHET + THE MISSION EXPRESS

SOUL STRUTTIN’ (EDINBURGH’S VOICE OF THE TOWN CHOIR)

A set of soul, funk, gospel, R’n’B and pop / rock, with powerful harmonies, original arrangements and irresistible grooves.

BASEL CHAMBER ORCHESTRA (STEPHEN HOUGH)

USHER HALL, FROM 15:00, £12.50 - £34

Stephen Hough performs Mendelssohn’s first piano concerto alongside the composer’s famous Hebrides Overture. SISTER JOHN

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–01:00, £9

The lush, melodic songs of Sister John get an airing at the Voodoo Rooms. CERTAIN DEATH (DISPOSABLE + KING PIN + MANY MORE)

BANNERMANS, FROM 14:00, £7.50 - £10

A killer day and night of punk and metal. RACHEL YAMAGATA (BRANDON JENNER)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

Classy soulful tunes from the upstate New Yorker.

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, TBC

HEBRIDES ENSEMBLE: RESTLESS LOVE

The Hebrides Ensemble present an evocative reimagining of Schubert and Schumann’s works by Dutch composer Reinbert de Leeuw.

Thu 23 Nov ELECTRIC SIX

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £18

A dark night of doom/metal. AUTOBAHN

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £7

Leeds ragers Autobahn dose up a Sneaky’s audience with a big pile of post punk and gothy rock. SCO: IMMORTAL BEETHOVEN

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:30, £11 - £34

Joseph Swensen conducts the Scottish Chamber Orchestra in a performance of Harrold, MacMillan and Beethoven.

Fri 24 Nov HUE AND CRY

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 19:00, £26.50

The Coatbridge duo showcase tracks from their new LP September Songs. LOGAN’S CLOSE

THE CAVES, 19:00–22:00, £6

The rock’n’roll and rhythm and blues four-piece launch new single Girl at The Caves.

Folk troubadour who, since leaving his quiet little town in Queensland, has spent the years mostly touring and recording. IAN FELICE

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–01:00, £14

Ian Felice, lead singer and songwriter of The Felice Brothers, tours in support of his debut solo album In The Kingdom Of Dreams.

USHER HALL, FROM 19:30, £17 - £20

Glorious soundscapes aplenty as this pair of musicians celebrate the release of new album Bare Knuckle.

CITY OF GLASS 011 (CUTTINGS + FATALISTS + L-SPACE + KAPIL SESHASAYEE) LEITH DEPOT, 20:00–23:30, £4 - £5

Edinburgh post-punks Cuttings play their last show ever.

Sat 25 Nov

EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY MUSIC SOCIETY: 150TH ANNIVERSARY CONCERT

USHER HALL, FROM 19:30, £8 - £30

Conductors Russell Cowieson and Michael Devlin conduct EUMS in an anniversary concert featuring a performance of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. FLORENCE BLACK

BANNERMANS, FROM 20:00, £6 - £8

TWENTY GAUGE (ALAN FREW)

BANNERMANS, FROM 20:00, £5

A night of local talent at Bannermans.

SCOTTISH CHAMBER ORCHESTRA: CHRISTMAS ORATORIO

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 19:30, £11 - £34

SCO stirs up a little Christmas spirit with a performance of JS Bach’s Christmas Oratorio in German.

DADDY LONG LEGS

New York City’s most beloved blues bashers have been huffing and puffing and blowing houses down on a nightly basis on their infinite world tour and always bring an elevated level of rough and ready intensity to contemporary lo-fi blues! THE SKABILLY REBELS (THE MEDIA WHORES)

BANNERMANS, 19:00–23:00, £11 - £12.50

Indie-rockers Vistas (formerly known as Friend of a Friend) head our way.

Sat 11 Nov

SATAN’S EMPIRE (MILLENNIUM + VOLCANO X)

CHURCH, FROM 18:30, £6

Dundonian outfit currently comprising Paul Lewis and Alex Mcritchie Guitar, Wayne Hudson on bass, Magpie on drums and Derek Lyon on vocals.

Sun 12 Nov NOVEMBER LIGHTS

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, FROM 19:30, £6

Bleeding elements of American pop and Americana from November Lights.

Mon 13 Nov

CLARKS ON LINDSAY STREET, FROM 19:30, £12

CHURCH, FROM 19:00, £10

London-based folk group, fronted by Dan Heptinstall and Lorna Thomas, delivering a reliably foot stomping show.

Thu 02 Nov

RSNO: BEETHOVEN’S PASTORAL

CAIRD HALL, FROM 19:30, TBC

CLARKS ON LINDSAY STREET, FROM 19:00, £6.60

Ayrshire foursome of the alternative indie variety.

Legendary taiko drumming group, built on thunderous drum rhythms layered with percussive soundscapes and precise choreography.

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–01:00, £10

VISTAS

Wed 01 Nov

LA BELLE ANGELE, 19:00–22:00, £16

Sun 26 Nov

THE FILTHY TONGUES

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, FROM 20:00, £12

CONROY’S BASEMENT, FROM 19:00, £5

Fri 03 Nov

A prolific live band first put together by frontman Danny Vaughn in 1987, reformed again in 2008. If you’re a fan of hard rock, get involved.

Bez, Gary Whelan, Mark Day, Paul Davies, Paul Ryder, Rowetta and Shaun Ryder take to the stage to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Happy Mondays.

Thu 30 Nov

Welsh rock trio, back to kick out the jams. TYKETTO

HAPPY MONDAYS

CAIRD HALL, FROM 19:00, TBC

The alt-rock veterans stop by for a set.

BLUE ROSE CODE

CHRIS STOUT & CATRIONA MCKAY

Fri 10 Nov

A selection of well-kent Gilbert & Sullivan bangers and traditional marches.

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 20:00, £15 - £17.50

MUGENKYO TAIKO DRUMMERS

CAIRD HALL, FROM 19:30, TBC

Sun 05 Nov WIRE

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, FROM 19:30, £16

Experimental post-punk mainstays formed way back in 1976 by Colin Newman.

Thu 09 Nov

AMERICAN APOCALYPSE NOW

KING PARROT

Australian thrash metal / grindcore band.

Tue 14 Nov RICKY ROSS

THE GARDYNE THEATRE, FROM 19:00, TBC

Mr Ross draws from his extensive songwriting catalogue of 30 years from Deacon Blue and beyond.

Thu 16 Nov

JAIMEO BROWN’S TRANSCENDENCE: WORK SONGS (FERGUS MCCREADIE TRIO)

DUNDEE REP, 20:00–22:00, £15

Transcendence re-draws a jazz landscape with music that celebrates the human sprit with warmth, integrity and hope. The latest recording, Work Songs, samples the unknown labourer, the jailhouse, the coal miner, gandy dancer, and stonemason. GRAINNE DUFFY BAND + GERRY JABLONSKI BAND

THE GARDYNE THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £15

Electric blues-rock double header, delivered with a killer combination of passionate and raw vocal strength, range and intensity and guitar virtuosity. THE DAINTEES

CLARKS ON LINDSAY STREET, FROM 19:30, £12

Sunderland folk/rock/pop band who specialise in rootsy, rockabilly sound.

CLARKS ON LINDSAY STREET, FROM 19:00, £8

The Onion Club present a number of works in progress on the theme of American dystopia and dysfunction.

Former Specials guitarist Roddy Radiation’s new band make their Edinburgh debut, with support from Mercury Prize longlisters The Media Whores.

Tue 28 Nov

STU LARSEN

THE BAND OF HER MAJESTY’S ROYAL MARINES SCOTLAND WITH EDGAS

Dundee Music

USHER HALL, FROM 19:00, £40

THE CAVES, 19:00–22:00, £10

Wed 29 Nov

SOULACOASTER

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–01:00, FREE

Mon 27 Nov

The iconic US rockers play Usher Hall following the August release of Villains.

A four-man unit hailing from Dundee who’ve been pals and bandmates since the age of thirteen.

Soulacoaster’s 12-piece band will have the dancefloor jumping to the greatest soul hits from Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Sam & Dave, Tina Turner, The Jackson 5 and many, many more.

Detroit underdogs with enough joyful hooks, mischievous wordplay and unexpected pathos to worm their way into your heart. QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE

MODEL AEROPLANES THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £9

JAWS

THE CAVES, FROM 19:00, £10

The Birmingham rabble-rousers play Edinburgh’s Caves. THE KOOKS

USHER HALL, FROM 19:00, £27.50

Tousled-haired Brighton scamps with a kit-bag of guitar-based pop offerings, if anyone’s still listening? KLLO (SUPER INUIT)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £9

Electronic collaboration taking in garage and cold-edged pop influences.

Listings

Fri 17 Nov

JERRON “BLIND BOY” PAXTON (THE TROUBLEMAKERS)

DUNDEE REP, 20:00–22:00, £15

Original 1920s and 1930s acoustic blues with Jerron playing banjo, fiddle, guitar, piano and a handful of other instruments and mixes it all in the true songster tradition: ragtime, hokum, old time, French reels, Appalachian mountain music and blues. THE MOUSE OUTFIT

READING ROOMS, FROM 20:00, £12.50

Fronted by UK hip-hop legend Dr Syntax and verbal acrobat Sparkz, this eight-piece-band's horn-heavy and funk-driven live show combines original grooves with classic hip-hop, b-boy and funk breaks. ONE NIGHT IN NEW ORLEANS (ALI AFFLECK'S COPPER CATS)

THE GARDYNE THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £12.50

Edinburgh-based American singer Ali Affleck and the acclaimed Copper Cats band transport you to the prohibition era.

Sat 18 Nov

SIXTIES GOLD CONCERT

CAIRD HALL, FROM 19:30, £35

Feel-good show fulla golden oldies. BECCA STEVENS BAND (LUCA MANNING + ALAN BENZIE)

DUNDEE REP, 20:00–22:00, £15

Brooklyn-based singer, songwriter, band-leader and multi-instrumentalist who delivers spellbinding performances, combining personally-charged songwriting and impassioned vocals. A NIGHT WITH ELLA (SAM WEST.)

THE GARDYNE THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £18

Seonaid Aitken celebrates the songs of Ella Fitzgerald in her centenary year with The Groove Merchant Big Band. Plus special guest Sam West.

VEINS OF CARBIDE (GRIEVANCE + SONOROUS + RIDE THE TIDES)

CONROY’S BASEMENT, FROM 19:00, £6

Thrash / metal trio.

Wed 29 Nov BDY_PRTS

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, FROM 19:30, £6

Lush collaborative duo comprised of Jenny Reeve and Jill O'Sullivan, built on sweet vocal harmonies plus guitar, violin and fluttering handclaps. MODEL AEROPLANES

READING ROOMS, FROM 19:00, £9

A four-man unit hailing from Dundee who’ve been pals and bandmates since the age of thirteen.

Thu 30 Nov DIAMOND HEAD

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, FROM 20:00, £10

Stourbridge heavy metal outfit on the go since 1976. ALASDAIR ROBERS

CLARKS ON LINDSAY STREET, FROM 19:00, £10

Inimitable folk musician and songwriter.

Glasgow Clubs Wed 01 Nov

Award-winning neo-trad quintet forged in the Highlands of Scotland.

Thu 23 Nov HUNTER AND THE BEAR

CLARKS ON LINDSAY STREET, FROM 19:30, £10

Melody-rock driven four-piece Hunter & The Bear have supported many artists, most notably Eric Clapton on his 2014 UK Arena tour.

Fri 24 Nov

BALLADS OF DUNDEE BUROO (NICK SHANE + LITTLE ANCHORS + ALAN MCWILLIAM + TRIP + AVRIL SMART + BRIAN DOC WOUND)

Student-friendly Friday night party, playing (as one might expect) cheesy classics of every hue. MC BROTHER CULTURE & PETER YOUTHMAN

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 21:00, £3 - £5

Five-hour rub-a-dub reggae session.

SONICA FEAT. TUNDRA (LAKKER) AND XFRMR (ROBBIE THOMSON)

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 23:00, £5

Sonica presents a one-off club night at the Art School, featuring DJ sets, video projections from local VJs, and live shows from two of the festival's foremost audiovisual acts. NUMBERS: AVALON EMERSON + LORD OF THE ISLES (BLEAKER)

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, £12

SWG3 GLASGOW, 22:00–03:00, £12 - £15

DJ Craig cures your Wednesday woes at The Garage.

RECONFIGURED RHYTHMS (ABAYOMI FOLAHAN + SARRA WILD )

STEREO, 20:00–22:00, £5

An evening at Stereo inspired by music documentary Fonko, featuring a free screening of the movie itself followed by DJ sets from Abayomi Folahan and Sarra Wild (OH141).

Thu 02 Nov HIP HOP THURSDAYS

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

ELEPHANT SESSIONS

FRIDAY NIGHTS

SHED, 22:30–03:00, £4 - £6

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £4

CONROY’S BASEMENT, FROM 19:00, £11

CLARKS ON LINDSAY STREET, FROM 19:00, £9

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

WRAP-IT

LIGHTS OUT

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

Italo disco, funky house and detroit techno.

Sun 19 Nov

An intimate yuletide Eigg-nog of Hebridean Casio folk, with stripped back, twisted and blissed out regurgitations of ol’ Pictish Trail favourites.

PROPAGANDA O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

The Numbers crew stage their regular takeover, enlisting Californian producer Avalon Emerson and Nautilus Rising debutant Lord of The Isles.

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic R’n’B and hip-hop.

WINTER REWIND ACID REFLUX (PICTISH TRAIL)

Glasgow Clubs

JELLY BABY

Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer. ELEMENT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, TBC

Ross McMillan plays chart, house and anthems with giveaways, bouncy castles and, most importantly, air hockey.

I AM: TRON (BETA & KAPPA)

Our biggest production of Tron Ever in the new Galvanizers yard

Sat 04 Nov NU SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 - £7

Nick Peacock spins a Saturdayready selection of vintage disco, soul and funk. CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £5 - £6

Or Caturdays, if you will. Two levels of the loudest, maddest music the DJs can muster; metal, rock and alt on floor one, and punky screamo upstairs. THE ROCK SHOP

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Rock, indie and golden indie classics with resident DJ Heather McCartney. LOVE MUSIC

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Saturday night disco manned by your man Gerry Lyons and guests. HARSH TUG

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £3

Welsh trio specialising in death metal and objectionable monikers.

BRIX AND THE EXTRICATED (STOOR)

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, FROM 20:00, £12

Live band unit featuring none other than former Fall member Brix Smith-Start.

Sun 26 Nov

CAMPFIRES (HOPES UP HIGH + PANICBYFLARE + INERTIA)

CONROY’S BASEMENT, FROM 19:00, £7

The alternative Croy indie-rockers play their usual melodic wall of post-rock and experimental noise.

Listings

THE BERKELEY SUITE, FROM 23:00, £8

For their fourth event, the MYS crew have brought in Cologne DJ and AVA Records label boss Damiano Von Erckert for a night of soulful house music with touches of disco, funk and hip-hop.

Mon 06 Nov BARE MONDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

Lasers, bouncy castles and DJ Gav Somerville spinning out teasers and pleasers. Nice way to kick off the week, no? BURN MONDAYS

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Long-running trade night with Normski and Mash spinning the disco beats.

Tue 07 Nov KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Eclectic Tuesday nighter playing the best in house, techno and electronic – or, in their words ‘casually ignoring shite requests since 2005’.

I AM (KRYWALD & FARRER + BETA & KAPPA) SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £5

Dynamic disco spinners WSHOM, in for a midweek show-down. #TAG TUESDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £4

Indoor hot tubs, inflatables as far as the eye can see and a Twitter feed dedicated to validating your drunk-eyed existence. PERMOCULTURE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, £15

The Show gang welcome toon talent Patrick Topping into the booth for the night. FIRST DATES (SPOOK SCHOOL DJS)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

Post-everything indie disco with free entry.

Fri 03 Nov

HOUSE WORK (CAVEMAN + DJ ALEX GREER)

BASURA BLANCA, 22:00–02:00, £0 - £3

Garage by name, but not by musical nature. DJ Darren Donnelly carousels through chart, dance and classics, the Desperados bar is filled with funk, G2 keeps things urban and the Attic gets all indie on you. RUN THE WORLD

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 22:00, £8

HomeAlone take over SWG3 with a Bey-inspired bash featuring the backcatalogues of Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Britney Spears and more.

OLD SKOOL

Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul for your jivin’ pleasure. CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £5 - £6

Screamy, shouty, post-hardcore madness to help you shake off a week of stress in true punk style. JAMMING FRIDAYS

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, £3 - £5

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 23:00, £7 - £10

SUBCULTURE XXX (DERRICK MAY)

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, £15

The Detroit techno pioneer hits Subbie.

Indie rock’n’roll from the 60s to 00s with resident tune-picker DJ Jopez.

BLACKOUT 2 (BLAWAN) (SHIFTED + JANICE + ANIMAL FARM + ADAM RUTHERFORD)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £3

12-hour pitch black audio/visual techno event from Animal Farm.

GLITTERBANG

Exactly what it says on its sparkly tin - a dazzling night of disco Europop. FRESH BEAT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £6

Dance, chart and remixes in the main hall with Craig Guild, while DJ Nicola Walker keeps things nostalgic in G2 with flashback bangers galore.

THE GLUE FACTORY, 15:00–03:00, £25

Sun 05 Nov SESH

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

Twister, beer pong and DJ Ciar McKinley on the ones and twos, serving up chart and remixes thorough the night.

FRESH BEAT THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £6

ANNA & HOLLY’S DANCE PARTY

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £3

Rock’n’roll prom night extravaganza. FRIDAY NIGHTS

SHED, 22:30–03:00, £4 - £6

Student-friendly Friday night party, playing (as one might expect) cheesy classics of every hue. RETURN TO MONO (MARCEL FENGLER)

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, £12

Monthly night from Soma Records taking in popular techno offerings of all hues.

HEALTHY (GENIUS OF TIME) (WHEELMAN B2B EWAN CHAMBERS.)

THE BERKELEY SUITE, FROM 23:00, £6

Swedish duo Genius of Time play a full live set, supported by Wheelman b2b Ewan Chambers.

Sat 11 Nov NU SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 - £7

Nick Peacock spins a Saturdayready selection of vintage disco, soul and funk. CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £5 - £6

Or Caturdays, if you will. Two levels of the loudest, maddest music the DJs can muster; metal, rock and alt on floor one, and punky screamo upstairs. THE ROCK SHOP

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Rock, indie and golden indie classics with resident DJ Heather McCartney.

100% enjoyable house.

Thu 09 Nov HIP HOP THURSDAYS

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic R’n’B and hip-hop. JELLY BABY

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer. ELEMENT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, TBC

Ross McMillan plays chart, house and anthems with giveaways, bouncy castles and, most importantly, air hockey. UNHOLY

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 - £4

Cathouse’s Thursday night rock, metal and punk mashup. DRUGSTORE GLAMOUR

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

Maxed out messy vibes; trashy, tacky, glamorous and ridiculous. Oh, and fun, too. Very fun.

Fri 10 Nov OLD SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 - £7

Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul for your jivin’ pleasure.

Andy Divine and Chris Geddes’ gem of a night dedicated to 7-inch singles from every genre imaginable. I LOVE GARAGE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £5 - £7

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 21:00, FREE

DJ/Producer Ben Nicky stirs up the trance.

A LOVE FROM OUTER SPACE (ANDREW WEATHERALL + SEAN JOHNSTON) THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 23:00, £7 - £9

Andrew Weatherall and Sean Johnston’s rather ace London night comes our way. SUNDAYS AT LA CHEETAH (INTO THE OUTER) (HOUSE OF TRAPS)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 03:00, FREE

Brand new series of Sunday sessions with a twist on your average club party. Trusted selectors taking you from through the eve from 12t Nov ‘til Christmmas Eve. ONE NIGHT AT THE DISCO

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 22:00, £18 - £20

SWG3 and Melting Pot join forces to chuck on a night of glamourus, glittering disco. You will hear Chaka Khan.

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £5 - £6

JAMMING FRIDAYS

Deep, high quality tune selections from this esteemed DJ in a free show at The Art School.

Screamy, shouty, post-hardcore madness to help you shake off a week of stress in true punk style. MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Indie rock’n’roll from the 60s to 00s with resident tune-picker DJ Jopez.

Lasers, bouncy castles and DJ Gav Somerville spinning out teasers and pleasers. Nice way to kick off the week, no? BURN MONDAYS

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Long-running trade night with Normski and Mash spinning the disco beats.

Tue 14 Nov KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Eclectic Tuesday nighter playing the best in house, techno and electronic – or, in their words ‘casually ignoring shite requests since 2005’. DOOR 24

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 20:00, FREE

FRESH BEAT

Dance, chart and remixes in the main hall with Craig Guild, while DJ Nicola Walker keeps things nostalgic in G2 with flashback bangers galore. PROPAGANDA

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like. FRIDAY NIGHTS

SHED, 22:30–03:00, £4 - £6

Student-friendly Friday night party, playing (as one might expect) cheesy classics of every hue.

THUNDER DISCO (CRAIG RICHARDS) (HAMMER + JUBÉ) SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, TBC

Fabric's resident tech-house DJ and musical director, Craig Richards plays subbie. FAMOO

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £3

Soul funk disco.

Sat 18 Nov NU SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 - £7

Psych rock’n’roll, garage and krautrock. #TAG TUESDAYS

Nick Peacock spins a Saturdayready selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £4

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £5 - £6

Indoor hot tubs, inflatables as far as the eye can see and a Twitter feed dedicated to validating your drunk-eyed existence.

I AM: PERCOLATE 5TH BIRTHDAY (KRYWALD & FARRER + BETA & KAPPA) SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £5

Nomadic party starters Percolate stop off in Sub Club for the night.

Wed 15 Nov NOT MOVING

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

SINGLES NIGHT

MUSIC’S NOT FOR EVERYONE (ANDREW WEATHERALL)

CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

BARE MONDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £4

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £3

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

The Don’t Drop residents Mcewan & Torrance fire up the house and techno/

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Wed 08 Nov DJ Craig cures your Wednesday woes at The Garage.

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £6

Golden Teacher and Dick 50 DJs spinning outer-national sounds and exotic international groove worship.

LOVE MUSIC

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £4

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, £5

Mon 13 Nov

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

#TAG TUESDAYS

Twister, beer pong and DJ Ciar McKinley on the ones and twos, serving up chart and remixes thorough the night.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

PROPAGANDA

BONGO’S BINGO SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 18:00, £7 - £9

After continued success in NW England and Edinburgh Fringe, Bongo’s Bingo makes its way to SWG3, with dance-offs, rave sounds, bingo and semi-decent prizes.

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

Dance, chart and remixes in the main hall with Craig Guild, while DJ Nicola Walker keeps things nostalgic in G2 with flashback bangers galore.

Saturday night disco manned by your man Gerry Lyons and guests.

WRAP-IT

SESH

DON’T DROP (MCEWAN & TORRANCE + RJAY MURPHY)

A celebration of dance culture through the ages.

SHOW (PATRICK TOPPING)

With a singular, confrontational performance style, Gaika’s music blends grime, dancehall, garage, hip-hop and R’n’B, injecting powerful drama into poetic sermons about city life and society in a state of emergency.

SODOMIZED CADAVER

MIND YER SELF (DAMIANO VON ERCKERT)

DON’T BE GUTTED

I LOVE GARAGE

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 - £7

CHURCH, FROM 17:00, £7

Industrial goth rock disco.

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £5 - £7

Cathouse’s Thursday night rock, metal and punk mashup.

Sat 25 Nov

A fantastic classical music concert featuring Dvo?ák’s Symphony No. 7, Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E minor and Brahms Academic Festival Overture.

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £4

GAIKA: THE SPECTACULAR EMPIRE (808INK + /AART + GAIKA + GLORIA + S4U + SIMEON SAID + THE GAZA STRIP)

CAIRD HALL, FROM 19:30, TBC

NULL / VOID

Hip-hop and rap brought to you by Notorious B.A.G and pals.

UNHOLY

Join Caveman (Hi! Reaction Records, Kinky Trax) and DJ Alex Greer (Nico’s Resident) for the launch of House Work.

DUNDEE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AUTUMN CONCERT

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, £8 - £10

Consistently brilliant producer Fort Romaue stops by Subbie to give a lesson in house music.

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 - £4

A selection of invited musicians perform music about life on the buroo.

CHURCH, FROM 20:00, FREE

DON’T DROP (FORT ROMEAU) (MCEWAN & TORRANCE + RJAY MURPHY)

Sun 12 Nov

WRAP-IT

DJ Craig cures your Wednesday woes at The Garage.

Thu 16 Nov HIP HOP THURSDAYS

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic R’n’B and hip-hop. JELLY BABY

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

Or Caturdays, if you will. Two levels of the loudest, maddest music the DJs can muster; metal, rock and alt on floor one, and punky screamo upstairs. THE ROCK SHOP

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Rock, indie and golden indie classics with resident DJ Heather McCartney. LOVE MUSIC

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Saturday night disco manned by your man Gerry Lyons and guests. THE LANCE VANCE DANCE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £3

Multi-hued adventure travelling through 70s funk, motown and 80s R’n’B, highlighted with glorious rays of disco sunshine. Or summat. I LOVE GARAGE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £5 - £7

Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer.

Sun 19 Nov

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, TBC

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

ELEMENT

Ross McMillan plays chart, house and anthems with giveaways, bouncy castles and, most importantly, air hockey. UNHOLY

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 - £4

Cathouse’s Thursday night rock, metal and punk mashup. SMALL TALK (DJ ADIDADAS)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

DJ Adidadas brings vaporbeat and Eurowave hits to Sleazy’s. WHAT DIFFERENCE DOES IT MAKE!

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS , FROM 00:00, £3

Big indie-pop/post-punk party straight outta Berlin.

SESH

Twister, beer pong and DJ Ciar McKinley on the ones and twos, serving up chart and remixes thorough the night. DON’T DROP (NASTIA) (IDA)

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, £8 - £12

The Don’t Drop crew bring in Ukranian star Anastasia Topolskaia for a show.

Mon 20 Nov BARE MONDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

Indoor hot tubs, inflatables as far as the eye can see and a Twitter feed dedicated to validating your drunk-eyed existence. BUCKFAST SUPERNOVA (MARBLE GODS DJS)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

Indie-pop R’n’B disco bangers.

Wed 22 Nov WRAP-IT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £4

DJ Craig cures your Wednesday woes at The Garage. FREAK LIKE ME

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

Sultry new hip-hop, disco and soul night at Sleazy’s.

Thu 23 Nov HIP HOP THURSDAYS

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic R’n’B and hip-hop. JELLY BABY

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer. ELEMENT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, TBC

Ross McMillan plays chart, house and anthems with giveaways, bouncy castles and, most importantly, air hockey. UNHOLY

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 - £4

Cathouse’s Thursday night rock, metal and punk mashup.

BREAKFAST CLUB (GERRY LYONS)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

Gerry Lyons delivers 80s and 90s pop and rock hits. THE ART SCHOOL PRESENTS DAWN’S EGG (FIRST TIME DJS)

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 23:00, FREE

Commitment to opening up opportunities for first time DJs, the Dawn's Egg events continue! Each month Dawn’s Egg offers up a night for people looking to express themselves as a DJ. RAD25 (ACID RAIN)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 03:00, FREE

For those who know.

Fri 24 Nov OLD SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 - £7

Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul for your jivin’ pleasure. CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £5 - £6

Screamy, shouty, post-hardcore madness to help you shake off a week of stress in true punk style. JAMMING FRIDAYS

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Indie rock’n’roll from the 60s to 00s with resident tune-picker DJ Jopez. FRESH BEAT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £6

Dance, chart and remixes in the main hall with Craig Guild, while DJ Nicola Walker keeps things nostalgic in G2 with flashback bangers galore.

SHAKA LOVES YOU: JOINTS N JAMS

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £3

Hip-hop old School with live percussion. FESTIVAL OF THE DEAD

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 22:00, £22.90

Skull processions, DJs, live music and face paint all feature in this mini festival at the O2. PROPAGANDA

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Fri 17 Nov

Lasers, bouncy castles and DJ Gav Somerville spinning out teasers and pleasers. Nice way to kick off the week, no?

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 - £7

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

SHED, 22:30–03:00, £4 - £6

OLD SKOOL

BURN MONDAYS

Connoisseur’s mix of old-school jazz, funk and soul for your jivin’ pleasure.

Long-running trade night with Normski and Mash spinning the disco beats.

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £5 - £6

Tue 21 Nov

CATHOUSE FRIDAYS

Screamy, shouty, post-hardcore madness to help you shake off a week of stress in true punk style. JAMMING FRIDAYS

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Indie rock’n’roll from the 60s to 00s with resident tune-picker DJ Jopez.

KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Eclectic Tuesday nighter playing the best in house, techno and electronic – or, in their words ‘casually ignoring shite requests since 2005’. I AM (DABJ + BETA & KAPPA)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £5

Dynamic disco spinners WSHOM, in for a midweek show-down.

FRIDAY NIGHTS

Student-friendly Friday night party, playing (as one might expect) cheesy classics of every hue. STEVE DAVIS & KAVUS TORABI

THE ART SCHOOL, FROM 23:00, £10

Radio show host, musician and 80s snooker champion Stevie Davies plays a show with exerimental / psych musician Kavus Torabi. MOODRAW (NICOLE MOUDABER)

SWG3 GLASGOW, FROM 22:00, £12 - £20

Drumcode stalwart and Circoloco and Carl Cox Revolutions resident Nicole Moudaber plays SWG3. SENSU (TALE OF US)

SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, TBC

Barry Price and Junior (aka Sensu) bring the cutting edge electronics from across the globe.

THE SKINNY

ELECTRIC FROG & H+PX10: TALABOMAN KELVINGROVE ART GALLERY AND MUSEUM, FROM 21:00, £24

Electric Frog team up with Huntleys + Palmers to continue the latter’s 10th anniversary celebrations. Talaboman is the portmanteau of Sweden’s fun-loving duo Axel Boman and John Talabot. BIRDCAGE 5TH BIRTHDAY (MIA K & CAITY COOPER)

BASURA BLANCA, 22:00–02:00, £5

LGBT club night Birdcage go back to their roots to celebrate their 5th birthday.

Sat 25 Nov NU SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 - £7

#TAG TUESDAYS THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £4

Indoor hot tubs, inflatables as far as the eye can see and a Twitter feed dedicated to validating your drunk-eyed existence. ONLY THE SUBJECT

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

The choice of a new generation at Sleazy’s.

Wed 29 Nov WRAP-IT

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £4

DJ Craig cures your Wednesday woes at The Garage. RENGADES OF FUNK

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 03:00, FREE

Nick Peacock spins a Saturdayready selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

Two deejays exploring the sonic spectrum between funk and techno.

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £5 - £6

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, FREE

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

Or Caturdays, if you will. Two levels of the loudest, maddest music the DJs can muster; metal, rock and alt on floor one, and punky screamo upstairs. THE ROCK SHOP

MAGGIE MAY’S, 22:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Rock, indie and golden indie classics with resident DJ Heather McCartney. LOVE MUSIC

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Saturday night disco manned by your man Gerry Lyons and guests. I LOVE GARAGE

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £5 - £7

STEREO, FROM 23:00, TBC

Indie-pop, post-punk, new wave and sixties music as Edwyn Collins spins the discs. DATE NIGHT

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, FROM 23:30, £3

The perfect mixtape of love, lust, nostalgia. KEEPING THE RAVE ALIVE

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, FROM 21:00, FREE

Hardstyle mad one at the O2 headed up by Kutski and a curated line-up.

SUNDAYS AT LA CHEETAH (SUE ZUKI)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, FROM 03:00, FREE

NTS Radio’s Sue Zuki takes a La Cheetah crowd on a five-hour journey.

Sun 26 Nov SESH

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

Twister, beer pong and DJ Ciar McKinley on the ones and twos, serving up chart and remixes thorough the night.

SUB CLUB X DON’T DROP: KÖLSCH (MCEWAN & TORRANCE) SUB CLUB, FROM 23:00, £15

Team effort from Subbie and Don’t Drop to bring in Kompakt regular and producer Kölsch as he embarks on his 1989 album tour.

Mon 27 Nov BARE MONDAYS

THE GARAGE GLASGOW, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

Lasers, bouncy castles and DJ Gav Somerville spinning out teasers and pleasers. Nice way to kick off the week, no? BURN MONDAYS

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Long-running trade night with Normski and Mash spinning the disco beats.

Tue 28 Nov KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

Eclectic Tuesday nighter playing the best in house, techno and electronic – or, in their words ‘casually ignoring shite requests since 2005’. I AM (WSHOM + BETA & KAPPA)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £5

Dynamic disco spinners WSHOM, in for a midweek show-down.

PRAY 4 LOVE

STORYTIME (ROMARE DJ SET) (FRANCIS DOSOO + PUGZ) LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, £8 - £12

Storytime returns for Chapter 2 with a DJ set from Romare. Prepare for a funky, disco-influenced DJ set that will definitely get you dancing. FLY'S REGGAE REGGAE ROAST (SIR DAVID RODIGAN)

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00, £10

Edinburgh and Glasgow-straddling night, with a powerhouse of local residents joined by a selection of guest talent.

Sat 04 Nov

MUMBO JUMBO (THE GOGO)

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £7

Thu 30 Nov

Funk, soul, beats and bumps from the Mumbo Jumbo regulars and pals.

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, £0 - £4

Love Songs from ALL Genres. HIP HOP THURSDAYS

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic R’n’B and hip-hop. JELLY BABY

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Thursday nighter of chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer. BICEP

THE BARRAS ARTS AND DESIGN CENTRE, FROM 20:00, £18

Following on from the release of their hotly anticipated debut LP, beloved Irish duo Bicep are back in town to perform their renowned live show. UNHOLY

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 - £4

Cathouse’s Thursday night rock, metal and punk mashup.

Edinburgh Clubs Wed 01 Nov COOKIE

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Resident midweek student rammy of chart, club and electro hits. WITNESS (ROSS BLACKWAX + FAULT LINES + SKILLIS + GUISED)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £2

House, garage and bass adventures with Blackwax and Faultlines. LOCO KAMANCHI

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Hella fun midweek throwdown playing bass, garage, drum and bass and jungle.

Thu 02 Nov JUICE (DANIEL AVERY)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £10

A good friend of the Sneaky’s swings by for an all-nighter at Juice. Almost sold out already, it’ll be a cracker. HI-SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Early weekend-welcoming (y’know, for students) chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, R’n’B and urban in the back room. ROGUE DISCO

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

A one room affair where house, techno and disco music turns space into stomping ground where strangers leave friends and the night doesn’t end.

Fri 03 Nov ELECTRIKAL

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, TBC

Soundsystem party-starters, part of a music and art collective specialising in all things bass. FLIP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, £0 - £3

Yer all-new Friday at Hive. Cheap entry, inevitably danceable, and novelty-stuffed. Perrrfect. EGEBAMYASI

WEE RED BAR, FROM 23:00, £5

Acid hoose and, er, ‘teggno’. PROPAGANDA

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 22:30, £4

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like. SUB CLUB XXX TOUR (HARRI & DOMENIC)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £10

The Subbie celebrations continue with Harri & Domenic playing all night long.

November 2017

Edinburgh Clubs

BUBBLEGUM

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure. SAMEDIA SHEBEEN

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £5 - £7

Afrobeat, Latin sounds, Middle Eastern electronica, dancehall, soca and lots more through their tasty soundsystem. Good times await good people in the Shebeen. MIGHTY OAK SOUNDSYSTEM

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £5 - £6

Roots and culture, powered by Mighty Oak’s hand-built soundsystem. TEMPTATION

WEE RED BAR, FROM 23:00, £5

Synth pop and disco at The Wee Red. QUEENS: THE GUY FAWKES LOFT PARTY

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £5

WITNESS (ROSS BLACKWAX + FAULT LINES + SKILLIS + GUISED) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £2

House, garage and bass adventures with Blackwax and Faultlines. LOCO KAMANCHI

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

Hella fun midweek throwdown playing bass, garage, drum and bass and jungle.

Thu 09 Nov HI-SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Early weekend-welcoming (y’know, for students) chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, R’n’B and urban in the back room. ROGUE DISCO

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

A one room affair where house, techno and disco music turns space into stomping ground where strangers leave friends and the night doesn’t end. COMMUNTY RADIO (JACUZZI GENERAL)

PARADISE PALMS, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Weekly radio show presented by Palms resident and purveyor of passion and sensual positivity Jacuzzi General. Exploring music from around the world; what it was, what it is, what it shall be.

CHURCH 2.3: BASSBOY (ASHMORE + WALTERS + GRAHMA + GOURANGA & GUSTEAU) THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £10 - £12

Garage and bassline brainbox with a keen talent for putting bass flips on old school garage vocals. Bassboy’s infectious, off-kilter drum grooves and heavy basslines have been shutting down raves across the UK and further afield over the last few years.

Sat 11 Nov BUBBLEGUM

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, £0 - £4

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.

PARADISE PALMS, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Donald Dust returns with a four-hour journey into primal protohouse, cutting-edge minimal wave and other choice selections beamed directly from Planet Dust. BIG N BASHY

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £4 - £5

Mighty mix of reggae, grime, dubstep and jungle played by inimitable residents Brother Most Righteous, Skillis, Era and Deburgh. PINNACLE (ACID BUDDHA + COL_ PANIC + SESENTAYUNO)

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

House and techno all night long. Retro sweets, inflatables, glow sticks, UV cannons and much more. ONDE (ANDREA MONTALTO + SONNY MAY)

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £5

Late night beats and waves; boogie, Italo, house and world jams. THE FEAR

THE MASH HOUSE, 22:00–03:00, £5 - £6

Following their support slot for Bez, The Fear start their bi-monthly residency at The Mash House. Get down for 60s, indie, soul, psych and more.

TEESH (DJ CHEERS) (DJ EQUIPMENT)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5

DJ cheers presents the 4D all you can eat mind buffet. REWIND

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 22:30, £5 - £7

Sun 12 Nov

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, £0 - £3

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

ANYTHING DISCO

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, TBC

Anything Disco’s mission is to supply a good time, in a good place, with good music. A little vague, but we see what they’re going for.

Sun 05 Nov COALITION (BELIEVE)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Believe presents the best in bass DJs from Edinburgh at his weekly Sunday communion. SUNDAY CLUB

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle on a Sunday.

Mon 06 Nov MIXED UP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Monday-brightening mix of hiphop, R’n’B and chart classics, with requests in the back room. MINDSET (GARETH SOMMERVILLE)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £3

Strictly house grooves from Edinburgh house DJ don Gareth Sommerville.

Tue 07 Nov TRASH

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Alternative Tuesday anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie, punk, retro and more. FOOL’S GOLD: 90S HOUSE PARTY

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

90s with Fool’s Gold every Tuesday. A showcase of the golden era – expect the best in hip-hop, the classics and downright party anthems. Beer pong, top-notch tunes and care-free 90s vibes

Wed 08 Nov COOKIE

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

FLIP

Monthly party night that celebrating the best in soul, disco, rock and pop with music from the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s and current bangers. COALITION (BELIEVE)

Yer all-new Friday at Hive. Cheap entry, inevitably danceable, and novelty-stuffed. Perrrfect.

Believe presents the best in bass DJs from Edinburgh at his weekly Sunday communion.

PARADISE PALMS, 21:00–01:00, FREE

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

LIONOIL INDUSTRIES

The Lionoil tribe once again poke their heads through the Palms of Paradise to coax out your shapes. Warning: highly danceable. PROPAGANDA

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 22:30, £4

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like.

UNITY X ELECTRIKAL: DJ APHRODITE

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £8 - £10

The Aberystwyth-born drum and bass DJ Aphrodite lights things up at Bongo. DISORDER: MAN2.0

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £5

Musical beast Man2.0 plays the last Disorder party of the year. HAPTIC: FORWARD STRATEGY GROUP (TOMAS KUNKEL)

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £5 - £7

Unique acts techno actwith a lo-fi approach and attention to textural detail. RAW DRUM & BASS

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

Representing the full spectrum of drum and bass featuring residents Aesthetics, Upfront, Jammin and Reevah. FLY (RED RACK'EM + O'FLYNN)

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00, £7-10

Edinburgh and Glasgow-straddling night, with a powerhouse of local residents joined by a selection of guest talent.

SUNDAY CLUB

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle on a Sunday.

Mon 13 Nov MIXED UP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Monday-brightening mix of hiphop, R’n’B and chart classics, with requests in the back room. MINDSET (GARETH SOMMERVILLE)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £3

Strictly house grooves from Edinburgh house DJ don Gareth Sommerville.

Tue 14 Nov TRASH

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Alternative Tuesday anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie, punk, retro and more. SOUL JAM: NIKNAK (PERCY MAIN + TUESDAY GONZALEZ)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £2

Niknak of Paradise Palms, Kelburn, Eden and further afield bring their fun time party vibes to Soul Jam. FOOL’S GOLD: 90S HOUSE PARTY

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

90s with Fool’s Gold every Tuesday. A showcase of the golden era – expect the best in hip-hop, the classics and downright party anthems. Beer pong, top-notch tunes and care-free 90s vibes

VENTURA FREEWAY (SWEETHEART COWBOY + HOLD TIGHT)

Wed 15 Nov

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Dress to sweat, for the prince of the LA underground Sake Novice (Sweetheart Cowboy, Bodybag Radio) is brought to town by Newcastle’s own Boca Jr. (Hold Tight) for a genre multiplex in Edinburgh’s beloved Sneaks.

Resident midweek student rammy of chart, club and electro hits.

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, TBC

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.

BO$$Y 2.0

Thu 16 Nov

Fri 10 Nov

Hectors invite a very important figure in the early development of the Scottish electronic music scene, Pure resident DJ Brainstorm for another sell-out 90s rave at Sneaks.

Edinburgh and Glasgow-straddling night, with a powerhouse of local residents joined by a selection of guest talent.

OTHER THUMPERS (DONALD DUST)

A dark, sexy, dirty house club.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £10

Bristol heavyweight Shanti Celeste graces the Juice booth.

Edinburgh’s one and only wacky gameshow serves up your monthly helping of hijinks and tomfoolery. Re-live those post-school afternoons spent in front of the Generation Game... but with booze, more wigs and a slap of the silly.

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, £5 - £8

MINGIN’

JUICE: SHANTI CELESTE (AMI K + DAN)

HECTORS 90S RAVE (DJ BRAINSTORM)

FLY (LA LA LAND) CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00, £5-7

A student club night with an all-female line-up. Hip-hop, R’n’B, pop and funk.

An extra-special limited capacity party for Edinburgh’s best debauched house and disco night.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5

FUNGASM PARADISE PALMS, 21:00–01:00, £7

Resident midweek student rammy of chart, club and electro hits. WITNESS (ROSS BLACKWAX + FAULT LINES + SKILLIS + GUISED)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £2

House, garage and bass adventures with Blackwax and Faultlines. LOCO KAMANCHI

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

Hella fun midweek throwdown playing bass, garage, drum and bass and jungle.

JUICE (AMI K + DAN)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £2

Dan and Ami K make weird waves through house and techno. HI-SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Early weekend-welcoming (y’know, for students) chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, R’n’B and urban in the back room. ROGUE DISCO

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

A one room affair where house, techno and disco music turns space into stomping ground where strangers leave friends and the night doesn’t end. COMMUNTY RADIO (JACUZZI GENERAL)

PARADISE PALMS, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Weekly radio show presented by Palms resident and purveyor of passion and sensual positivity Jacuzzi General. Exploring music from around the world; what it was, what it is, what it shall be.

ODYESSY. 011 (DARIUS SYROSSIAN)

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 22:30, £8 - £10

Odyssey returns with their monthly instalment of electronic dance music heavyweights, this time enlisting Leeds-based producer and DJ Darius Syrossian.

Sat 18 Nov BUBBLEGUM

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, £0 - £4

SOULSVILLE

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £4 - £5

Raw, high energy R’n’B at Bongo.

PERCY MAIN SOCIAL CLUB (PERCY MAIN + BISSET)

PARADISE PALMS, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Glasgow’s Electric Salsa resident dude Bisset travels eastward to join the social. Don’t be fooled, he might be a relative newcomer but he’s likely to put Percy to shame. THE EGG

WEE RED BAR, FROM 23:00, £3 - £5

A salad of genres: sixties garage and soul plus 70s punk and new wave, peppered with psych and indie for good measure. CARNIVAL COLLECTIVE (THE EDINBURGH SAMBA SCHOOL)

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 19:00, £8 - £12

Carnival Collective bring their distinctive live drum and bass latin fusion all the way from Brighton. All the drums and all the brass!

OVERGROUND’S ACID RAVE 003 (WRISK + SLOAN + TRIS + VELOCITY FUNK + MORE TBC) THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £4 - £7

If there’s one thing Overground know, it’s acid. Starting out with spaced-out ambient electro, and then going via jackin’ acid house into acid techno stompers, you’ll hear more genres and styles than you can shake a Roland’s bassline machine at.

WEE RED BAR, FROM 23:00, £5

SKOOP (BAUX CAT + 22DOLPHINS + LAIGO (LIVE) + CRPNTR + TZUSAN + REXY MERRICK + PAPILLON + DEARLY BELOVED + CLEAVERHYPE)

Fri 17 Nov

Skoop is an Edinburgh-based collective focused around experimental hip-hop and electronic music in all shapes and sizes.

SHAKE IT ALL (THE HONEY FARM)

A liberating safe space club night from Edinburgh’s all-women LGBTQ+ collective. HEADSET

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £3 - £6

Fledgling night mixed up by a selection of Edinburgh DJs, including the chaps behind the Witness, Coalition and Big ‘n’ Bashy nights. MAIN INGREDIENT

PARADISE PALMS, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Main Ingredient bring their anything-goes ethos to Palms for a bi-monthly residency. Expect live synths, percussion and guest musicians, touching on everything from soul to techno, jazz funk to rare groove, disco to house, reggae to Afrobeat. FLIP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, £0 - £3

Yer all-new Friday at Hive. Cheap entry, inevitably danceable, and novelty-stuffed. Perrrfect.

ATHENS OF THE NORTH (FRYER + LEL PALFREY + GARETH SOMMERVILLE)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5

Buy-on-sight discogs-ruining reissues label Athens of the North goes real world, revealing their top picks from their extensive vinyl collections. Deep soulful funk and disco, rare Brazilian, 80s boogie, with a sprinkle of house. XOXO

WEE RED BAR, FROM 23:00, £5

The popular queer night returns to the Wee Red. PROPAGANDA

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 22:30, £4

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like. LIQUID FUNKTION (WHINEY + MC INJA)

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £7

Liquid, drum and bass, jungle and breaks at The Mashy. CONFIDANCE

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £3

Funk, R’n’B, neo-soul, dance. If you like a boogie, this is the night for you. GROOVERS PRESENTS: SIMONE LIBERALI (SESENTAYUNO + DJ JOE WILSON + GRANT HAMILTON + KEITH FORTUNE)

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, £8 - £10

Fresh young Italian DJ garnering international recognition with his own music. His sets are renown for being full of incredibly energetic, warmly percussive and basslinedriven grooves.

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, TBC

WASABI DISCO (MIDLAND + PROSUMER)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5

WITNESS (ROSS BLACKWAX + FAULT LINES + SKILLIS + GUISED) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £2

House, garage and bass adventures with Blackwax and Faultlines. LOCO KAMANCHI

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

Hella fun midweek throwdown playing bass, garage, drum and bass and jungle.

Thu 23 Nov HI-SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Early weekend-welcoming (y’know, for students) chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, R’n’B and urban in the back room. ROGUE DISCO

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

A one room affair where house, techno and disco music turns space into stomping ground where strangers leave friends and the night doesn’t end. COMMUNTY RADIO (JACUZZI GENERAL)

PARADISE PALMS, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Weekly radio show presented by Palms resident and purveyor of passion and sensual positivity Jacuzzi General. Exploring music from around the world; what it was, what it is, what it shall be.

JUICE: BABA STILTZ (AMI K + DAN)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5

The Stockholm young teamer makes his debut Edinburgh appearance at Juice. For fans of Axel Boman, Kornel Kovacs and really good tunes.

Fri 24 Nov MJÖLK

WEE RED BAR, FROM 23:00, £5

Swedish Indie pop, 60s, 70s and indie goodness from near and far at the Wee Red. XXL

THE CAVES, 23:00–03:00, £10

The Mark Ames-founded London gay night makes a return trip Edinburgh-way. SUBSTANCE

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, TBC

House, techno and electro club taking on awesome guest selectors every once in a while. FLIP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, £0 - £3

Two good friends of the club, together for one night.

Yer all-new Friday at Hive. Cheap entry, inevitably danceable, and novelty-stuffed. Perrrfect.

LA BELLE ANGELE, 22:30–03:00, £2 - £5

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 22:30, £4

DECADE: PIZZA PARTY

Big ‘ol tunes and free pizza all night long at this Edinburghian alt party. NRG FLASH

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 22:30, £5 - £10

Detriot techno to acid house, breakbeat to old skool jungle.

Sun 19 Nov COALITION (BELIEVE)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Believe presents the best in bass DJs from Edinburgh at his weekly Sunday communion. SUNDAY CLUB

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle on a Sunday.

Mon 20 Nov MIXED UP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Monday-brightening mix of hiphop, R’n’B and chart classics, with requests in the back room. MINDSET (GARETH SOMMERVILLE)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £3

Strictly house grooves from Edinburgh house DJ don Gareth Sommerville.

Tue 21 Nov

PROPAGANDA

Clubber’s favourite of indie classics and baggy greats, from Primal Scream and the like. NIKNAK (ECLAIR FI FI)

PARADISE PALMS, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Our Claire returns to her hometown for an intimate gig with Palms residents NikNak. Lover of rare Italo, Latin freedtyle, rap, R’n’B and electro, Fifi is guaranteed to leave you glistening in the sweat of satisfaction. MASSAOKE’S CLUB LALA: BATTLE ROYALE

SUMMERHALL, 21:00–01:00, £6 - £8

A brilliant live band smashing out the greatest anthems from the 80s, 90s, 00s and beyond; lyrics on a giant screen and a room full of party-goers singing and dancing their hearts out together.

GRRRL CRUSH #13: MY BAD SISTER (THE HONEY FARM + MISS WORLD + PARTIPETS) THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £7 - £8

Parties run by girls for girls who like girls (and their pals). Straight friendly. Trans inclusive. Nae wankers. EQ: PARTS UNKNOWN (LUNACY)

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £5

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

EQ welcomes back Parts Unknown to play a very special genre spanning headline set at their final party of the year in the capital.

FOOL’S GOLD: 90S HOUSE PARTY

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, £15 - £20

TRASH

Alternative Tuesday anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie, punk, retro and more. LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

90s with Fool’s Gold every Tuesday. A showcase of the golden era – expect the best in hip-hop, the classics and downright party anthems. Beer pong, top-notch tunes and care-free 90s vibes

Wed 22 Nov COOKIE

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Resident midweek student rammy of chart, club and electro hits.

NV17: KURUPT FM

The People Just Do Nothing crew head out on their Kurupt FM Lost Tape Tour.

Sat 25 Nov BUBBLEGUM

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, £0 - £4

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure. MESSENGER

THE BONGO CLUB, FROM 23:00, £6 - £7

Conscious roots and dub reggae rockin’ from the usual beefy Messenger Sound System.

Listings

TWEAK_

ROGUE DISCO

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £5 - £6

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

Credible house and techno night.

FINITRIBE (SCOTT FERGUSON) (DAVIE MILLER + SCOTT FERGUSON) PARADISE PALMS, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Scott returns to Paradise Palms for a November instalment following recent releases on the legendary Nervous Records Imprint. STEVE DAVIS & KAVUS TORABI

WEE RED BAR, FROM 23:00, £12

Radio show host, musician and 80s snooker champion Stevie Davies plays a show with exerimental / psych musician Kavus Torabi.

PULSE 8TH BIRTHDAY: BLAWAN (DARRELL HARDING + SEAN LAIRD + SHAUN JOHNSTON + JOHNNY SMITH + ANDY BORTHWICK) THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £10 - £14

Pulse brings Blawan to the very intimate surrounds of the Mash House, a rare occasion to see an artist this size in a small venue.

MUNGO’S HI-FI (YT) (STALAWA + NEM)

LA BELLE ANGELE, 22:00–03:00, £8 - £12

Join the Wee Dub family with Mungo’s Hi-Fi Soundsystem alongside the don YT for a serious time dance. MANCHESTER

THE LIQUID ROOM, FROM 22:30, £5 - £7

Long-running Edinburgh club night celebrating the baggiest beats from the late 80s and early 90s. Established in 1994, FKA Madchester.

Sun 26 Nov COALITION (BELIEVE)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Believe presents the best in bass DJs from Edinburgh at his weekly Sunday communion. SUNDAY CLUB

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle on a Sunday.

Mon 27 Nov MIXED UP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Monday-brightening mix of hiphop, R’n’B and chart classics, with requests in the back room. MINDSET (GARETH SOMMERVILLE)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £3

Strictly house grooves from Edinburgh house DJ don Gareth Sommerville.

Tue 28 Nov TRASH

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Alternative Tuesday anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie, punk, retro and more.

SOUL JAM: MARSHAL DARLING (PERCY MAIN + TUESDAY GONZALEZ)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £0 - £2

Radar Radio’s resident Sunday morning wakeup guy Marshal Darling is a musical force to be reckoned with. May the force be with you. FOOL’S GOLD: 90S HOUSE PARTY

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

90s with Fool’s Gold every Tuesday. A showcase of the golden era – expect the best in hip-hop, the classics and downright party anthems. Beer pong, top-notch tunes and care-free 90s vibes

Wed 29 Nov COOKIE

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Resident midweek student rammy of chart, club and electro hits. WITNESS (ROSS BLACKWAX + FAULT LINES + SKILLIS + GUISED)

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, £0 - £2

House, garage and bass adventures with Blackwax and Faultlines. LOCO KAMANCHI

LA BELLE ANGELE, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £4

A one room affair where house, techno and disco music turns space into stomping ground where strangers leave friends and the night doesn’t end. GAMESAREFOREVERYONE VOLUME VI

THE CAVES, 19:00–01:00, £12

A one-night-only combination of bar and indie arcade. COMMUNTY RADIO (JACUZZI GENERAL)

PARADISE PALMS, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Weekly radio show presented by Palms resident and purveyor of passion and sensual positivity Jacuzzi General. Exploring music from around the world; what it was, what it is, what it shall be.

Dundee Clubs Fri 03 Nov

HEADWAY (DANIEL AVERY)

READING ROOMS, FROM 22:30, £14

The Headway crew host a set from Daniel Avery and his unique brand of hypno techno.

Theatre Glasgow Theatre CCA: Centre for Contemporary Art

BEAUTIFUL SHADES OF BLACKNESS

12 NOV, 6:00PM, £3

An evening of celebration featuring an astounding programme of conversation, storytelling, music, dance, art, poetry and stand up from some of Scotland’s most talented women of African heritage.

Citizens Theatre CINDERELLA

28 NOV-31 DEC, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Thomson-Leng Musical Society bring the rags-to-riches tale to The Gardyne. BUCKETS

1-4 NOV, 7:30PM, £7 - £10

Sun 05 Nov

Heartfelt show from the Citizens Young Co. posing a universal question: how to deal with the fact that time always runs out?

READING ROOMS, FROM 19:30, £15

8-18 NOV, 7:30PM, £12.50 - £16.50

ALL GOOD (PATRICK TOPPING)

The toon talent joins the All Gooders for a night at the Reading Rooms.

Thu 09 Nov

DRAG TIL YOU DEATH DROP

READING ROOMS, FROM 22:30, £4 - £6

DJCAD textiles stage a Reading Rooms takeover. Drag get-up highly encouraged.

Fri 10 Nov FOOLS GOLD (BEZ)

CHURCH, FROM 22:00, £6

Indie club night where you’ll hear The Stone Roses (pre-terrible era), Joy Division, New Order, Primal Scream and The Libertines. Tonight tunes come courtesy of Bez.

Fri 24 Nov

LAPEDUSA

The show that sold out its Soho Theatre run in 2015 makes its way to the Citz, telling the tales of human kindnesws behind the headlines.

Oran Mor

A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: THE BURTON TAYLOR AFFAIR

1-4 NOV, 1:00PM, £10 - £14

A new play by Welsh writer Steven Elliot exploring the affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton that caused a sensation. LIONS OF LISBON

27 NOV, 7:00PM, £15 - £16

Willy Maley and Ian Auld's hit play The Lions of Lisbon is revived at Tron as a rehearsed reading with a 10 person cast and a full live band.

SUB CLUB XXX TOUR (HARRI & DOMENIC)

The Art School

READING ROOMS, FROM 22:30, TBC

17 NOV, 7:00PM, FREE

The Subbie celebrations continue with Harri & Domenic playing all night long.

Sat 25 Nov BOOK CLUB

READING ROOMS, FROM 22:30, TBC

The Good Stuff DJs spin all genres of disco house and techno, alongside anything else they damn well fancy.

SMALL DEATH PERFORMANCES

Wild new performance talent showcase. Get ready for titillating intonations and orgasmic realisations!

The Glad Cafe

AFRICA IN MOTION: ILLUSION OF TRUTH

3 NOV, FROM 19:00, £5

Reaching into the pantheon of Orishas (Deities of Ifa), performance storyteller Mara Menzies explores our relationship with truth, intention and powerlessness wrapped in the thin cloak of power.

The King’s Theatre THE STEAMIE

1-11 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Special edition of Tony Roper’s washhouse comedy, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the muchloved play.

Thu 30 Nov

In praise of the finest sounds to come out of Detroit and beyond in the Motown period.

Dan and Ami K make weird waves through house and techno. HI-SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Early weekend-welcoming (y’know, for students) chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, R’n’B and urban in the back room.

THE MAGIC OF MOTOWN

24 NOV, 8:00PM, £30.75

SINGIN’ IN THE RAIN

1-4 NOV, 7:30PM, PRICES VARY

Brill choreo, and iconic songs and a fistful of much-loved comedy routines, dance numbers and love songs.

19 NOV, 9:00PM – 9:20PM, TBC

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO POPULISM

13 NOV, 8:00PM – 9:00PM, £8 - £10

The villagers of Little Middleton are up in arms at proposals that will spell the end of their historic village. They are taking action to preserve it, with a Beginner’s Guide to Populism to help them.

The 2014 Britain’s Got Talent winners descend. Best look busy. 15 NOV-2 DEC, 7:15PM, PRICES VARY

19 NOV, 9:20PM – 9:45PM, TBC

BEAUTIFUL: THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL

COLLABRO

25 NOV, 7:00PM, £23.65 - £104.15

SCOTTISH OPERA: LA TRAVIATA

LONELY AND HUNGRY

Scottish Opera revisit La traviata – Sir David McVicar’s flamboyant and passionate masterpiece – after performing its Scottish premiere in 2008.

A film-poem of cut-up found porn, heat-mapped bodies, Korean psyche-folk, creepy police intrusion and self-defence.

7-11 NOV, 7:30PM, £12.50 - £31.90

Delany reads some of his great literary pornography, which pushes sexuality to the point of extremity and exhaustion.

THE WIPERS TIMES

A production telling the true (and sorta mad) story of a satirical newspaper created ‘in the mud and mayhem of the Somme’.

Tramway TABULA RASA

8-24 NOV, 7:30PM, PRICES VARY

Vanishing Point and Scottish Ensemble present a co-production that sets Arvo Pärt’s masterpiece Tabula Rasa in a theatrical context, exploring the recognised role of the piece in the care of patients during their final days. STRUGGLE & EMERGE

BEYOND TRANSGRESSION

19 NOV, 10:15PM – 10:45PM, TBC

Tron Theatre OUR FATHERS

1-4 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

A new play inspired by Father and Son Our Fathers is Edmund Gosse’s Victorian memoir about growing up in an evangelical Christian family. FOUR STYLES OF POETRY SLAM

12 NOV, 2:00PM, £8

Live poetry competition pitching romance, ribaldry, radicalism and rap against each other.

2 NOV, 9:00PM, £6 - £12

Irish duo Lakker’s remarkable audiovisual performance, inspired by the Dutch people’s relationship with water. DEAR ESTHER

3 NOV, 7:30PM, £6 - £12

A show smudging the boundaries between game, ghost story and film, inviting viewers to a virtual Hebridean island of derelict buildings, forests and catacombs. THE MOTION OF LIGHT

16 NOV, 7:00PM – 8:30PM, TBC

As a way into his life and work, Delany will read from his groundbreaking autobiographical writing and reflect on the deepest aspects of his personal and social life. THE BODY IS A SANCTUARY THAT FLOATS

16 NOV, 9:00PM – 9:30PM, TBC

A performance by Afrofuturist dancer Storyboard P.

DISCOURSE OR INTERCOURSE: ONE ON ONE

18 NOV, 2:00PM – 4:30PM, TBC

Ten short intimate one-on-one performative conversations with Robert Softley Gale. FUTURE JUSTICE IN THE PRESENT

18 NOV, 2:00PM – 3:30PM, TBC

Thought and action, writing and protesting. Performative readings & discussion with Nat Raha, KUCHENGA and Jackie Wang asking what can be learnt from writing across genres by agitators, activists and abolitionists. BEING FOR OTHERS

18 NOV, 5:30PM – 7:00PM, TBC

18 NOV, 8:00PM – 9:00PM, TBC

Enter Slava’s snowy world for a once in a lifetime, joyous, fun packed event culminating in a blizzard that puts you firmly at the centre of the action.

CHUBZ

Summerhall

The Edinburgh Playhouse

1-11 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

SLAVA’S SNOW SHOW

A central figure in Glasgow’s performance scene right now, Sgàire Wood’s lip-sync performances deliberately confuse the hyper-modern with the ancient and folkloric. Huw Lemmey author of Chubz: the Demonization of my Working Arse reads some of his recent politicised fan-fiction – nightmarish and hilarious political pornography which explores radical politics through the medium of anal apocalypse.

Dundee Rep’s acclaimed ensemble bring this Christmas Staple to life.

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

14 NOV-31 DEC, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Theatre Royal

JUICE (AMI K + DAN)

The acclaimed dance company return with a new programme, featuring works performed to traditional Balkan folk music and Romanian and Macedonian gypsy bands.

Delany has written some of the greatest Sci-Fi and Fantasy – he will read from his page turning character driven diamond-hard novels and short stories: each a lens that refracts our real-life struggles and desires.

Hella fun midweek throwdown playing bass, garage, drum and bass and jungle.

SNEAKY PETE’S, FROM 19:00, £9

RICHARD ALSTON DANCE COMPANY 23 NOV, 7:30PM, £16.90 - £24.90

SGÀIRE WOOD 19 NOV, 6:15PM – 6:30PM, TBC

MOVED BY THE MOTION

Sci-fi. After the club. Underground. Counter-narrative. Narrated movement. Cultural resistance. Wu Tsang and boychild’s collaborative performance series, will continue its evolution at Episode 9. SPEECH CAPTIONS BODY LANGUAGE

18 NOV, 9:30PM – 10:30PM, TBC

Dancer Storyboard P picks a song, freestyles to it, chast about what dancing means to them, then picks another song, freestyles, chats, repeats... THE CYBERNETIC COP

19 NOV, 5:45PM – 6:00PM, TBC

Jackie Wang’s performance is a prison abolitionist punk videopoetry-music mash up about our fucked-up dystopian society, RoboCop, kids toys and criminality.

THE DREAMBOYS

7 NOV, 7:30PM, £21 - £31.50

The UK’s top ‘male glamour’ show. Expect gallons of baby oil, miles of abs and an audience full of yelping onlookers. 1 NOV-1 DEC, 7:30PM, £15 - £72.50

A ‘show-umentary’ giving insight into the woman behind such hits as I Feel the Earth Move, Natural Woman, You’ve Got a Friend and Take Good Care of my Baby.

Traverse Theatre A PLAY, A PIE AND A PINT: #71

3 NOV, 7:00PM, £13.50

In Partick there’s a quiet storm brewing. 71 year-old Chrissy invites her two oldest friends, Jean and Coco, to her house. The two OAPs rassle for Chrissy’s affection, slinging ancient mud at each other. Then comes the revelation which changes everything. Three women who’ve spent most of their lives together explore the global reality that most people are not exactly as they present themselves. WITHOUT A HITCH

3 NOV, 7:30PM, £6 - £12

Edinburgh Theatre Assembly Roxy HANSEL AND GRETEL

9-11 NOV, 7:30PM, £10

The classic tale is given a postapocalyptic cityscape, in which Hansel and Gretel are plagued by abusive parents and starvation. LOVE AND INFORMATION

15 NOV, 7:30PM, £13

Caryl Churchill’s exhilarating and funny theatrical kaleidoscope that asks questions about how we live in a world bombarded by information.

Festival Theatre BALLETBOYZ

7 NOV, 7:30PM, £19.50 - £25

Fresh, young dance company Balletboyz tour their new production, featuring ten exceptional young dancers across an evening of inspired dance work. LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL

27 NOV-2 DEC, 7:30PM, £22 - £42

The Bohemians bring candyfloss coloured musical Legally Blonde to the King’s, complete with real life chihuahua and a talented cast to boot. ACOSTA DANZA - DEBUT

10-11 NOV, 7:30PM, £29.50 - £39.50

Following an exceptional career as a ballet star, international dance icon Carlos Acosta launches his brand new company, Acosta Danza. SLAVA’S SNOW SHOW

1-11 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Enter Slava’s snowy world for a once in a lifetime, joyous, fun packed event culminating in a blizzard that puts you firmly at the centre of the action. SCOTTISH OPERA: LA TRAVIATA

15 NOV-2 DEC, 7:15PM, PRICES VARY

Scottish Opera revisit La traviata – Sir David McVicar’s flamboyant and passionate masterpiece – after performing its Scottish premiere in 2008.

Royal Lyceum Theatre WIND RESISTANCE

3-11 NOV, 7:30PM, £10 - £25

Karine Polwart’s first foray into the world of theatre, inspired by the autumn migration of pinkfooted geese from Greenland to a peat marsh near her home.

Without a Hitch follows the downward spiral of a four-man b-boy crew as ambition, jealousy and frustration manifest in a group struggling to move in the same direction. Features an international cast from Finland, Sweden and the UK. STARTING NOW: YOUTH DANCE PLATFORM 2017

4 NOV, 7:00PM, £6 - £12

Celebrating the freshness, enthusiasm and talent of Scotland’s young dancers; a family friendly evening, showcasing Dance Base’s own Lothian Youth Dance Company, Edinburgh-based hip-hop company Mini Jackers and Dance Ihayami’s Spice. TABULA RASA

8-24 NOV, 7:30PM, PRICES VARY

25 NOV, 7:30PM, £9 - £17

Composer David Paul Jones and his seven-piece ensemble present a live concert performance of his acclaimed Linn Records work Something There, a powerful meditation on love, loss and wonder inspired by the poem of the same name by Samuel Beckett.

King's Theatre THE STEAMIE

6-11 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Special edition of Tony Roper’s washhouse comedy, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the muchloved play. TRAINSPOTTING

14-18 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

This punchy production recaptures the passion and controversy of the famous novel and globally successful film, and repackages it into an immersive production. DUET FOR ONE

1-4 NOV, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Tom Kempinski’s multi awardwinning play in which a brilliant concert violinist is forced to reevaluate her life when struck down by an unforeseen tragedy.

Dundee Theatre

Sat 04 Nov

THE SATURDAY SHOW (CAREY MARX + RHYS JAMES + TONY JAMESON + CHRIS SCOTT + SUSAN MORRISON) THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00–23:00, £17.50

Caird Hall

THE RUSSIAN STATE BALLET: THE NUTCRACKER

9 NOV, 7:30PM, £26.50

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend. LAUGHTER EIGHT

The super-sparkly, mighty-Christmassy ballet gets the Russian State Ballet treatment in a show at Caird Hall.

Yesbar lols at – aye – 8pm.

Dundee Rep

Late night lols at Yesbar.

THE MAIDS

1-4 NOV, 7:30PM, £9 - £12

A re-telling of Jean Genet’s seminal psychological thriller. A CHRISTMAS CAROL

14 NOV-31 DEC, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Dundee Rep’s acclaimed ensemble bring this Christmas Staple to life. BALLETBOYZ: 14 DAYS

9 NOV, 8:00PM, £9 - £19

Three new works in which choreographers Javier de Frutos, Craig Revel Horwood, Ivan Perez and Christopher Wheeldon were teamed with composers Scott Walker, Joby Talbot, Charlotte Harding and Keaton Henson and given a fortnight to create pieces.

SCOOTTISH DANCE THEATRE: GREAT BIG DANCE SHOW

10-11 NOV, 8:00PM, £5

A pick’n’mix of work created by professional, student and youth dance companies. IRISH JIMMY

25 NOV, 9:30PM, £10

60 minutes of storytelling and original songs investigating ideas of identity, family and how we journey to who we become. SCOTTISH DANCE THEATRE: YAMA

15 NOV, 8:00PM, £9 - £17

Damien Jalet’s critically acclaimed YAMA – a show exploring the pagan / animist rituals practised among the mountains of Tohoku – returns as a full length work.

The Gardyne Theatre CINDERELLA

28 NOV-31 DEC, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Thomson-Leng Musical Society bring the rags-to-riches tale to The Gardyne. LET’S HANG ON

4 NOV, 7:30PM, £26

Acclaimed production (endorsed, apparently, by Valli himself) which takes audiences through an anthology of hits, including Can’t Take My Eyes Off You, Beggin’, Walk Like A Man and Big Girls Don’t Cry.

YESBAR, FROM 20:00, £10

THE LATE SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 22:15, £10

Sun 05 Nov

MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE (MICHAEL REDMOND)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £1 - £6

Chilled Sunday night laughs to see the weekend out. GLASGOW KIDS COMEDY CLUB

THE STAND GLASGOW, 15:00–16:00, £4

Comedy session suitable for little ears (i.e. no swearies), for children aged 8-12 years-old. YESBAR VIRGINS: COMEDY SUNDAY SCHOOL

YESBAR, FROM 20:00, £3

A selection of five fledgling comedians do their best to win over the audience and graduate Vespbar’s ‘Comedy Sunday School’.

Mon 06 Nov

MONDAY NIGHT IMPROV (BILLY KIRKWOOD + STU & GARRY)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:00, £3

Two teams of comics battle it out for the biggest laughs under the watchful eye of ‘Improv Warlord’ Billy Kirkwood.

Tue 07 Nov RED RAW (ROB KANE)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:45, £3

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material. GLASGOW HAROLD NIGHT

BLACKFRIARS BASEMENT, 20:00–22:00, FREE

Two teams improvise a comedy show based off an audience suggestion.

Wed 08 Nov

COMEDIAN RAP BATTLES (THE WEE MAN)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £4 - £6

Ro Cambell and The Wee Man’s comedian rap battle-off, where a select batch of comics compete to see who’s got the most swagger when it comes to hippity-hop wit.

Thu 09 Nov

THE THURSDAY SHOW (KEIR MCALLISTER + RORY O’HANLON + CARLY SMALLMAN + QUINCY RAMMSTEIN + SCOTT AGNEW) THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £5 - £10

Glasgow Comedy

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase. YESBAR VIRGINS

YESBAR, FROM 20:00, £3

Wed 01 Nov

BENEFIT IN AID OF AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL GLASGOW WEST (CHRIS FORBES + CHRISTOPHER MACARTHUR-BOYD + DONALD ALEXANDER + CHRISTOPHER KC) THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £5 - £7

Comedy Charity benefit in aid of Amnesty International Glasgow West.

Thu 02 Nov YESBAR VIRGINS

YESBAR, FROM 20:00, £3

Graham Barrie introduces a selection of fledgling comedy talent handpicked fae Scotland.

Fri 03 Nov

THE FRIDAY SHOW (CAREY MARX + RHYS JAMES + TONY JAMESON + CHRIS SCOTT + SUSAN MORRISON) THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00–23:00, £6 - £12

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts. LAUGHTER EIGHT

YESBAR, FROM 20:00, £10

Yesbar lols at – aye – 8pm. THE LATE SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 22:15, £10

Late night lols at Yesbar.

Graham Barrie introduces a selection of fledgling comedy talent handpicked fae Scotland.

Fri 10 Nov

THE FRIDAY SHOW (KEIR MCALLISTER + RORY O’HANLON + CARLY SMALLMAN + QUINCY RAMMSTEIN + SCOTT AGNEW) THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00–23:00, £6 - £12

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts. LAUGHTER EIGHT

YESBAR, FROM 20:00, £10

Yesbar lols at – aye – 8pm. THE LATE SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 22:15, £10

Late night lols at Yesbar.

Sat 11 Nov

THE SATURDAY SHOW (KEIR MCALLISTER + RORY O’HANLON + CARLY SMALLMAN + QUINCY RAMMSTEIN + SCOTT AGNEW) THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00–23:00, £17.50

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend. LAUGHTER EIGHT

YESBAR, FROM 20:00, £10

Yesbar lols at – aye – 8pm. THE LATE SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 22:15, £10

Late night lols at Yesbar.

Listings

THE SKINNY

Comedy CROSSMYLAFF COMEDY (JOJO SUTHERLAND + ROBIN GRANGER)

JOHN BISHOP: WINGING IT THE SSE HYDRO, FROM 18:30, £25 - £39.50

Mon 27 Nov

FERN BRADY: SUFFER, FOOLS!

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–21:30, £10

The Fringe sell-out and Skinny fave brings her new show to The Stand.

Tue 28 Nov RED RAW

An evening of stand-up comedy featuring a hand-picked selection of local up and coming comics.

The marketing director turned comedian takes to the road with his new tour of confessionalstyled stand-up.

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material.

Sun 12 Nov

Sun 19 Nov

Wed 29 Nov

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:30, £9 - £9.90

YESBAR VIRGINS: COMEDY SUNDAY SCHOOL

YESBAR, FROM 20:00, £3

MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £1 - £6

A selection of five fledgling comedians do their best to win over the audience and graduate Vespbar’s ‘Comedy Sunday School’.

Chilled Sunday night laughs to see the weekend out.

Mon 13 Nov

A selection of five fledgling comedians do their best to win over the audience and graduate Vespbar’s ‘Comedy Sunday School’.

BRIGHT CLUB

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £5

A selection of comedic academics do a stint of stand-up for your entertainment and enlightenment. Laughs and learning in one neat package = tick.

YESBAR VIRGINS: COMEDY SUNDAY SCHOOL

YESBAR, FROM 20:00, £3

Mon 20 Nov PHIL WANG

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:00, £12

IMPROV KILLED MY MONDAY (IMPROV KILLED MY DOG + MIKE GORMAN + THE IMPROV NINJAS)

The 27-year old stand-up comedian heads out on his first tour of the UK.

YESBAR, 19:30–22:00, £2 - £3

Tue 21 Nov

An evening of unscripted comedy for fans of Comedy Bang Bang and Whose Line is it Anyway.

Tue 14 Nov RED RAW

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:45, £3

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material.

LIGHT BULB SHOW (MARTIN JAMES + JEFF KHAN) BLACKFRIARS BASEMENT, 20:00–23:00, FREE

A monthly alternative stand-up comedy showcase.

Wed 15 Nov BBC COMEDY PRESENTS

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £4

BBC-selected sketch comedy showcase where handpicked new acts get their chance to shine – with each performer getting a quickfire 5-10 minutes on stage.

Thu 16 Nov

THE THURSDAY SHOW (MICK FERRY + CHRISTOPHER MACARTHER-BOYD + JOSEPH GOSS + GUS LYMBURN) THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £5 - £10

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase. JAMES ACASTER

ORAN MOR, FROM 19:00, £16

The e’er self-deprecating comedian shares sneak peaks from his new book, Classic Scrapes. YESBAR VIRGINS

YESBAR, FROM 20:00, £3

Graham Barrie introduces a selection of fledgling comedy talent handpicked fae Scotland.

Fri 17 Nov

THE FRIDAY SHOW (MICK FERRY + CHRISTOPHER MACARTHER-BOYD + JOSEPH GOSS + GUS LYMBURN)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00–23:00, £6 - £12

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts. LAUGHTER EIGHT

YESBAR, FROM 20:00, £10

Yesbar lols at – aye – 8pm. THE LATE SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 22:15, £10

Late night lols at Yesbar.

JOHN BISHOP: WINGING IT

THE SSE HYDRO, FROM 18:30, £25 - £39.50

RED RAW

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:45, £3

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material.

Wed 22 Nov

SHAKE WITH LAUGHTER: BENEFIT IN AID OF PARKINSON’S UK (MARK NELSON + JOE HEENAN + ROB DEERING)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £8 - £10

Comedy charity benefit in aid Of Parkinson’s UK.

Thu 23 Nov

THE THURSDAY SHOW (MARK MAIER + RICHARD BROWN + CHRIS WASHINGTON + STU MURPHY)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £5 - £10

YESBAR, FROM 20:00, £10

Yesbar lols at – aye – 8pm. THE LATE SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 22:15, £10

Late night lols at Yesbar.

November 2017

THE THURSDAY SHOW (DAN NIGHTINGALE + STEFFEN PEDDIE + STUART MCPHERSON + SUSAN MORRISON) THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £5 - £10

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Edinburgh Comedy Wed 01 Nov TOP BANANA

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £0 - £2

Monkey Barrel’s comedy competition for new folk on the scene.

BENEFIT IN AID OF EDINBURGH TOOL LIBRARY (GUS LYMBURN + MICHAEL HOLLINGWORTH + JAY LAFFERTY + GARETH MUTCH)

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:30, £5 - £7

Comedy benefit with all ticket proceeds donated Edinburgh Tool Library.

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 21:00–23:00, £5 - £10

YESBAR VIRGINS

Graham Barrie introduces a selection of fledgling comedy talent handpicked fae Scotland.

Fri 24 Nov

THE FRIDAY SHOW (MARK MAIER + RICHARD BROWN + CHRIS WASHINGTON + STU MURPHY) THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00–23:00, £6 - £12

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts. LAUGHTER EIGHT

YESBAR, FROM 20:00, £10

Yesbar lols at – aye – 8pm. THE LATE SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 22:15, £10

Late night lols at Yesbar.

Sat 25 Nov

THE SATURDAY SHOW (MARK MAIER + RICHARD BROWN + CHRIS WASHINGTON + STU MURPHY)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00–23:00, £17.50

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend. LAUGHTER EIGHT

YESBAR, FROM 20:00, £10

Yesbar lols at – aye – 8pm. THE LATE SHOW

YESBAR, FROM 22:15, £10

Late night lols at Yesbar.

Chilled Sunday night laughs to see the weekend out.

LAUGHTER EIGHT

Thu 30 Nov

YESBAR, FROM 20:00, £3

Sat 18 Nov

THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00–23:00, £17.50

MCPHABBS, 19:30–22:30, £5 - £6

An evening of stand-up comedy featuring a prime selection of local up and coming comics.

Thu 02 Nov

Sun 26 Nov

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

BUTCHER’S CHOICE COMEDY (RAY BRADSHAW)

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

The marketing director turned comedian takes to the road with his new tour of confessionalstyled stand-up.

THE SATURDAY SHOW (MICK FERRY + CHRISTOPHER MACARTHER-BOYD + JOSEPH GOSS + GUS LYMBURN)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:45, £3

MICHAEL REDMOND’S SUNDAY SERVICE

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £1 - £6

YESBAR VIRGINS: COMEDY SUNDAY SCHOOL

YESBAR, FROM 20:00, £3

A selection of five fledgling comedians do their best to win over the audience and graduate Vespbar’s ‘Comedy Sunday School’. LLOYD GRIFFITH: IN:UNDATED

THE STAND GLASGOW, 18:30–19:30, £8 - £9

THE THURSDAY SHOW (DAVE JOHNS + MICHAEL LEGGE + JAMIE MACDONALD + WILL NAAMEH + JAY LAFFERTY)

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 03 Nov

THE FRIDAY SHOW (DAVE JOHNS + MICHAEL LEGGE + JAMIE MACDONALD + WILL NAAMEH + JAY LAFFERTY) THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 21:00–23:00, £6 - £12

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts. THE BIG SHOW

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £12

A great night of premier stand-up right in the heart of the city

THE PORTOBELLO COMEDY NIGHT (JOE HEENAN) (CHRISTOPHER MACARTHUR BOYD + JAY H MILES + JOE MCSLOY + DONALD ALEXANDER + STEVEN DAVIDSON) DALRIADA BAR, FROM 20:30, £12

A night of comedy in Porty.

Sat 04 Nov

THE SATURDAY SHOW (DAVE JOHNS + MICHAEL LEGGE + JAMIE MACDONALD + WILL NAAMEH + JAY LAFFERTY)

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 21:00–23:00, £17.50

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend. THE BIG SHOW

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £12

A great night of premier stand-up right in the heart of the city PROJECT X

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £0 - £3

All-new student night themed around the film of the same name, Project X.

Sun 05 Nov

Sun 12 Nov

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:00, £1 - £6

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:30, £1 - £6

THE SUNDAY NIGHT LAUGH-IN (ROBIN GRAINGER)

Chilled Sunday night laughs to see the weekend out.

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW (STUART MURPHY + GARRY DOBSON) THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 13:30–15:00, FREE

THE SUNDAY NIGHT LAUGH-IN (WIS JANTARANSORN)

Chilled Sunday night laughs to see the weekend out.

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW (STUART MURPHY + GARRY DOBSON) THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 13:30–15:00, FREE

Legendary free Sunday afternoon improv show. Marvel as resident duo Stu & Garry weave comedy magic from your suggestions.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 20:30, £5

PROGRESS!

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? (BARBARA BROWNSKIRT) ASSEMBLY ROXY, FROM 20:00, £7

Barbara Brownskirt is the selfappointed poet-in-residence at the 197 bus stop on Croydon Road in Penge. This is her first solo, full length show; an anarchic presentation of being a poor, unsuccessful, lesbian poet in 21st century Britain.

Sun 19 Nov

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW (STUART MURPHY + GARRY DOBSON) THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 13:30–15:00, FREE

Fri 24 Nov

THE FRIDAY SHOW (MICHAEL FABBRI + VLADIMIR MCTAVISH + PETER BRUSH + ROSS LESLIE + JOJO SUTHERLAND)

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 21:00–23:00, £6 - £12

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts. THE BIG SHOW

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £12

A great night of premier stand-up right in the heart of the city

Monkey Barrel’s rising comedy star showcase; swing by and catch the stars of tomorrow.

Legendary free Sunday afternoon improv show. Marvel as resident duo Stu & Garry weave comedy magic from your suggestions.

Sat 25 Nov

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:30, £5

THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE, FROM 20:00, £26.25 - £40.75

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 21:00–23:00, £17.50

Mon 06 Nov

Mon 13 Nov

Monkey Barrel’s rising comedy star showcase; swing by and catch the stars of tomorrow. THE TBC IMPROV COMEDY THEATRE

The To Be Continued crew return with more sketches, scenes and improvised antics. RED RAW

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:45, £3

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material.

Tue 07 Nov

LEFTY SCUM (JOSIE LONG + GRACE PETRIE + JONNY & THE BAPTISTS)

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 20:00–21:30, £10.50 - £12.50

Music, comedy and revolutionary socialism in a tasty wee bundle at The Stand.

Wed 08 Nov VIVA LA SHAMBLES

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:00, £4 - £5

Anarchic comedy mayhem from Scotland’s finest young acts! TOP BANANA

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £0 - £2

Monkey Barrel’s comedy competition for new folk on the scene.

Thu 09 Nov

THE THURSDAY SHOW (MARK NELSON + SILKY + KIRI PRITCHARD MCLEAN + STEPHEN BUCHANAN + RAYMOND MEARNS)

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 21:00–23:00, £5 - £10

THE TBC IMPROV COMEDY THEATRE

The To Be Continued crew return with more sketches, scenes and improvised antics. RED RAW

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:45, £3

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material. MULHOLLAND & REDMOND: 2001: A COMEBACK SPECIAL

PARADISE IN THE VAULT, 20:30–22:30, £4.50

Mulholland & Redmond crash in Memphis Tennessee where – with a little extra-terrestrial help – a rock’n’roll icon is about to make an unlikely comeback, but all is not as it seems.

Tue 14 Nov BONA FIDE

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:15, £5 - £6

Wed 15 Nov TOP BANANA

THE THURSDAY SHOW (DAVID KAY + DAVID LONGLEY + MEGAN SHANDLEY + BRUCE DEVLIN)

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 20:30, FREE

Phil O’Shea brings a handpicked selection of riotous lols to Monkey Barrel.

Fri 10 Nov

THE FRIDAY SHOW (MARK NELSON + SILKY + KIRI PRITCHARD MCLEAN + STEPHEN BUCHANAN + RAYMOND MEARNS) THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 21:00–23:00, £6 - £12

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts. THE BIG SHOW

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £12

A great night of premier stand-up right in the heart of the city

Sat 11 Nov

THE SATURDAY SHOW (MARK NELSON + SILKY + KIRI PRITCHARD MCLEAN + STEPHEN BUCHANAN + RAYMOND MEARNS)

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 21:00–23:00, £17.50

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend. THE BIG SHOW

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £12

A great night of premier stand-up right in the heart of the city

Following support slots with Jack Whitehall and Rob Beckett, the Drunk History and SoccerAM star heads out solo.

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

THE TBC IMPROV COMEDY THEATRE

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 14:00–15:00, £5

Monkey Barrel’s rising comedy star showcase; swing by and catch the stars of tomorrow.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:30, £5

The To Be Continued crew return with more sketches, scenes and improvised antics. PHIL WANG

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–21:30, £12

The 27-year old stand-up comedian heads out on his first tour of the UK.

Mon 20 Nov

RED RAW (STUART MITCHELL)

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:45, £3

THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE, FROM 20:00, £26.25 - £40.75

All-new student night themed around the film of the same name, Project X.

Monkey Barrel’s comedy competition for new folk on the scene.

Thu 16 Nov

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 21:00–23:00, £5 - £10

JOHN BISHOP: WINGING IT

The marketing director turned comedian takes to the road with his new tour of confessionalstyled stand-up.

Tue 21 Nov PROJECT X

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £0 - £3

All-new student night themed around the film of the same name, Project X. BENEFIT IN AID OF REFUGEE COMMUNITY KITCHEN & CRIBS INTERNATIONAL (VLADMIR MCTAVISH + JIM PARK + MEGAN SHANDLEY + JOJO SUTHERLAND)

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:30, £10

SPONTANEOUS SHERLOCK

Charity comedy benefit in aid of Refugee Community Kitchen & CRIBS International.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £5

Wed 22 Nov

A completely improvised Sherlock Holmes mystery.

Fri 17 Nov

THE FRIDAY SHOW (DAVID KAY + DAVID LONGLEY + MEGAN SHANDLEY + BRUCE DEVLIN) THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 21:00–23:00, £6 - £12

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts. THE BIG SHOW

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £12

A great night of premier stand-up right in the heart of the city

Sat 18 Nov

THE SATURDAY SHOW (DAVID KAY + DAVID LONGLEY + MEGAN SHANDLEY + BRUCE DEVLIN)

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 21:00–23:00, £17.50

TOPICAL STORM (MARK NELSON + KEIR MCALLISTER + STUART MURPHY + VLADIMIR MCTAVISH) THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:30, £5 - £7

Radical satire from Keir McAllister, Vladimir McTavish, Stu Murphy and Mark Nelson. TOP BANANA

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £0 - £2

Monkey Barrel’s comedy competition for new folk on the scene.

Thu 23 Nov

THE THURSDAY SHOW (MICHAEL FABBRI + VLADIMIR MCTAVISH + PETER BRUSH + ROSS LESLIE + JOJO SUTHERLAND)

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 21:00–23:00, £5 - £10

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase. SPONTANEOUS POTTER

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:00, £5

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £12

KEARA MURPHY: DARK ONE

THE BIG SHOW

A great night of premier stand-up right in the heart of the city

THE BIG SHOW

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £12

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £0 - £3

PROJECT X

THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE, FROM 20:00, £21.75

PETER PANCAKES’S COMEDY EXTRAVAGANZA!

PROGRESS!

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 20:30, £5

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material.

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £0 - £2

The 8 Out Of 10 Cats and Live At The Apollo star takes to the stage to chat about the state of the world (and the dishwasher).

The marketing director turned comedian takes to the road with his new tour of confessionalstyled stand-up.

Brand new material especially written for the theme of the night delivered by some of Scotlands favourite comics.

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase. JON RICHARDSON: OLD MAN

JOHN BISHOP: WINGING IT

THE SATURDAY SHOW (MICHAEL FABBRI + VLADIMIR MCTAVISH + PETER BRUSH + ROSS LESLIE + JOJO SUTHERLAND)

A brand new Harry Potter play from some of Edinburgh’s most top notch improv wizards. WOODLAND CREATURES, FROM 20:00, £10

After the recent death of her Mother, Murphy explores her Mother’s life and legacy with stories spanning three centuries of Irish women.

A great night of premier stand-up right in the heart of the city COMEDY KIDS

Eight brave mini comedians hit the iconic Stand stage to reduce you to tears with hilarious sketches and pint sized stand up routines. Age ain’t nothing but a number. Best suited for 8-12’s. Sorry no under 5s. All young comedy fans must be accompanied. MARGARET CHO: FRESH OFF THE BLOAT

THE QUEEN’S HALL, FROM 20:00, £25

Margaret Cho returns with Fresh off the Bloat; a show dedicated to being fresh off drugs, drinking and suicide.

Sun 26 Nov

STU & GARRY’S FREE IMPROV SHOW (STUART MURPHY + GARRY DOBSON) THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 13:30–15:00, FREE

Legendary free Sunday afternoon improv show. Marvel as resident duo Stu & Garry weave comedy magic from your suggestions. JIMMY CARR: THE BEST OF, ULTIMATE, GOLD, GREATEST HITS TOUR

THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE, FROM 20:00, £28.75

The hard-working comic tours his latest solo show, packed with oneliners, stories and incisive musings on the human condition. PROGRESS!

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 20:30, £5

Monkey Barrel’s rising comedy star showcase; swing by and catch the stars of tomorrow. THE TBC IMPROV COMEDY THEATRE

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 19:30, £5

The To Be Continued crew return with more sketches, scenes and improvised antics.

JOJO SUTHERLAND & SUSAN MORRISON: FANNY’S AHOY! (JOJO SUTHERLAND + SUSAN MORRISON)

FERN BRADY: SUFFER, FOOLS! THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–21:30, £10

The Fringe sell-out and Skinny fave brings her new show to The Stand.

Wed 29 Nov TOP BANANA

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £0 - £2

Monkey Barrel’s comedy competition for new folk on the scene.

BENEFIT IN AID OF HEALTH IN MIND (ROSS LESLIE + WIS JANTARASORN) THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:30, £5

Charity comedy benefit for Health In Mind

Thu 30 Nov

THE THURSDAY SHOW (LLOYD LANGFORD + JOJO SMITH + JOHN GAVIN + LIAM WITHNAIL)

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 21:00–23:00, £5 - £10

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase. SPONTANEOUS SHERLOCK

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £5

A completely improvised Sherlock Holmes mystery. CHRIS GRIFFIN AND BEN VERTH: WROKS IN PROOGRESS

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, FROM 20:30, £0 - £3

Monkey Barrel Comedy Club kicks off a raft of 1st Birthday weekend celebrations with work in progress stand-up shows from two of the club’s founders.

Dundee Comedy Thu 02 Nov SUSIE MCCABE

THE GARDYNE THEATRE, FROM 19:30, £9.50 - £11.50

Susie McCabe is determined to get the nation pumpin’ with her new show for 2017. Gone are the takeaways and cigarettes, instead it’s all bandanas and bananas as she sets her sights on the body beautiful.

Sat 11 Nov

JON RICHARDSON: OLD MAN

CAIRD HALL, FROM 20:00, £20.50

The 8 Out Of 10 Cats and Live At The Apollo star takes to the stage to chat about the state of the world (and the dishwasher).

Glasgow Art Art Pistol

POST-MORTEM OF THE AXIOM

1-12 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 17:30–16:30, £4 - £5

By engaging with a wide variety of media, Frew attempts to challenge traditional preconceptions of what painting can be.

SUSIE MCCABE: LET’S GET PHYISCAL TOUR

CCA: Centre for Contemporary Art

It’s a fanny-filled world. Susan teaches you how to spot and avoid them, if she can remember.

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–21:30, £8 - £10

REBECCA HOWARD: THERE IS NO VISIBLE ROUTE TO THE VANISHING POINT

1-18 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition centred around a science-fiction film which explores the occurrence of metaphysical events induced by a series of everyday objects.

Mon 27 Nov RED RAW

THE STAND COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:45, £3

Open mic-style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to road test new material.

Tue 28 Nov PROJECT X

MONKEY BARREL COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–22:50, £0 - £3

All-new student night themed around the film of the same name, Project X.

Listings

Art LILT, TWANG, TREMOR 1 NOV-14 JAN 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

CCA invites three Scottish artists whose work examines the politics and production of voice. The human voice can mystify, calm, incite, deceive and betray. It can shift borders, change spaces and disturb our understanding of ourselves and our communities. Looking at how the voice takes shape in different places and environments, this exhibition explores the contexts in which voices are made audible. Examining the mouth, the mouthless voice, the embodied and disembodied voice, the voice as a tool, and as an instrument – the artists question the manner in which vocals affect the environment around us. RADIOPHRENIA

7-19 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

Broadcasting live from CCA, Radiophrenia is a temporary FM art radio station – a two-week exploration into current trends in sound and transmission arts. The programme includes soundscapes, spoken word, documentary, drama, radio experiments, found sound and radical new programme ideas. Supported by Creative Scotland. ST MUNGO’S MIRRORBALL POETRY SHOWCASE

16 NOV, 7:00PM, £7

Another great evening with award winning poet Pascale Petit showcasing her new collection alongside David Kinloch, Claire Askew and Hamish Whyte.

BUZZCUT: DOUBLE THRILLS (MARIKISCRYCRY + ANIELA PIASECKA + LAOISE + NIMA SÉNE) 29 NOV, 7:00PM, £7 - £9

Buzzcut Double Thrills returns! Bringing monthly helpings of the wildest performers at the edge of disciplines, November sees choreographer Marikiscrycry and some super-sharp local artists.

Cyril Gerber Fine Art THE WINTER SHOW 2017

16 NOV-31 JAN 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

A fresh and exciting combination of paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures spanning the 20th century, through to present day, specially selected for this seasonal exhibition. Includes works by Glasgow School, Modern British Masters, Scottish Colourists, Joan Eardley, Scottish Modern Masters and a selection of Contemporaries.

David Dale Gallery and Studios HANNE LIPPARD

4 NOV-9 DEC, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

A new exhibition by Norweigan artist Hanne Lippard. Lippard’s practice typically explores the production of language using only the voice, and this show, entitled numb limb is set to continue her investigation of form and content.

GoMA POLYGRAPHS

1 NOV-20 MAY 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

A group exhibition with a central point of Hito Steyerl’s film Abstract, which explores truth, fiction and evidence in a complicated world. Features Jane Evelyn Atwood, Muirhead Bone, Boyle Family, Gerard Byrne, Graham Fagen, Ian Hamilton Finlay and more. TASTE!

1 NOV-1 DEC, TIMES VARY, FREE

A snapshot of GoMA’s rich history combining artworks and archived material. Features work by Henri Cartier-Bresson, Beryl Cook, Fischli/Weiss, Sarah Forrest, Andy Goldsworthy, Douglas Gordon, David Hockney, Eduardo Paolozzi, David Shirgley, Stanley Spencer, Andy Warhol and Lawrence Weiner.

Listings

STEPHEN SUTCLIFFE: WORK FROM THE COLLECTION 1 NOV-21 JAN 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

Glasgow-based artist Stephen Sutcliffe brings a solo exhibition to GoMA, featuring works which draw upon a large personal archive of broadcast materials and printed ephemera. These new works focus on anxiety, self-doubt and the creative process.

House For An Art Lover FULLY AWAKE

4-19 NOV, 12:00AM – 12:00AM, FREE

A group exhibition featuring work by over 30 artists that celebrates the intergenerational effects of teaching painting. Curated by Ian Hartshorne and Sean Kaye. OBJECTS OF CELEBRATION

25 NOV-4 MAR 18, 12:00AM – 12:00AM, FREE

Objects of Celebration is a solo exhibition of new work by artist Claire Heminsley exploring the rituals of celebration.

Hunterian Art Gallery

ART OF POWER: MASTERPIECES FROM THE BUTE COLLECTION

1 NOV-14 JAN 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

Take the oportunity to see major paintings from the Bute Collection at Mount Stuart on the Isle of Bute. Exhibition split across two venues, The Hunterian and Mount Stuart – ticket price covers admission to both. THE TRUEST MIRROR OF LIFE

1 NOV-21 JAN 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

A display of 19th century French caricatures showcasing work by some of its greatest exponents, including Honoré Daumier and Gavarni.

Platform PAINT IT RED

19 NOV, 9:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A contemporary portrait of Easterhouse - a cumulation of a year-long photography project COLIN JAMES TENNANT: PAINT IT RED

1-19 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

A contemporary portrait of Easterhouse – the culmination of a year-long photography project.

HELEN DE MAIN: YOU KNOW, THINGS LIKE THAT

27 NOV-11 FEB 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

Over the past year Helen has been meeting with a group of local women at Platform. Through looking at these women’s lives, marked by commonalities and difference, remarkable events and mundane ones, the exhibition celebrates the strength, resilience and beauty that exists within everyday experience.

RGI Kelly Gallery

RGI OPEN ANNUAL EXHIBITION 2017

11-25 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

The Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts hosts its 154th Annual Open Exhibition.

Six Foot Gallery

ANNE-MARIE PINKERTON: BEYOND LIGHT

1-16 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Pinkerton aims to explore symbolically, both the outer political, social and cultural landscapes of our time, as well as the inner landscapes of the human psyche.

Street Level Photoworks

ALEKSANDRA VAJD & MARKÉTA OTHOVÁ: WHAT IS LIFE?

1-18 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

The first joint exhibition from Markéta Othová (1968, Prague) and Aleksandra Vajd (1971, Maribor, Slovenia), two eminent figures in Central and East European photography in a show which highlights the universal quality of the photographic medium. FUTUREPROOF 2017

25 NOV-4 FEB 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

The ninth annual showcase of new photographic talent selected from across Scotland’s Photography courses. Includes work from Yvette Bathgate, Sam Holland, Dosi Dimochovski, Katie Harris-MacLeod, Leanne Glass, Clare Hutchison, Gavin Bragdon, Gareth Bragdon and more.

The Common Guild

MARIA FUSCO: RADICAL DIALECT

1 NOV-30 DEC, TIMES VARY, FREE

An ongoing project conceived by writer Maria Fusco, including a cycle of events, a series of commissioned publications and a major new performance, all taking shape across 2017 and 2018. See thecommonguild.org.uk for info. SLOW OBJECTS

1 NOV-16 DEC, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition bringing together the works of artists Vanessa Billy, Edith Dekyndt and Erin Shirreff, all of whom share an interest in both natural and pseudo-scientific processes, alchemy and labour.

The Lighthouse A RIBBON IN SPACE

1-30 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

A series of eight astutely captured images recalling the radical compositions of Zaha Hadid’s hero from the world of 20th century art, Kazimir Malevich. CHOZUMAKI

1 NOV-6 JAN 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

Sonica Artist in Residence, Japan’s Nelo Akamatsu, presents this intricate installation of glass and water, which uses magnetic energy to produce a spiralling vortex of curious sounds. MY PLACE TOO

1-3 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

A show taking the form of four slide presentations featuring pictures of people in places that matter to them, together with a personal testimony, in an exhibition bringing together over 400 people of all ages, from across the world. ILLUMINATING LETTERS

1 NOV-27 JAN 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition inspired by the relationship between Charles Rennie Mackintosh and Margaret MacDonald, particularly his view that she was the creative force within their relationship, a revelation found documented in a private letter written by Mackintosh. THE BIG BANNER PROJECT EXHIBITION

1-5 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition of 10 life-size linen banners in the Mackintosh Style made by the public over a period of 4 weeks as part of the Mackintosh Festival 2017. TRADESTON: A TOUCHING DISPLAY

1-26 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

Tradeston is an area of Glasgow close to the city centre which remains in a state of neglect. For three months, photographer Alastair Jackson documented what he desribed as ‘negative drive’ in the area’s abandoned tenements and derelict sites. INTERNATIONAL POSTER EXHIBITION

1-25 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

A curated showcase of entries to GDFS 2017 International Poster Competition which received 6095 entries from 81 countries and judged by Warriors Studio, Jamie McIntyre, Koos Breen and Jaemin Lee.

Tramway

MEGAN ROONEY: OTHERS GOT WINGS FOR FLYING

1 NOV-10 DEC, TIMES VARY, FREE

A major new Tramway co-commission, curated by Louise Briggs for independent on and offline publisher and producer MAP. Megan Rooney’s work includes painting, performance, written and spoken word, sculpture and installation. The commission and exhibition will conclude with a performance by Andrew Graham and Megan Rooney, a continuation of a performance previously presented by Rooney at Cove Park in September. MEGAN ROONEY: MOMMA! MOMMA!

1-12 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

A debut solo Scottish show from Megan Rooney, whose work incluses painting, performance, written and spoken word, sculpture and installation. For this show, she presents new work that combines these disciplines to create ‘a mise en scene inhabited by figures and objects that lurk on the periphery of written and performed narratives’. AMANDA ROSS-HO

10-26 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

An installation taking the form of a factory floor dedicated to the production of oversized garments, Ross-Ho’s surreal, theatrical environment subverts notions of time, labour and economy. ARTISTS’ MOVING IMAGE FESTIVAL 2017 11-12 NOV, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, £5 - £10

AMIF returns for a sixth edition, this year programmed collaboratively by writer and lecturer Laura Guy and artist Cara Tolmie. MEMBRANES

A new show from Glasgow-based visual and sound artist Sue Tompkins at Modern Institute’s Aird’s Lane gallery.

1-5 NOV, 10:00AM – 4:00PM, FREE

An exhibition curated by Timothea Armour which engages with the topic of the public house – its contemporary state and potential future.

Dovecot Studios BUILT IN TAPESTRY: DOVECOT TAPESTRIES AND ARCHITECTURE

1 NOV-17 MAR 18, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

PUBLISHING SURREALISM: ROLAND PENROSE’S LIBRARY

1-19 NOV, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition drawing from the collection of British Surrealist artist, theorist, patron and collector Roland Penrose to illuminate the importance of publishing within the Surrealist movement. PICTURE HOOKS

1 NOV-18 FEB 18, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A balcony-based exhibition at Dovecot highlighting projects from the studio’s history, featuring innovative and bold projects from commissions new and past.

Acclaimed exhibition Picture Hooks returns for its third year, showcasing the result of one year’s collaboration between five arts grads and their established illustrator mentors.

1 NOV-22 JAN 18, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

DAUGHTERS OF PENELOPE

Dovecot tells a tale of women’s work in the textile industry and within textile art in a group exhibition of work fro those who have contributed to the gallery’s history and present. Features Caroline Dear, Linder, Sonia Delaunay, Hanna Tuulikki and more.

SCOTS IN ITALY

1 NOV-5 MAR 19, TIMES VARY, FREE

Transmission Gallery

1 NOV-31 MAR 18, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

BABY BOY

11 NOV-16 DEC, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A show curated by Black Radical Imagination at Transmission.

Trongate 103 MONOCHROME

2-19 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

Four contemporary painters create images of the urban landscape with a quiet, reflective feel.

iota @ Unlimited Studios ROY PETRIE: METAMORPHOSES

1-10 NOV, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

A journey of realisation told in a multi-media experience at Glasgow’s gem arts space, where the poetry of Hermann Hesse is alive and well.

ARTOBOTIC

Edinburgh Printmakers celebrate their 50th Anniversary year with an ‘Artobotic’, an art vending machine which distributes artworks ‘blind’ to audiences. FROM PAPER TO GOLD

To celebrate 50 years of printmaking excellence, Edinburgh Printmakers has invited 50 artists to participate in a special anniversary exhibition of exemplary Scottish printmaking.

Royal Scottish Academy RSA

AGES OF WONDER: SCOTLAND’S ART 1540 TO NOW 4 NOV-7 JAN 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition telling the story of collecting Scottish art by reuniting artworks from the Royal Scottish Academy collection transferred to NGS in 1910 with a selection of those remaining in the Academy collection and those collected by the Academy up to the present day.

Scottish National Gallery A MEETING OF TWO MASTERPIECES

&Gallery

2-4 NOV, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

THE LAST HOUR!

A second edition of the Scottish National Gallery’s dynamic exhibition series NOW, this time focussing on storytelling and showcasing the work of Turner Prize-winning artist Susan Philipsz, along with pieces by Michael Armitage, Yto Barrada, Kate Davis, Hiwa K and Sarah Rose.

1 NOV-27 OCT 19, TIMES VARY, FREE

The Modern Institute

SUE TOMPKINS: COUNTRY GRAMMAR

Collective Gallery

NOW

1 NOV-18 FEB 18, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

1 NOV-23 DEC, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

16-19 NOV, 11:00AM, TBC

Edinburgh Art

The Modern Institute @ Airds Lane

A showcase in partnership with Inverness Museum and Art Gallery and Gracefield Arts Centre, featuring a diverse range of work by four contemporary artists based in Scotland – Lizzie Farey, Angie Lewin, Frances Priest and Bronwen Sleigh. Features printmaking, drawing, collage, sculpture and ceramics.

A display highlighting the ways in which Ed Ruscha (b.1937, Nebraska, USA) draws upon urban landscape and architecture, cinema, brands, car culture and language that refer and relate to LA and Hollywood to create works about the American Dream.

A radical and illuminating festival of performances, readings, workshops and discussions featuring Samuel R Delaney, Jackie Wang, Storyboard P, Huw Lemmey, Wu Tsang, Moor Mother, WestGAP, Bent Brothers and more.

ARIKA EPISODE 9: OTHER WORLDS ALREADY EXIST

Flumadiddle, a synonym for ‘nonsense’ is the title of this new exhibition curated by Warriors Studio at Lighthouse, showcasing local and international artists and designers.

The Scottish sculptor brings a new exhibition to Modern Institute’s Osborne Street location.

A FINE LINE

18 NOV-18 FEB 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

1 NOV-29 APR 18, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Edinburgh Printmakers

A Sonica show which uses hybrid instruments to turn written texts into pulses of light and sound.

1-25 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

MARTIN BOYCE: LIGHT YEARS

City Art Centre host an exhibition exploring the work of Charles Poulsen and Pauline Burbridge; artists for whom drawing is at the centre of their practice.

ARTIST ROOMS: MUSIC FROM THE BALCONIES - ED RUSCHA AND LOS ANGELES

A showcase of the Scottish experience of Italy in the eighteenth century, a time when artistic, entrepreneurial and aristocratic fascination with the country was reaching boiling point.

3 NOV, 9:00PM, £6.50 - £12

FLUMADIDDLE

1-4 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

SONGS FOR WINTER 4 NOV-4 MAR 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

TIME & PLACE

1 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition of painting and printmaking currently referring to the tension between the natural and urban environment.

Arusha Gallery FRAGILE

10 NOV-3 DEC, TIMES VARY, FREE

A new show from Shelly Tregoning at Arusha Gallery.

City Art Centre HIDDEN GEMS

1 NOV-13 MAY 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

The City Art Centre showcases ‘unsung and unusual’ hidden gems from its collection of fine art.

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

1 NOV-25 MAR 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

Six-footer British masterpiece Salisbury Cathedral from the Meadows (1831) by John Constable, displayed alongside another celebrated landscape painting, William McTaggart’s The Storm (1890).

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art 20TH CENTURY: MASTERPIECES OF SCOTTISH AND EUROPEAN ART

1 NOV-18 FEB 18, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of works offering a historical overview of some of the most significant artistic contributions made during the last century. The exhibition also aims to place Scottish modern art within an international context.

THE MODERN PORTRAIT

A display collating paintings, sculptures and works from the Portrait Gallery’s twentiethcentury collection, ft. a variety of well-known faces, from Ramsay Macdonald to Alan Cumming, Tilda Swinton to Danny McGrain. REFORMATION TO REVOLUTION

1 NOV-1 APR 19, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition examining the cultural consequences of the national religion becoming Protestantism in sixteenth century Scotland. GRAHAM MACINDOE: COMING CLEAN

1-5 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

Since recovering from years of his life as a heroin addict, Graham MacIndoe uses this body of selfportraits as a means of opening up conversations about dependency and recovery. HEROES AND HEROINES

1 NOV-31 MAY 19, TIMES VARY, FREE

A re-examination of major Scottish figures which questions our habit of framing history around individuals and idols. WHEN WE WERE YOUNG: PHOTOGRAPHS OF CHILDHOOD

1 NOV-15 APR 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

Part of Luminate 2017, this exhibition documents the experience and representation of childhood to coincide with Scotland’s Year of the Young Person 2018. Photographs from the permanent collection of the NGS are used to explore how the experience of childhood has changed over the years, and how the portrayal of children has shifted too. ART AND ANALYSIS: TWO NETHERLANDISH PAINTERS WORKING IN JACOBEAN SCOTLAND

1 NOV-26 JAN 20, TIMES VARY, FREE

A small exhibition focusing on two 17th-century artists Adrian Vanson and Adam de Colone, showcasing a group of paintings which have been examined by paintings conservator Dr Caroline Rae, along with the findings from her research. IN FOCUS: THE EXECUTION OF CHARLES I

1 NOV-26 JAN 20, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition centred around a painting of the execution of Charles I – based on eye-witness accounts and contemporary engravings – by an unknown Dutch artist.

Scottish Storytelling Centre

THE WINNER TAKES IT ALL: EXHIBITION

1-24 NOV, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Michael Kerins in conjunction with Russian schoolchildren present paintings and chalk drawings based on the poems of the late Emma Scullion, who had a diagnosis of cancer as a toddler and died aged 25. All children whose work is exhibited are blind, they have captured the spirit and wit of her poems.

Stills

ROBIN GILLANDERS (A RETROSPECTIVE)

1 NOV-14 JAN 18, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

A solo exhibition at Stills dedicated to the work of Edinburgh-based artist Robin Gillanders.

Summerhall CAPTURED STATE

1-30 NOV, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Captured State brings together six artists from the Republic of Macedonia to exhibit in Scotland for the first time. Whilst contemporary art from Macedonia has not enjoyed a high profile up unto this point, the artists chosen, through their work in installation, video, and performance, address some of the key questions concerning artists across Europe at the present time, and address issues that have a provocative relevance in Scottish culture and politics. Features Ephemerki, Verica Kovacevska, OPA (obsessive possessive aggression) and Igor Toshevski. KITE AND TRUMPET

1-22 NOV, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Kite and Trumpet Festival of Polish Art for Children is a celebration of the best of Polish modern art and design for children. Illustrators, performers and designers living in Scotland and invited from Poland will team up in a programme of interactive, contemporary visual theatre, storytelling, design and workshops. DEERHEART

1 NOV-22 DEC, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of art and poetry, the result of award-winning poet Yvonne Reddick’s collaboration with renowned Serbian-born British artist Diana Zwibach.

JILL TODD PHOTOGRAPHIC AWARD 2017 4-18 NOV, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

The Jill Todd Photographic Award was initiated in 2011 by close photographic associates of Jill, who had her life taken by cancer just over one year from graduating from Edinburgh Napier University with a 1st Class Hons. Degree in Photography and Film. The objectives of the Award were formed in deference to Jill’s successful early career progression as a recognised emerging talent in Scotland. The Award is open to those photographic artists within three years of graduation from Photography and Art degree courses in Scotland, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. EXIT FROM COALTOWN

25 NOV-17 DEC, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

2016 winner of the RSA Open Exhibition award Summerhall Prize. An exhibition of new and recent work by Edinburgh based artist, Michael Dawson. Michael produces vibrant works on paper, wood, mdf and canvas in an expressionist style. Intense and energetic, rich in vivid colour and heavily covered in text, stencils and bursts of texture, the works are primarily concerned with a universal experience filtered through his life.

The Fruitmarket Gallery JACQUELINE DONACHIE

11 NOV-11 FEB 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

Jacqueline Donachie presents sculpture, installation, photography, film and drawing in a major exhibition, engaging with ideas of support, platforms, and individual / familial / collective identity.

Upright Gallery ROSS MILLER: ALL I KNOW IS ME

1-17 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

Recently graduated with a First Class Degree from the University of Dundee, Ross Wilson has been preselected for the Columbia Threadneedle Prize 2018 and selected for RSA New Contemporaries exhibition in 2018. See a selection of his work at this Upright Gallery exhibition.

Dundee Art DCA: Dundee Contemporary Arts THE WEATHER MAKERS

1-26 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

Canadian artist Kelly Richardson’s first solo exhibition in Scotland, programmed in partnership with Discovery Film Festival. Via three large-scale video works and a new print series, The Weather Maker asks the viewer to consider what the future might hold if we do not alter our use of the planet’s resources.

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design ULAY: SO YOU SEE ME

1 NOV-16 DEC, TIMES VARY, FREE

Ulay’s work lies at the intersection between photography, performance and critical interventions. He has gained international recognition for his ground-breaking collabs with Marina Abramović, and brings a new sound installation to DJCAD for So you see me.

Generator Projects GELTUNG

2-12 NOV, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

An offline/online exhibition curated by AlejandroBalland InêsC ostaand featuring artists Diogod aCruz, MaxD ovey, Felicity Hammond and PetraSzemán. Part of NEoN festival.

The McManus

A SENSE OF PLACE: TWENTIETH CENTURY SCOTTISH PAINTING

1 NOV-7 JAN 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition of primarily landscape paintings, including work from the Glasgow Boys, the Scottish Colourists, James McIntosh Patrick and Joan Eardley. FIRE AND STONE

1 NOV-4 FEB 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

An continuation of the NMS and British Museum’s Reflections on Celts spotlight tour, featuring a replica of the Monifieth II Pictish stone which has been commissioned from stone carver David McGovern.

Talbot Rice Gallery

JOHN AKOMFRAH: VERTIGO SEA

1 NOV-27 JAN 18, TIMES VARY, FREE

The Talbot Rice showcase Vertigo Sea and At The Graveside Of Tarkovsky, two installations by acclaimed and award-winning filmmaker John Akomfrah.

THE SKINNY

Warp and Weft In Local Heroes’ ongoing tour of outstanding Scottish design we turn to knitted and woven textiles to report on the individual designers and studios doing the most exciting things in this sector

Words: Stacey Hunter

Jennifer Kent

irst up on our tour of Scottish knit and woven textile design is Green Thomas led by Emma Green and Alan Thomas Dibble – one of Scotland’s most interesting and considered knitwear design studios. This Glasgow duo met at Central St Martins in the early 90s and then went their separate ways around the world – unknowingly, both were stockpiling experience, inspiration and expertise in order to meet up again and form this astonishingly perfect knitwear brand. Green Thomas design and manufacture some of the most desirable and exciting accessories in the UK and are stocked in Whistles, the Conran Shop, and no less than five separate boutiques in Japan. AW17 is their most assured collection to date with their signature primary colours and enlarged geometric patterns applied to blanket scarves, throws and probably the nicest pompom hat ever made (which sold out almost instantly – and makes us want it even more). In Orkney, Hilary Grant has developed a new design technique. The unique dual-scale aspect means that on a close scale the blanket shows a patchwork of tiny abstract patterns while when seen from a distance, the visual effect is a painterly wash of subtle hues and colours. In principle, this is how images were produced on old-fashioned CRT televisions. Using this

November 2017

technique, Hilary Grant’s studio has developed a commercial edge – usually the more colours of yarn used, the more expensive the product is to make. Grant says: “This way we can be much more inventive and explorative with the medium. I think we’re doing something that hasn’t been seen before in commercial knitwear, especially at this scale.” In Alice Dansey-Wright’s joyful collaboration with knitwear designer Giannina Capitani, the illustrator’s simple line drawings, inspired by abstract representations of the female body, are translated by Capitani into 100% lambswool pieces in soft grey tones, reminiscent of graphite crayons and pencils. With roots in Scotland, Italy and England the designers met while studying Fine Art at the Glasgow School of Art and since then both women have developed their artistic practices into design-led businesses. Catherine MacGruer’s studio, based in the Highlands of Scotland, creates a range of interior and fashion accessories characterised by geometric shapes and meticulously considered compositions and colour palettes. She describes her work as being “informed by the craft, history of design and new technologies of my industry.” MacGruer’s new Line & Block collection is inspired by the terrazzo and tile details found in

Green Thomas

The newest contributors to Scotland’s knitted and woven textiles scene are similarly exciting and exhibit many of the hallmarks of radical design in action. Both recent graduates of Edinburgh College of Art, Maddie Williams and Ruth Williams are also 2017 Graduate Fashion Week winners. Visionary Knitwear Award recipient Ruth’s lasercut knitwear was christened ‘knit couture’ by Vogue while Maddie’s collection made using recycled materials and naturally dyed English wools earned her the Catwalk Textiles Award. Scotland is so good at woven textiles yet it is almost as though we pretend not to notice, largely leaving the appreciation of it to Parisian fashion houses and tourists. To capitalise on the new movement in Scottish design Local Heroes would love to see Scotland develop a national policy for design – get in touch if you have support to offer on this mission or simply wish to help find more opportunities to celebrate and promote design in Scotland and internationally. See our online version of this article for links to other remarkable textile designers including: Atelier E.B, Kate Davies, Eribe, Mixter Maxter, Angharad McClaren, Mini-McGhee, Collingwood Norris, Olive Pearson or Rosie Sugden. Next month join us for a winter column celebrating Scotland's most exciting jewellery designers and makers. @localheroesscot

Hilary Grant

Last Word

Photo: Elliot Hatherley

Green Thomas

Berlin’s U-bahn stations, the nuanced concrete and bronze curves of its architecture and the Bauhaus Archive itself. Argyll’s Heather Shields designs with both traditional and electronic looms. Her striking patterns and playful approach translate her fascination with the physical practice and endless possibilities for experimentation of weaving, through fibre, structure and colour. Her Puzzle cushions and Paperchain blankets are incredibly fresh, reinventing what seem like traditional motifs, but on closer inspection are completely new and contemporary patterns with tightly defined edges and visual impact. Just one, perfectly placed, would lift an entire room – an interior designer’s dream. Jennifer Kent’s new studio shop opens this month on Glasgow’s Dowanhill Street. The studio is particularly interested in the interface between traditional methods and modern textile design, and specialises in creating modern knitwear collections that thoughtfully reflect Kent’s minimal aesthetic and impeccable attention to detail. Her timeless knitwear designs for men are stocked in boutiques from Osaka to Zurich and a collection of her work was recently exhibited by The Lighthouse. Her reworking of the Sanquhar pattern – a traditional geometric style from Upper Nithsdale – helps this knitting practice gain international recognition and find new expressions.

Heather Shields