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ISSUE 54 • MARCH 2010 •
GOOD WIVES AND WARRIORS
LIARS DAEDELUS OF LIVE ART FUCK BUTTONS NATIONAL REVIEW
FRIGHTENED RABBIT
LONDON FASHION WEEK
WIN!
AN X BO AN iT X 360 OU & FE CH! HOM NCE EGA TICKE ME TS
MUSIC | FILM | CLUBS | THEATRE | DIGITAL | READING | COMEDY | ART | FASHION | LISTINGS
MYSTERY JETS BRITISH SEA POWER jeffrey lewis Joe Goddard (Hot Chip) DJ set friendly fires dj SET HOT CLUB DE PARIS WAVE PICTURES pulled apart by horses Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Greco-Roman Soundsystem FENECH SOLER JOHNNY FOREIGNER Midnight Lion panda su spectrals the darien venture MAZES IS TROPICAL Ambulances Bleech Kitty the LioN the boy who trapped the sun french wives make sparks Little Yellow Ukuleles The Kays Lavelle SILVER COLUMNS DJ LUCKYME PRESENTS BALLERS SOCIAL WITH GUESTS
COOLY G Marcus Nasty Eclair FiFi AND ART INSTALLATION BY LUCKYME ARTIST COLLECTIVE
a UNESCO Creative City
GLEN CAMPBELL PLUS SPECIAL GUEST
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JASON&THE SCORCHERS
RAY DAVIES AND HIS BAND
Thursday 6th May
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Lucy Wainwright Roche
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Mon 01 March Brel Glasgow Tues 02 March Voodoo Rooms Edinburgh
ROBYN HITCHCOCK
electric
THURS 8TH APR O2 ABC GLASGOW
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Mon 17th May 2010
Glasgow
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Edinburgh Queen’s Hall
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ANOTHER month, another wonderful Skinny for your enjoyment. As you can probably see from the cover, there’s so much exciting content in this issue we simply couldn’t fit it all on there. It is literally falling off the page. I know. It’s amazing. Music is particularly jam-packed this month. Aside from the predictably excellent cover feature – an interview with the problematically-named Fuck Buttons – we have cosy chats with The Knife, Dillinger Escape Plan, Autechre, Liars, as well as a lengthy rant from writer Ally Brown on why Damon Albarn is awesome, and a Dirty Dozen review of the month’s singles courtesy of Frightened Rabbit which made me laugh out loud. Yes, I LOLed. Our Fashion Editor has been braving the crowds at London Fashion Week, notebook in hand, sipping on 10am Kir Royales and fighting such luminaries as Nicola from Girls Aloud for a place on the front row (I am sad to say that Nicola won). All so she could come back and tell you, dear readers, exactly what you will be wearing in 6 months’ time. Elsewhere we have a guide to the NRLA which has left me remarkably eager to witness some experimental dance. I hope it has the same effect on you. Skinny favourites, Good Wives and Warriors return to Glasgow for a spot of painting, and much more besides. As with the cover, there is not enough space here to highlight all of our er… highlights. Just rest assured that reading this Skinny will give you the time of your life. rosamund@theskinny.co.uk
This Month's Cover Artist: Dominic Sum Flannigan, LuckyMe This month’s cover features an illustration provided by guest artist, Dominic Sum Flannigan, one of the founders of LuckyMe, the record label and artist collective that brought the new strain of hip hop and electronic music – epitomised by Hudson Mohawke and Rustie – to the world from its uncanny home in Glasgow. Dom Sum is a graduate of Glasgow School of Art and worked as a designer in the UK and US before returning home to start the LuckyMe label in July 2007. The past
by arrangement with Primary Talent International
Rufus Wainwright
Thursday 15 April Friday 16 April Glasgow Concert Hall Edinburgh Usher Hall 0131 228 1155 0871 220 0260 www.seetickets.com
ON A SUMMER’S NIGHT
SUNDAY 18 JULY
PRESENTATION IN ASSOCIATION WITH
EDINBURGH CASTLE 0871 220 0260 www.regularmusic.com
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0871 220 0260 Ticket Scotland: Argyle St Glasgow, Rose St Edinburgh & Ripping Records.
4 THE SKINNY MARCH 2010
few years have been busy, with Dom working on the Oddities Clothing streetwear label, performing his own music as one half of The Blessings and providing artwork for some increasingly high profile folk in the music and fashion industries. Music videos, sleeve designs, artist shirts, even pop-up stores and exhibition design – it seems they keep those LuckyMeers busy. As we know it can be hard making a career in the creative industries from Scotland, but somehow Dom and the other members seem to continue to rise in notoriety. In their own words: “The harder we work, the luckier we get.”
THE SKINNY March 2010 Issue 54, March 2010 © Radge Media Ltd. Let us know what you think: E: hello@theskinny.co.uk T: 0131 467 4630 P: The Skinny, The Drill Hall, 30-38 Dalmeny St, Edinburgh, EH6 8RG 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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A
THERE'S SO MUCH EXCITING CONTENT IN THIS ISSUE IT IS LITERALLY FALLING OFF THE PAGE
a Regular Music presentation in association with ITB
An Evening With
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Editorial
Printed by Mortons Print Limited, Horncastle ABC: 34,329
Publisher
Sophie Kyle
Editorial Acting Editor Online & Music Editor Clubs Editor Deviance Editor Theatre Editor Film Editor DVD Editor Comedy Editor Reading Editor Digital Editor Art & Showcase Editor Food & Drink Editor Heads Up Editor Competitions Editor Fashion Editor Listings/Cyberzap Editor
Rosamund West Dave Kerr Chris Duncan Nine Gareth K. Vile Gail Tolley Michael Gillespie Lizzie Cass-Maran Keir Hind Alex Cole Rosamund West Ruth Marsh Jenny Wallace Ray Philp Alexandra Fiddes Anna Docherty
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Sales/Accounts Enterprise Manager Advertising Sales Exec Accounts Administrator
Lara Moloney Jan Webster Erin McElhinney
Contents
DF CONCERTS PRESENTS…DF CONCERTS PRESENTS…DF CONCERTS PRESENTS…
COVER FEATURE
Fuck Buttons
Nobody does celestial electronica quite like Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power, understand? Hailing from the opposite worlds of techno and punk, they form like Voltron to become Fuck Buttons and make your life better.
6 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 28 29 30 32 48 52
»8
PLEASE NOTE: RESCHEDULED DATES - ORIGINAL TICKETS STILL VALID
EDINBURGH HMV PICTURE HOUSE
Heads Up
MONDAY 5TH APRIL
Feature: NRLA
TUESDAY 6TH APRIL
Your daily guide to guidness for the month of March.
Glasgow is the place to be for performance over the next 31 days – we’ve got the previews to prove it.
EDINBURGH HMV PICTURE HOUSE Tuesday 16th March
www.frank-turner.com www.myspace.com/frankturner NEW ALBUM ‘POETRY OF THE DEED’ out now on XTRA MILE / EPITAPH
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW
NEW ALBUM DUE FEBRUARY 2010 ON ROADRUNNER RECORDS
+ NICK HOWARD
GLASGOW GARAGE THURSDAY 18TH MARCH
Food and Drink
They’re trying to close Tchai Ovna and we’re just not having any of it.
PLEASE NOTE: CHANGE OF VENUE DUE TO PHENOMENAL DEMAND - ORIGINAL TICKETS STILL VALID
Fashion
More news from the frontlines, this time the Autumn/Winter collections at London Fashion Week.
Deviance
EDINBURGH HMV PICTURE HOUSE THURSDAY 22ND APRIL
It's Phoebe Henderson's last column. We are sad to see her go, we have enjoyed her experimentation so.
Showcase
Upcoming illustrator Nick Cocozza gives us a peek inside his portfolio.
Digital
An essential guide to the customs of the internet, featuring Pedobear. You heard.
+ LA SHARK PLEASE NOTE: CHANGE OF VENUE - ORIGINAL TICKETS STILL VALID
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW WEDNESDAY 17TH MARCH
02 ABC2 GLASGOW THU 11TH MARCH EDINBURGH CABARET VOLTAIRE FRI 12TH MARCH DUNDEE THE DOGHOUSE SAT 13TH MARCH ABERDEEN SNAFU SUN 14TH MARCH
Reading
Poetry in the key of Fife as StAnza hits St Andrews.
Film
Jessica Hausner talks miracles and faith in her new film Lourdes.
Theatre
All hail Peter Brook, as we welcome his return to the Tramway after more than a decade away.
Comedy
Richard Herring brings his well-travelled Hitler moustache to the Glasgow Comedy Festival.
Art
Good Wives and Warriors are back in Glasgow to paint some lucky bugger's windows.
O2 ABC GLASGOW FRIDAY 23RD APRIL
PLUS GUEST
ALEX GARDNER + PETE LAWRIE
Music
EDINBURGH CABARETLD VOLTAIRE OUT
EDINBURGH HMV PICTURE HOUSE MONDAY 3RD MAY
Clubs
GLASGOW CLASSIC GRAND
O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW TUESDAY 4TH MAY
It's a clash of the titans: Dillinger Escape Plan, Autechre, Liars, The Knife and Frightened Rabbit have a battle royal for precious column inches.
Alfred Darlington, aka Daedelus, is most likely to be found holidaying in Wales. We ask: what's wrong with Skegness, like?
Listings No completions of the February task (documentary evidence of attendance at all recommended events) means the prize rolls over.
O
FRIDAY S19TH MARCH
SATURDAY 20TH MARCH www.turinbrakes.com www.myspace.com/turinbrakes
New Single ‘This Ain’t a Love Song’ released 28th March. New Album ‘Everybody Wants to be on TV’ released 12th April www.scoutingforgirls.co.uk
New album outbursts released 1st March 2010
TICKETS 24HRS 08444 999 990 • www.ticketmaster.co.uk • www.gigsinscotland.com
IN PERSON GLASGOW Tickets Scotland, EDINBURGH Tickets Scotland, Ripping, DUNDEE Grouchos & all Ticketmaster Ticket Centres.
MARCH 2010
THE SKINNY 5
LIFESTYLE
HEADS YOUR
UP MONTH AHEAD Jenny Wallace
IS IT SPRING YET? Ah, March. The snowdrops are breaking through, and the promise of sunshine, festivals and getting some light about our pasty limbs inches ever closer. But hey, we live in Scotland. It’s still bloody freezing. So we’ve got another month of cosy indoor activities to keep you entertained. From the Glasgow Comedy Festival (for which we’re taking over Sloans for a month of rib cracking lunchtime shows) to Aye Write!, there’s tons of smashing stuff on to take you all the way to Easter egg time. Until then, get your chops around our top picks for your month ahead.
TUE, 2 MAR
Dundee Rep get their hands on Peter Schaffer’s fascinating play of teenage displacement and misadventures involving horses, EQUUS. Not an irritating wizard in sight...Until 20 Mar (not Suns). Dundee Rep Ensemble, Dundee, 7.30pm, £5-18
MON, 8 MAR
BLOOD RED SHOES consider themselves as a punk band – but only in ethos mind, not in style. Sounds confusing, but they’re really rather good. Electric Circus, Edinburgh, 8pm, £9
THU, 4 MAR
WED, 3 MAR Not satisfied resting on the
From demonstrations of technological genius to ponderings on surrealist Scotland, this month’s CRYPTIC NIGHT – WITH YANN SEZNEC AND RACHEL MACLEAN – is a heady mix of the intelligent and the downright bizarre. CCA, Glasgow, 8pm, £5 www.cca-glasgow.com
laurels of his impressive back catalogue, NORMAN sees dancer/choreographer Peter Trosztmer enter the films of Norman McLaren through the magic of projection. If theatre and cinema were to have a lovechild, this would be it. Unmissable. MacRoberts, Stirling, 8pm, until 5 Mar, £15/12
TUE, 9 MAR They’ve opened for
Radiohead, which is nice. And they’re selling out gigs all over the world, which (for them) is even nicer. Catch GRIZZLY BEAR at the Queens Hall and grab a bit of the zeitgeist for yourself. Queens Hall, Edinburgh, 7pm. £17.50 Photo: Tom Hines
SAT, 13 MAR
All You Need is Love, the Beatles said. Puccini confirms that sentiment with LA BOHÈME, showing that love really can exist in the depths of poverty. And this is your last chance to check it out as it leaves Glasgow today. Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 2.15pm, from £10 www.theatreroyalglasgow.com
SUN, 14 MAR
MON, 15 MAR
First Aberdeen, then Broadway. Not a classic adage, but true in the case of Olivier Award Winning theatrical comedy THE 39 STEPS, which stops by His Majesty’s Theatre in the Granite City until Sat 20 Mar. £10.50-22
Bringing you a more-amusingthan-usual way to spend your lunchtime, lookie lookie… it’s us! We’ll be parking our comedyloving arses at Sloans in Glasgow all month for the festival with our BIG LUNCHTIME COMEDY CHAT SHOW, bringing you tons of comedy greats to enjoy with your packed lunch. Check out www.glasgowcomedyfestival. com for more details. 1pm, £3
TUE, 16 MAR
Championed by Blur’s Alex James and fronted by New Order’s Bernard Sumner, BAD LIEUTENANT comes to Glasgow’s Garage. 7pm, £17.50
Scott Agnew SUN, 21 MAR
SAT, 20 MAR
PETER LIVERSIDGE is a strange chap. Find him every day in March crafting bizarre proposals in the Ingleby gallery – and then marvel as his ramblings turn into performances or exhibitions. Must be seen to be properly appreciated. The Ingleby Gallery, Edinburgh, 10am-5pm
Catch the last performance of A FUNNY VALENTINE, charting the life of pin-up jazz impresario Chet Baker at The Citz. Live piano and trumpet accompaniment is thrown in, ensuring that this sounds as impressive as it looks. Citizens’ Theatre, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £12. www.citz.co.uk
FRE E!
MON, 22 MAR The gig equivalent
of that Marks and Spencer advert with the chocolate pudding; TINDERSTICKS are musical indulgence – and don’t add an extra inch to your waist. Queens Hall, Edinburgh, 7pm, £18.50
Photo: Ella Mullins
FRI, 26 MAR
C he t!
PRESSURE returns with a sweetie shop of Friday night pleasures, including Jeff Mills, Dave Clarke, Gary Beck, Slam, Boom Monk Ben and lots more. The Arches, Glasgow, 11pm, £TBC, www.thearches.co.uk
6 THE SKINNY MARCH 2010
SAT, 27 MAR
From the 25 – 28 March, THE BLEND FESTIVAL – an annual celebration of roots music – offers a plethora of DJ nights, performances, late night events and much more. The Tolbooth, Stirling, times and prices vary. www. theblendfestival.co.uk
Je ff Mills
LIFESTYLE
FRI, 5 MAR
Two musical pioneers of sumo-proportioned talents feature at VOLUME! this month. Join EL-B & NEIL LANDSTRUMM for a night of dancefloor deviance. The Bongo Club, Edinburgh, 11pm, £8 www.myspace.com/ movolume
D
te ooth,
SUN, 7 MAR
SAT, 6 MAR With images of cartoon
EL-B!
style disaster dancing in your head, why not try out FIREWALK – an opportunity to amble across 20 feet of 1256 Fahrenheit wood embers, all in the name of the River Kid's Charity. Premier Inn, Livingston, Bathgate, 6.30pm. For a sponsorship pack text FIRE and your name to 07884 436 050.
WED, 10 MAR Following his near-fatal
brain haemorrhage in 2005, many thought EDWYN COLLINS would never perform again. Watch him prove everyone wrong as he hosts an open discussion and showcases a selection of his (Ivor Novello winning in 2009) music. Part of AYE WRITE! Mitchell Library, Glasgow, 7.30pm-9pm, £7/6, www.ayewrite.com
Who has the gall to claim they can identify Scotland’s finest poetic works? This year Andrew Greig will be launching BEST SCOTTISH POEMS, casting an eye over the most memborable offerings of our country-folk. Part of AYE WRITE! Mitchell Library, Glasgow, 6.30pm-7.30pm, SOLD OUT
Andre w Greig
THU, 11 MAR
An all-male cast – instructed by choreographers du jour Liam Steele and Robert Tannion – make up a high energy fiesta of dance and physical theatre in BABEL. Worth seeing for the testosterone overload alone. Until Fri 12 Mar. MacRoberts, Stirling, 8pm, £8/6
www.ayewrite.com
FRI, 12 MAR
Fresh Air presents a heady triumvirate of local acts. Tonight: THE SCHOOL, ALLO DARLIN’ AND DJANGO DJANGO followed by a club night with DJs and much cheer. Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh, 7pm, £5
Django Django
Still from Rachel Maclean's Tae Think Again
WED, 17 MAR
THU, 18 MAR
Instrumental rock quartet MONO fly in from Japan to drop no less than two glockenspiels on Òran Mór. On of them's called Yoda. Glasgow, 7pm, £12
TUE, 23 MAR
If Valentine's Day last month was a wash-out for you, NICK UNDERWOOD’S ONE NIGHT STAND promises ‘a night of romance like no other’. It won’t send you flowers, but it will do pretty much everything else. Part of Glasgow Comedy Festival. Tron Theatre, Glasgow, 7.45pm, £8.50/6.50
I Am Cninubg a27 Mar Scree
WHY? play their first Scottish date since receiving the ultimate accolade of a Skinny cover way back in March 08. In the words of our esteemed Music editor, "It shall be ACE". Stereo, Glasgow, 8pm, £12 www.stereocafebar.com
l
i SUN, WED,28 24MAR MAR&u nt MON, Following1aMAR total sell out tour last
payday 2010 by GILBERT now, so take your year, of RHOD comes to Glaspennies and enjoy a hearty knees up at gow address anger the lastto Saturday nighthis of the CELTICmanagement CONNECTIONS festival club. With problems. hope he and doesn’t run into surprise guests,Let’s tasty jam sessions late night shenanigans plenty, this Glasgow, is the any neds. Kings aTheatre, perfect way to round off a month most of us like to£16.50 forget. The Art School, 10.30pm 8pm, every Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the
SUN, 28 MAR
FRE E!
THU, 25 MAR
You should have hit the first joyous
If your weekend hasn’t produced as many freaks or contortionists (madam!) as you’d like, DR SKETCHY’S ANTI-ART CLASS is on hand. Grab a pad and have a scribble. The Arches, 2pm, £7/5
FRI, 19 MAR
With a mixture of disciplines on display, view the works of ten third-year drawing and painting students at Edinburgh College of Art at 20TEN. Tonight marks the opening with performances, music, drinks and (most importantly) art. Until 26 Mar. Art's Complex, Gallery 1, St Margaret’s House, London Rd, Edinburgh, 6pm
If you’ve ever fancied yourself as a Jay-Z in the making (and let’s face it, who hasn’t?) then why not check out TIGERSTYLE – a year long youth music programme (starting this month) at The Arches, focusing on contemporary urban music production? Booya. The Arches, Glasgow, 6pm-8pm every Thursday, info@ tigerstyleonline.co.uk
SUN, MON,28 29MAR MAR& MON, 1 MAR Recover from a hectic weekend
You should havebrew hit thefrom first joyous with a nice Glasgow’s
payday of 2010 by now, so take your finestand house teaknees TCHAI pennies enjoy aof hearty up at OVNA, the last Saturday night of the CELTIC whilst listening to Yaman, their very own CONNECTIONS festival club. With resident sitarist. Recharging. surprise guests, tasty jam sessions and Tchai late night Glasgow, shenanigans a8pm-10pm, plenty, this is the£2 Ovna, perfect way to round off a month most of us like to forget. The Art School, 10.30pm Photo: Tom Manley
MARCH 2010
THE SKINNY 7
Surfing with
Alien
the
Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power came from different worlds, but a shared love for experimentation brought them together as Fuck Buttons to m of planet Earth. Earth. The The duo duo check checkin inon onall allthings thingscosmic cosmicbefore beforethey theybe b Interview Darren Carle For anyone already familiar with the playfully abrasive sound of Fuck Buttons, it should come as little surprise to discover that the group’s two members, Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power, are as contrasting and exciting on paper as the nerve-shattering, soul-lifting music they create. Both men cut their musical teeth as hard-up art students in Bristol, but came from very different backgrounds. Power was heavily into punk, playing with various raucous guitar bands, whilst Hung pled allegiance to the techno scene. By chance their paths met when Hung needed music to score a short film he had made as part of his degree. “Everything crosses over somehow,” states Power enigmatically on how they managed to bridge the creative gap which initially divided them. “I think it’s about our sensibilities being compatible,” embellishes Hung. “We tend to enjoy similar things when they happen regardless of what aesthetic it takes the form of.” And with Hung’s video project a successful showcase of the duo’s shared passion for experimentation, it wasn’t long before these two disparate young men collaborated on a more regular basis. Playing live relentlessly as Fuck Buttons, they amassed a cult following which was quickly matched by critical acclaim for their debut album, 2008’s Street Horrrsing. A result of their increasing boredom with just creating abrasive noise music, Street Horrrsing introduced structure, rhythm and melody to create an album of interest to more than just hardcore noise obsessives. Using children’s toys as much as bleedingedge synthesizers, it was an austere work of disturbing beauty. Yet where they seemed to stretch their own template a little too far on Street Horrrsing, with the band appearing content under a self-imposed glass ceiling, its follow up – last October’s Tarot Sport – resolutely blew the roof off and injected Fuck Buttons with a shot of liquid nitrogen. “I guess Street Horrrsing became a document that we could refer to,” says Hung, looking back on their relatively grounded first effort. “We weren’t interested in repeating the same thing.” “The creative surge was the drive to evolve,” says Power on the huge leap between records. “I’m sure a lot of bands are happy to ‘get’ their sound and be very comfortable with it, but that’s not what interests us. We’re interested in evolving our sound and moving forward all the time.” That also applies to their individual music tastes as Hung attests. “Our sound has just progressed naturally as our tastes have become, I guess, refined and certainly different from what they were a year or two ago.” However, both remain tight-lipped on “reeling off” an arbitrary list of bands they are either listening to now, or even ten years ago. “Our main influence comes from the equipment we use,” claims Power. “We don’t step into the songwriting process with any idea of the finished form. We literally just play around with a bunch of equipment and experiment with what sounds we can extract from them.” However, even the tools of their trade hold no special place in Fuck Buttons’ heart. “In any song, the equipment that’s used is for the song itself. We don’t really have any attachment to it,” dismisses Hung. Clearly Fuck Buttons are not a sentimental band and listening to Tarot Sport should make this clear. So peerless and forward-thinking does it sound that you’d be forgiven for thinking it had fallen through a tear in the space-time continuum. Glittering melodies bounce around like lightbeams refracting off the rings of Saturn, whilst propulsive sine waves
8 THE SKINNY March 2010
So peerless and forward-thinking are Fuck Buttons that you’d be forgiven for thinking they'd fallen through a tear in the spacetime continuum.
bathe everything in a glow of sci-fi wonderment. And that’s just the first few minutes of opening track Surf Solar. “It is a big departure,” agrees Power. “But something that’s important to us both is the emotional attachment. It’s not purely technical music. We definitely aim towards something that is more enveloping.” With a good sound-system or a decent pair of headphones, Tarot Sport pushes past the boundaries of ‘enveloping’ and into areas closer to hypnogogic hallucination. “It’s never been on our agenda, but it is definitely something that we’re interested in,” replies Power when asked if the tribal rhythms and repetitious, seemingly infinite beats and melodies are a deliberate attempt to induce mass enlightenment. “We tend to jam it out for a very long time and the more you listen to something the more intricacies you can pick out of it. So it does have that hypnotic effect on us and hopefully it will with other people listening to it.” There is, however, a third party attributable to the new frontiers in which Fuck Buttons now gleefully play around, as Power puts it, “like a couple of kids”. Taking the place of their debut’s producer – Mogwai guitarist John Cummings – Andrew Weatherall was the Buttons’ man in the studio this time around, having expressed his interest through the well-established path of getting drunk with the band’s manager. A well-placed remix of early single Sweet Love for Planet Earth didn’t hurt either. “You could really tell that he had a thorough grasp on the music that we make and he even embellished sounds, just with the remix, that didn’t necessarily pop out much beforehand,” claims Power on the clincher for giving Weatherall the job. “It was three and a half weeks and really long hours,” says Hung of the actual recording. “It was a really intense, but very positive experience at the same time.” That Fuck Buttons have gone from avant-garde noiseniks to cosmic pop overlords in the space of eighteen months surely speaks volumes of Weatherall’s involvement. As for the title, Tarot Sport is another masterstroke in nomenclature, an area the band put a lot of thought into. Its combination of the mystical with the physical could fill a student essay. “I think it fits, although we never want to force any kind of narrative upon anything,” claims Power. “But I think the overall feeling that pairing of words conjures up really put a final stamp on the record.” And even the bastardisation of their own name, as F-Buttons, or F**k Buttons, doesn’t faze them. “I guess it’s just a way of people being polite, which is fine with us,” shrugs Hung. “We’re up for people being polite.” So, in the interests of good etiquette, our time with Fuck Buttons ends with a look towards what the future holds for a band with little time to put their feet back on the ground. “We’re people who like to be busy,” says Power. “We find it very hard to sit around whilst things just happen themselves and we love to make music together, so I dare say you will see a new album at some point soon.” Hung agrees and is unequivocal that their partnership has a lot of life left in it. “It’s an extremely fruitful relationship. The things that come out of Fuck Buttons, I don’t think either of us could imagine on our own,” he marvels. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” Fuck Buttons play the Arches, Glasgow on 24 Apr Tarot Sport is out now on ATP Records www.myspace.com/fuckbuttons
en
o make sweet sounds for the people ey beaminto intoThe TheArches Archesnext nextmonth. month y beam
Space Lord Muthas
Fuck Buttons continue a long line of experimental duos who have pushed electronic music into new territories over the years. Here we present a choice few to test your eardrums. Suicide
As far as combining abrasive industrial clatter with child-like lullabies, there are few who can hold a light to New York ‘synthpunk’ duo Suicide. Comprised of Alan Vega on vocals and Martin Rev on electronics, the popular consensus now is that they were that rarity; a band ahead of their time. Supporting slots with The Clash and Elvis Costello saw them bottled and booed, which was all latent ammunition for the irrepressible Vega. With the 2002 re-release of their seminal debut album, they even had the audacity to include an infamous, badlyreceived show from Brussels in 1978 that ended prematurely in a near-riot. Whilst more conventional punk bands talked the talk, there were few who embodied the movement’s spirit quite like Suicide.
Autechre
Within the field of what has been dubbed ‘intelligent dance music’, Autechre are another experimental duo who split opinion, with key-figure Tom Jenkinson, AKA Squarepusher, apparently not a fan. Members Rob Brown and Sean Booth don’t make things easy, their interviews labouring heavily with tech-jargon talk whilst track titles look more like the gibberish of a malfunctioning Hal 9000. But mere mortals need only concern themselves with the music, and from 1993’s brilliant, and accessible, Incanabula (which found a spiritual home in Darren Aronofsky’s debut movie Pi), through to the divisive LP5 and onto recent head-fuck Quaristice, they are never less than boundary pushing.
Matmos
WIN TICKETS to see fuck buttons live!
San Franciscan duo Matmos are perhaps best known for their collaborations with ice queen Björk. Martin Schmidt and Drew Daniel notably worked with the Icelandic one on her 2004 a cappella album Medulla, made entirely from reconstructed vocal samples. However, even before working with Miss Gudmundsdottir, the twosome had already out-bonkered the bonkers one with their 2001 album A Chance to Cut is a Chance to Cure. A relatively accessible and upbeat collection of seven glitch electro tracks belied the fact that they were made from the various snips and squelches recorded from surgical procedures, including plastic surgery and liposuction. Queasy listening indeed, and certainly not what the doctor ordered. [Darren Carle]
SEE page 63 for deteails.
March 2010
THE SKINNY 9
NEW TERRITORIES FESTIVAL TAKE A TRIP INTO DARK NEW PLEASURES
Incorporating the National Review of Live Art Art, Glasgow's New Territories Festival champions cross-platfrom art, bringing together the mavericks of dance, sp performers, New Territories occupies Glasgow for a month of drama, dreams and dialo
NEW TERRITORIES FESTIVAL An Introduction
ONE TO CATCH
ONE TO CATCH
VOCAL SONICS
CATHERINE DIVERRES
TRAMWAY, 9 MAR
TRAMWAY, 4 MAR
After the success of last year’s Vocal Sonics at the NRLA, 2010 sees the musical arm of Live Art break away to form its own Tramway event. Featuring Simon Thorne, the founder director of Wales Jazz Composers and Melanie Pappenheim and Rebecca Askew, it strays into musical theatre with a sharp intellectual edge. Thorne has been agitating music for years: Man Act wowed the golden days of Tramway with men in suits and visceral rock, and he is as likely to be composing serene piano music as he is opera inspired by Frank Zappa’s eclectic energy. Neanderthal, his latest offering, is inspired by the idea that early humans used song as a sort of map to their environment: relying on four unadorned male voices, it traces sound back to the very birth of human consciousness. Flam pairs Pappenheim and Askew for a duet that starts as a simple coffee meeting, but evolves into a competition between Askew’s jazz vocals and Pappenheim’s ethereal voice. With both women involved in genre-splicing music – Askew has performed with bass playing DJ Robin Whitnell, while Pappenheim has recorded Derek Jarman’s poetry and been recorded for Dr Who – this simple premise journeys through virtuosic display, sharp contradictions towards an object lesson in the possibilities of the human voice.
ONE TO CATCH
INTO THE NEW 10
THE ARCHES, 10 - 12 MAR Hiroaki Umeda
TUESDAY 2 - SATURDAY 13 MAR
When Nikki Millican, artistic director of New Territories, received an Honorary Doctorate from Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2009, it demonstrated how important her influence and New Territories had become to Glasgow’s students of performance. It is natural that the RSAMD’s Contemporary Performance Practice integrated its annual Into The New event into the programme, becoming a four day festival within the festival. Part showcase for students, part series of workshops and talks, it culminates with a symposium that asks how experimental performance can effect social and political change. It also features pieces from recent graduates Naomi Shoba and Peter McMaster, who have already revealed their ability to charm and shock. As Kate Stannard, a teacher on the CCP course and featured artist at the NRLA comments, “The CPP programme is dedicated to creating, reinventing and exploring new methodologies for creating performance work which respond to a variety of contested and socially engaged contexts, which to my mind is exactly the same as the context for live art.” The connection between New Territories and Into The New is obviously tight, and situates the work of local students into the broader international context of their provocative take on theatre.
TRAMWAY, CCA, THE ARCHES
INTO THE NEW
£9
WEDNESDAY 10 - FRIDAY 12 MAR
THE National Review is the grand finale of the New Territories Festival. Once a European dance festival, it has gradually evolved into an international celebration of performance that straddles several forms: this year, it includes experimental music (Vocal Sonics), puppetry from Fleur Elise Noble, a homage to Bauhaus artist Oscar Schlemmer and the RSAMD’s annual Into the New Festival, where the students of Contemporary Performance Practice bring out their ideas. New Territories is a restless festival, finding new work and new forms – yet the return of Catherine Diverres will be welcome for fans of contemporary dance’s outer limits. After several years using Tramway as a base, New Territories is spreading across Glasgow, with events at the CCA and The Arches and even the Apple Store. While the stand alone pieces have a clearer connection to traditional dance or theatre events, their content and style often reflect the same tumult as the NRLA or Into The New: urgent, energetic, and discovering new patterns and theatrical strategies. NEW TERRITORIES
WWW.NEWMOVES.CO.UK/ NEW-TERRITORIES
Photography: Michal Iwanowski
10 THE SKINNY MARCH 2010
THE ARCHES £9
This sharply contrasting double bill from one of France’s most lyrical radical choreographers is a return to the roots of New Territories and a striking example of Catherine Diverres’ range and eloquence. Inspired by Oskar Schlimmer, SAN is a piece for four dancers, echoing the decadance of the Weimar Republic in a visual treat. Evocative of Schlimmer’s simple curves and dazzling mazes, its daring lighting design and subtle set conspire towards a magical world, suspended between Surrealism and Expressionism. Stance 11 emerges from Diverres’ interest in butoh and recalls the atmospheres of early contemporary dance. In near darkness and silence, with only Pasolini’s poetry as soundtrack, the female soloist almost fades in the black, seeming to manifest a deep internal dialogue that gradually becomes defiant and sturdy. Although Diverres is an acclaimed choreographer, the use of stillness and memorable imagery link these dances to visual art, suggesting an installation with human bodies acting as the medium and subtly conjuring moods and emotions. [Gareth K Vile]
Fleur Elise Noble, CCA 5, 2 Mar
THE NATIONAL REVIEW THIS WAY FOR THE REVIEW OF A LIFETIME
nce, spoken word, music, theatre and conceptual art. Now featuring the RSAMD's Into The New, and promising its usual mixture of new talents and veteran d dialogue, frightening as it inspires and reminding the theatre world of its vast potential
THE NATIONAL REVIEW OF LIVE ART
ONE TO CATCH
IONA KEWNEY
THE ARCHES, 17 -21 MAR
An Introduction
EVEN on its thirtieth anniversary, The National Review of Live Art remains provocative. Not so much polarising opinion as creating a broad consensus of equal parts inspiration and frustration, it routinely encourages the debate about the nature of art, shocks through either explicit content or the disrespect for aesthetic convention, unearthing an annual crop of future heroes and villains. It is no accident that The NRLA emerged in the aftermath of punk. By the time that the music had devolved into imitative three chord
thrash with vague revolutionary sentiments, the DIY ethos, the disrespect for authority and dedication to self-expression had moved into performance, where artists sought a freedom from constraints and traditions. Owing something to conceptual art, a little to the theatre and the spirit of contemporary dance, Live Art fuses forms and genres to grapple with the increasing fragmentation of cultural identity. Even now, Live Art can shock. More importantly, it engages with feelings and experiences that are common but ignored by mainstream theatre. The emphasis on immediacy, on the presence of the artist and authenticity militates against traditional script or choreography. The NRLA is a place where anything can happen, and can succeed or fail. In giving voice to hidden emotions in a visceral manner, Live Art can be offensive or boring. Yet across the massive programme – some highlights have been picked out here, without doing justice to the scale of the event – the sheer diversity will cover everything from sexual desire through to meditations on that old question – what is art? NATIONAL REVIEW OF LIVE ART WEDNESDAY 17 SUNDAY 21 MAR THE ARCHES, TRAMWAY £15 PER DAY WWW.NEWMOVES. CO.UK/NATIONALREVIEW-OF-LIVE-ART
Francesca Steele, The Arches, 17-21 Mar
Audience reactions to Iona Kewney are always similarly varied. Some people cover their ears from Joe Quimby’s guitar loops. Others look sore offended at this gymnastic tour de force, asking where the technique has gone. A few are puzzled. Then some people realise that the immediacy of Kewney’s movement, the impossible contortions and moments of livid ecstasy are the fulfilment of contemporary dance’s promise to escape ballet’s restraint and to forge new art from the potential of the body and the depth of imagination. Within fifteen minutes, Kewney asks the big questions: how free can we be? What is choreography? Why has dance become so polite, and couldn’t we do with more work that crosses psychedelic distortion and physical presence? While it is possible simply to marvel at her prowess, the moments of elegance that slip between her feats are shining drops of revelatory grace.
ONE TO CATCH
LIZ AGGISS
THE ARCHES, 17 -21 MAR
Survival Tactics reviews Liz Aggiss’ career, celebrates her influences, from British music hall to Central Europe’s lost dances, offers a few tips to performers and fuses academic lecture, cabaret wit and a dry irony into a funny, feminist, ferocious hour. Frequently seen recreating the work of Mary Wigman or Martha Graham in surprising locations, in this solo show Aggiss throws together her past triumphs and critical maulings, salutes her inspirations and struggles with definitions for performances that resolutely deny classification. An unsentimental journey through Live Art’s evolution, Aggiss proves that she has the balls to go all out, then throws them at the audience. Unashamedly intelligent, yet executed with vaudeville humour, Survival Tactics is abrasive and charming, a college lecture that meanders into the personal, the political and the aesthetic, bursting into dance and questioning what it means to survive as an artist.
RICHARD DEDOMENICIʼS TOP TIPS
Veteran performer Richard Dedomenici reflects on his history with the NRLA, and shares his ones to watch
ON the opening night I’m launching my own National Review of Live Art documentation bank – called DeDomeNRLArchive, based on notebook entries, photographs and other ephemera amassed during my past nine years in attendance. I was lucky to be invited to the NRLA shortly after my first post-graduate performance, and I’ve habitually returned every year since; four times as a performer and four as a punter. In fact, I consider the NRLA to have had a similar effect on my career trajectory as the mysterious black obelisk in 2001: A Space Odyssey had on the evolution of the human race. I used to perform quite a bit on the spoken word circuit, supporting people like John Hegley. It was a bit like comedy, but without the jokes, which suited me fine, but I eventually recognised that it wasn’t the most efficient use of my skills. As an artist I’m regularly exposed to massive doses of visceral live performance. As such, I worry that I’m becoming increasingly desensitized to the power of art. Guillermo Gomez-Pena was the only work I saw in 2008 that elicited a genuine emotional response. So I definitely want to see him. Actually, just looking through the programme (something I tend normally not to do until after the NRLA is finished), I also want to check out Jamie McMurray – he has a healthy disregard for health & safety which always makes him excellent value for money. And you can’t go wrong with a little bit of Stelarc. Geraldine Pilgrim is brilliant too, as is Marcia Farquar. Also try and get in the front row for Ron Athey if you can, but don’t make the same mistake I did in 2006 and wear a new pair of white trainers. Christ, what a line-up. I’ll be lucky if I make it out alive.
MARCH 2010
THE SKINNY 11
Lifestyle
FoodPOSH NOSH AND CHEAP EATS
& Drink
Tchai For Now? As the threat of development hangs over Glasgow's beloved West End hodge-podge, a eulogy for Otago Lane.
The Skinny Whisky Guide By Ruth Marsh THIS MONTH:
Smokehead Islay Single malt
Where’s It From?
Text Duncan Reid Photo Tom Manley ‘Don’t it always seem to go That you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone They paved paradise and put up a parking lot’ Joni Mitchell, 1970 How apt. It is a song from my parents’ generation. The words have a resonance that I doubt even Joni Mitchell could ever have anticipated. I am fairly certain that this stems from the sad frequency with which this quotation is rolled out in light of the unnecessary destruction of something loved and cherished. Otago Lane and Tchai Ovna are in danger of becoming just this which I’ll come to in a moment, but a word of context first will undoubtedly help. I have only recently returned to Glasgow despite being born here. I spent my early years being push-chaired around Woodlands and Byers Road as my parents frequented many of the unique West End cafes and eateries. Seventeen years later I find myself doing the same. It is something of an urban adventure, discovering the one-off shops and cafes dotted around the West End. There is so much to celebrate in the dusty effervescence of this unique collection of treasures. It would be impossible to replicate them or recreate the ambience that has evolved. Organically. Otago Lane is one of the little gems of Glasgow’s West End, and what a glittering wee nugget it is. No Rennie McIntosh or Greek Thomson finery here. Just a collection of utilitarian, artisan outhouses built on a back lane. Splendid anachronisms that warrant preservation for that very reason alone. Are they disused or redundant? Absolutely not. Are they worth keeping? In my humble opinion it is a must. But don’t
12 THE SKINNY March 2010
take my word for it. Go and see for yourself. Tchai Ovna, house of tea, is the crowning piece of Otago Lane. The kooky cavern where one can sit in cosy, mismatching armchairs amidst a muddle of trinkets and antiques which adorn the walls and enjoy what can only be described as a hot cup of pure pleasure. It is the venue of choice for students and indeed the majority of people you will find here on any normal day are students. Yes us, the estranged entities whose pursuits include sleeping and supposedly attending lectures. But when on a break from these strenuous activities Tchai Ovna is a wholly tempting proposition, where you can sip as you chat with a selection of brews ranging from red African tea, to white Nepalese tea rarely found in the UK. Watch countless pots of various colour and shape being carried from the tiny kitchen adjoined to the lounge, containing everything from mild and floral green teas to strong and sinus-clearing spice master’s brews, to perhaps the most popular; a milky, spicy and sweet concoction called Yogi Yogi Chai. How far from Starbucks can you get? This is the opposite end of the spectrum. More akin to Kathmandu than Glasgow, replete with a patina created from steam and smoke. Although the smoking ban now prevents the hookah pipes on offer being used inside it is possible to imagine heavy, pungent and colourful clouds of smoke dancing around the ceiling at a time when both tea and tobacco were acceptable indoors. There are over 80 varieties of tea available , most of which will blow your socks off, and vegetarian foods which scream out home-made goodness; from Indian red dahl to Greek dolmades. Tchai Ovna has an indescribable ambience unlike anything else along Byers road and a genuine and undeniable quality to which it is impossible to attach a pecuniary value.
But money is exactly what it now comes down to. The land has a ‘development value’. Planning permission is being sought to build 160 flats overlooking the Kelvin jeopardising Tchai Ovna, the new plans released on the 9th of February. The development value is probably so much that lawyers and expensive consultants will happily argue the case for the developer. Anything to chase a fat fee. “The plans defy all logic”, explains Tchai Ovna’s owner Martin Fell. “We have a strong following in the community including over 5000 petition signatories.” The team at Tchai Ovna was forced to create an extra Facebook page because the first one over-loaded with members – 8000 of them. Doing some quick maths, that’s around 7,840 people more than would benefit from the flats. “We have support from the Labour, SNP and Liberal Democrat parties but the first proposal was refused because of public opinion and this is what we need now more than ever to attract the attention of the Glasgow city councillors.” We have a new planning act in Scotland that obliges consultation with the public, more so than ever before. So let the community be consulted and let it speak volubly about protecting Otago Lane. If the City Fathers wanted to, they could legally protect these buildings tomorrow and for that there’d be popularity and praise. What would be lost? A few generic flats. So what? I doubt anyone is under the impression that the flats will not simply be built elsewhere. Don’t hold your breath though. In the battle between the powers-that-be versus people, the presumptions all seem to be still in favour of development at Otago Lane. As Joni Mitchell said, we don’t know what we’ve got till its gone. Ready to pave over this small nirvana just yet? www.saveotagolane.co.uk www.tchaiovna.com
The Skinny’s Whisky Guide leaves the mainland for a visit to Islay, a windlashed mecca for those who crave an iodine hit with their malt. Smokehead is a brand new malt, aimed fairly and squarely at the ‘contemporary’ side of the whisky-buying public; they even have their own branded iPod and suggest using it to replace vodka in a mean ‘Smoked Mary’.
How Does It Taste? ‘A really vigorous whisky...not for the faint-hearted’ brags the brash, graffitied packaging and, boy, are they right. One sip knocked me for six – and in the nicest way possible. Here is a brawny, briny, unabashed medley of flavours clamouring for your attention. As befits an Islay malt, there’s seaweed, sea salt and a hefty cut of peat in there, but also the mellowness that comes with sugary toffee, grapefruit and tonguetingling spices, heavy with pepper and ginger. Smokehead warns that it’ll come at your tastebuds with all the bravado of a cannonball on a rollercoaster (or something). A perfect gift to arouse the palate of the whisky-fiend in your life.
Where Can I Get It? Smokehead 70cl £29.99 shop.glengoyne.com. Also at Peckhams, Royal Mile Whiskies and selected Sainsbury's. www.smokehead.co.uk
THEATRE ROYAL GLASGOW
HIS MAJESTY’S THEATRE, ABERDEEN
FESTIVAL THEATRE EDINBURGH
EDEN COURT, INVERNESS
27 Feb - 13 Mar 18 Apr - 24 Apr
29 Apr - 1 May 6 May - 8 May
scottishopera.org.uk Registered in Scotland Number SCO37531 Scottish Charity Number SCO19787 March 2010
THE SKINNY 13
FASHION
LONDON FASHION WEEK - FUTURE TRENDS LONDON Fashion Week opened the doors to its 26th year on a melancholy note, with a minute’s silence to commemorate Lee Alexander McQueen, the much loved designer. This was probably the only calm moment in the
event, which included over 100 designers taking part in catwalk shows, presentations and static exhibitions, held in various locations within, as well as dotted around Somerset House. It was a frantic race against time to see as much as possible. However, this year also saw LFW produce the world’s first digital schedule, created by The British Fashion Council, with designers live
streaming their catwalk shows. In the future of fashion will everyone have a front row seat at each show in the comfort of their own homes? The London Fashion Week collections appeared to fall into one of two camps; the sombre, hard edged and dustily romantic or the bright and vibrant ...
alexandra@theskinny.co.uk
Gothic Glory After queueing for hours in the rain, elbowing through fashion hungry hordes, dodging enthusiastic security guards, peering around silly over-sized hats with lady bits painted on them (really) we bring you the highlights of the womenswear shows at LFW Maria Francesca Pepe
Text Alexandra Fiddes Illustration Francesca Waddell FIRST on the dark side was Paul Costelloe, who opened the week with a collection that was full of Victorian Gothic undertones. A Victorian aristocrat gone bad, stalking down the runway in dark leather, lace and velvet, with hints of rose, gold and silver brocade shimmering. Bell-shaped skirts were a short updated version of the Victorian shape, this theme continued with leg o’mutton sleeves, and corset style tops. Military trench coats and skin tight leather arm guards and leg warmers gave a modern hard-edged contrast. Continuing this mean and moody theme, Italian born and London based designer Maria Francesca Pepe — whose collection was sponsored by The British Fashion Council's NewGen scheme, giving designer's a helping hand — was a definite standout. Her presentation Into The Woods held inside Somerset House, conjured up an enticing nightmarish fable, of werewolves and warrior maidens deep in the forest. The otherworldly models lounged against the silhouettes of bare black trees, and whether they were the prey, predator or something between, we weren’t sure. Again contrasts were abundant in the collection: light feminine fabric was patterned with claw marks, leather waders and heavy gold chains were paired with sheer trousers, and floor-skimming hemlines were offset by plunging v-necks. The palette of black and dark purple mixed with white and cream served as an emphasis to this. The mix of fabrics, velvet, fur, wool and silk was subtle but very effective. Jewellery has always been a large part of Maria Francesca Pepe’s work, and this season crosses in a variety of sizes featured heavily, on rings, around the neck and on slightly kinky-looking dog collars. Wolf teeth buckles also appeared in the collection. These talismanic embellishments are possibly part protection against the wolf, and part symbol of life, death and rebirth. Another favourite was Central Saint Martin’s graduate Bora Aksu, who describes his collection as ‘Marie Antoinette meets Edward Scissorhands’. Slight tulip-shaped bodycon dresses nipped tight at the waist appeared in pastel shades of peach, lilac, and blue, with spiderweb-like harnesses in metallic thread and chiffon ruffles overlaid, giving a beautifully enchanted but sinister feel. Shredded black leggings worn underneath were the final fairytale touch. Another collection straight out of a storybook was Topshop Unique. Models sported garments of rough sheepskin, thick knit and textured leather with animal headgear; antlers, fox and badger heads, the most disturbing aspect however were the monobrows. Mixing fabrics and textures are a must, but which way should we go? Clashing colour crazy, or soft goth? We say get out of the cities and head into the woods...
14 THE SKINNY MARCH 2010
Bora Aksu
Maria Francesca Pepe Paul Costello
•Clothes swapping at the Voodoo Rooms •Edinburgh Charity Fashion Show •Glasgow School of Art Undergraduate Fashion Show
www.theskinny.co.uk
The Future’s Orange, and Pink, and Green, and Red... Young Scots took London Fashion by storm, as Louise Gray and Holly Fulton's A/W 2010 collections brought a riot of colours and textures to the catwalk
Text Laura Sutherland
Maria Francesca Pepe
Maria Francesca Pepe
Maria Francesca Pepe
MAINTAINING the reputation of Scotland as a breeding ground of design talent, Louise Gray and Holly Fulton are both part of the NewGen scheme, giving young designers a helping hand. They showed the po-faced international fashion elite how to inject colour and charm into their wardrobes, with their sponsored presentations taking place on Saturday, in one of the intimate Portico Rooms at Somerset House, the hub of all Fashion Week activity. Louise’s playful presentation Quilt Me Change Me was an early highlight, showcasing her tactile pieces with both chirpy, dancing models and a static format that allowed you to pose behind the clothes – think fairground cut-outs. It was the perfect atmosphere for her designs, which were influenced by “the collages of Peter Clarke, the textiles of Shirley Craven, Mbuti tribal art and the Danceteria scene from 80s New York.” This delightful party atmosphere however took second billing to the real star of her showcase: the materials. Burnout pattern, neon faux fur and quilting all collided in a chaos of colour. The devore technique is traditionally employed with velvet, but Louise uses other layered fabrics from different colour pallettes to create a wonderfully textured surface. Patterns and shapes were clashed, to create a subtle spectrum of extremely wearable silhouettes that took in masculine shorts and lovely draped feminine confections such as the positively dreamy burn print pink dress. Meanwhile, the needs of the impact dresser were catered for with a patchwork quilted wrap coat and a selection of deep-dyed sheepskin coats. Despite the misleading title It’s Only Black And White But I Like It, monochrome was only the foundation of Holly Fulton’s beautifully confident collection, which was bold in texture, pattern and colour. A zinging tangerine dress with the emblem of a telephone receiver is the stand out piece of the collection. Speaking about the origin of the quirky graphic, Holly says “I’ve been looking at this French glass artist called Louis Barillet and I just came across this insane image of this telephone he made. The phone motif is bordering on bad taste, but it’s nice to not be too serious!” The most prominent development is her embracement of textures and materials, with the inclusion of fur, suede, velvet and wool. Speaking to Holly backstage, it is clear that this experimentation is invigorating for her. “I really like artificial surfaces. Texture quality really appeals to me, because my work is all about using unusual materials.” The concise show demonstrated that whilst her early Art Deco and Pop Art influences remain, she has a voracious eye for new stimulus. Listing muses as diverse as Dr. Zhivago, Glamazon prints and the 1980s French Cinema de Look movement in the same breath, she only lends a small insight into the effervescent world of her clothes. Design houses also flying the brightly coloured flag included Basso&Brooke with eye popping contrasting digital prints, and both Charles Anastase Osman Yousefzada using colour blocking. This autumn is looking bright.
Holly Fulton
MARCH 2010
THE SKINNY 15
FASHION
There's plenty more fashion online. Visit our site to read about
Lifestyle
DEVIANCE
SEX, TRUTH AND POLITICS
Farewell Phoebe Hot in a Gay Way In her final column our resident sex columnist Phoebe Henderson takes the plunge and does a nude photo shoot.
Illustration Alasdair Boyce I’m a girl who generally avoids having her picture taken. Ever since a class photograph when I was nine years old led a friend’s brother to point at me and ask “who’s that ugly boy in the middle?”, I tend to shy away from the camera. That sort of thing is a lot for a nine-year-old to take in. There does, however, come a time when you have to make peace with the way you look, and accept the fact that Angelina Jolie’s features will never jump off her face and land on yours. I’m glad to say that I have changed dramatically since primary school – but essentially am still the same wonkyfaced girl who occasionally feels like that ugly boy in the middle. If it wasn’t for the fact I scrub up rather well, this might bother me more than it should. I’d been chatting to the photographer for a while online and was pleased when he agreed to do these photos for me. Mainly because I knew he was a professional, reputable photographer and I wasn’t going to be faced with some guy with a disposable camera and a crazy look in his one functioning eye. Preparation was simple: remove every strand of hair (from the neck down, obviously), empty contents of underwear drawer (removing grey pants) into suitcase, make grumpy face at wobbly stomach in the mirror, and, to avoid fainting, keep repeating to yourself “It’s only a photograph ... it’s only a photograph ...” Even as I knocked on the hotel room door, the words “Ohforfuck’ssake I can’t do this” repeated over and over. But as I stepped inside and we began chatting I immediately felt at ease and the voices changed to “You’re here now, just do it and stop whining”. The few shots were uncomfortable, mainly because I didn’t have a fucking clue what I was doing, which probably showed on my face, but it did get much easier and actually started to become quite fun. I can’t say that I ever
16 THE SKINNY March 2010
There comes a time when you have to accept the fact that Angelina Jolie's features will never jump off her face and land on yours felt sexy or erotic during the shoot, and there’s nothing quite like hearing “Can you push up your left boob so it’s level with the other one” to instantly bring you crashing back down to earth and make you feel like Les Dawson in a drag sketch. I had remained partially clothed throughout, and as we got near the end I decided to take it all off and subject the poor man to my pale body, hoping that he’d airbrush my stretch marks/stomach/arse to within an inch of their lives afterwards. So we finished up, had a drink and that was that. I then spent the rest of the day feeling very proud of myself, wondering if I’d made the right decision going totally nude, and then eventually blaming Gok Wan. Not just for this. I’ve been able to see some of the pictures and although I’m not perfect in them and I haven’t become magically thinner or less wonky, I’m thrilled with the outcome. The ugly boy has turned into a rather hot woman; with uneven boobs it seems, but hot nonetheless. phoebehenderson.blogspot.com
What boys like about girls is very different from what girls like about girls. Right? Text Kirsty Logan There is some overlap between queer and straight taste, obviously; most people like clear skin, a healthy figure, and a nice smile. Everyone’s taste is different, and no woman is ‘every lesbian’s dream’ or ‘every straight man’s dream’. But an attractive queer girl is not the same as an attractive straight girl. The average 30-year-old British woman spends £253 every month on fake tan, fake hair, fake nails, fake smells, fake breasts, and other ‘beauty’ treatments (By the way, that adds up to £180,000 in a lifetime – you could buy a yacht!). This dyke says that these things do not make you beautiful. Glamour girls like Jordan and Jodie Marsh spend a fortune on their appearances, and while I’m sure they’re both lovely ladies, the thought of kissing them makes me vomit into my mouth a bit. The taste of that greasy lipstick, the crunchy feel of hair extensions, the knowledge that those nice soft breasts are just bags of salt water – sorry, had to run to the bathroom there. Some of this is just personal taste: I like curvy girls with short blonde hair and glasses. But I don’t think I’m the only dyke with an aversion to fakeness. The previous winners of Miss Gay UK have cropped hair, B-cups, and shiny cheeks. They win their sashes wearing t-shirts, jeans and trilbys. They’re all very cute, but none would appear on the cover of FHM or Maxim in frilly undies and a vacant stare. Yet they’ve been voted as the most attractive gay women in Britain. Tegan and Sara, twentysomething twins from Canada, are the darlings of the lesbian music scene. Every queer girl I know has a crush on one or both of them – they are identical, after all. With their asymmetric haircuts and make-up-free faces, they are most definitely hot in a gay way. But would heterosexual men find them attractive? Spend ten minutes in your local gay club (any longer and the Mariah Carey dance remixes will drive you to madness): you’ll notice a distinct absence of females in high heels and low-cut dresses tottering to the toilets every few minutes to reapply their lipstick. That’s not to say that we dykes don’t make an effort: the precise sweep of that choppy hairstyle over the left eye took hours, and those skinny jeans don’t sit too low on our hips all by themselves. The days of dungarees and hairy armpits are long gone; it takes work to be a queer hottie. What I’m trying to say is that many lesbians try to look
None of the winners of Miss Gay UK would appear on the cover of FHM or Maxim in frilly undies and a vacant stare like a slightly different version of themselves, rather than a painted and teetering doll. I hope you hetero ladies are paying attention to the next bit, because it’s got blokes in it. In researching this column I asked a few of the men in my life – my brother, my friend’s boyfriend, the chef at work – what they thought about fake beauty. Some didn’t care either way; if a girl was attractive and interesting, it didn’t matter which of her body parts were real. But when I dug deeper, I discovered that guys just don’t get the fake look. I spent fifteen minutes listening to complaints ranging from “Lipstick tastes bogging” to “I hate when girls complain that they can’t walk properly in their shoes” to “What’s the point of fake eyelashes anyway?” These men can’t speak for all of mankind, but I can’t interview all of mankind so they’ll just have to do. And mankind says: we don’t care. Men want you to be interesting, funny, smart, and look like you’ve had a wash fairly recently. It also helps if you can manage to laugh at a few of their jokes, however awful. Maybe it would be better to take some of that £253 you spend on beauty products every month, and put it towards a yacht instead. Just an idea. www.kirstylogan.com
Nine
Gnawing void I’m writing this with my customary hangover, after a successful night at Cachín Cachán Cachunga. I was reading from The Collected Scathings of Ioana Poprowka, a zine I recently put together of articles on transgender issues by a pseudonymous former Skinny contributor. She’s not really that scathing – I just liked the ring of the title. She’s actually very nice about people, even when she criticises them. (If you’re in the market for scathing, may I suggest my own new zine, Sex Industry
Apologist. It’s about sex work, feminism and the media, and involves lots of ranting and swearing. Both zines are available from jinxremoving.org.) As for what’s new at The Skinny, Kirsty Logan’s piece a couple of months back, on the process of continually coming out to people, rang true with many readers. This month our online content includes an article by comedy editor Lizzie Cass-Maran on her own experiences of this, particularly the split-second judgement calls that have to be made on a
daily basis. Do you risk it if your colleague or the woman in the shop or the bloke you’ve just been introduced to at a party is older, religious, from a different culture? On one hand, factors like these may be worth considering; on the other, they’re based on stereotypes and they highlight our own prejudices. It’s an uncomfortable state of affairs: we need to examine our own bigotry even when we’re actively trying to avoid other people’s. Check it out at theskinny.co.uk.
MARCH 2010
THE SKINNY 17
Lifestyle
SHOWCASE
THIS MONTH: Nick Cocozza
Nick Cocozza is currently in his final year of Illustration at Duncan of Jordanstone in Dundee. A regular contributor to The Skinny, he recently won an award from the German Embassy for his pop-up book Hansel and Gretel, and has been picked by illustration talent spotters Just Us as the one to watch in Scotland. Nick says: "My work is mainly inspired by my surroundings. I draw my inspiration from people, music, conversations, textures and memories that are embedded into my own urban environment. My work is a humorous visual representation of my own personality and I try to keep it light-hearted and amusing. " nickcocozza.blogspot.com
18 THE SKINNY March 2010
Lifestyle
March 2010
THE SKINNY 19
DIGITAL
UPLOAD
Internet Field Manual KnowYourMeme.com: aware of all Internet traditions
Text Alex Cole INTERNET jokes are like tree rings – you can date pretty much anyone by what YouTube videos they saw when, or how long it took them to get BadgerBadgerBadger out of their heads. Some grew up with Dramatic Chipmunk, others are still trying to figure out why ninjas and pirates hate each other. Much like puberty before the internet, however, for a long time there was no reliable resource to learn what everyone was talking about. You didn’t want
to ask to avoid feeling like a prat, but playing along just kept you in the dark longer. For internet memes, those viral videos, animations and forum postings, searching only brought up the incidences, not the whole story. And that’s where my new favourite site, knowyourmeme.com, comes into play. The Internet Meme Database makes, collects and collates practically any meme, from LoLcats on through David After Dentist, and gives you the entire breakdown of how they started, common deviations, and their popularity on
the internet over time. Some even get videos that look straight out of chemistry class, taken only slightly tongue-in-cheek. Essentially the site documents the parts of the internet where so many of these memes are born (infamous forums like 4chan), but where many people never go online. The turnaround can sometimes be head-spinning: it took only a few hours before Kanye’s impromptu VMA speech was turned into a persistent forum gag, a website, and edited into videos of just about anyone giving a speech. Tshirts still available.
Trend watching sites aren’t new in and of themselves, but when the trends don’t come from glossy mags or TV shows, and come at the dizzying pace of so many monkeys at so many keyboards, sites like this become like a tour guide to the local customs and cultural quirks of the internet. Not that it will help you land a job, but never underestimate that value of knowing that Longcat is, actually, loooooooooooooooong. KNOWYOURMEME.COM
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iPad, iSaw, iBlogged With Apple's entry into the tablet market, things are about to get a bit Star Trek Text Alex Cole IT’S called the Reality Distortion Field. It’s scientifically documented that, when worked up into a lather, herded into a posh convention centre and subsequently bathed in the presence of High Priest Steve Jobs himself, no matter what he says, it sounds like nothing short of the Second Coming. The irony of pulling out a tablet and holding it aloft to the assembled masses ain’t lost on anyone. After all the iPad name jokes have died down (OK, one more – iPad is perfect for those heavy data flow days), and the ecstatic joy and scepticism have all died down, the harsh facts are that the iPad just doesn’t have the oomph that the iPhone and shiny aluminium MacBook Pro do. Even the MacBook Air, an exercise in beautiful impracticality, gave a good kick to the gut. But this? Honestly, the OS alone looked like they threw it together the night before. Fact is, though, that the iPad’s very existence, seated at the top of a pile of other slate-style tablets and e-readers who’ve had middling success at best, signals that maybe this new category of device
could get some traction after all. Where the iPhone obliterates cheap mobiles and the laptop negates the need for a hefty tower, the tablet isn’t meant to replace an existing gadget: it’s meant to replace your newspaper, your books, and your notepad. In short, everything else. They all have problems, of course. This is maybe the third generation of tablets, at best, and there is no current benchmark. E-ink readers can’t do video or color, the iPad can’t multitask and can be straining to read, and there are plenty of knockoffs on the way that probably won’t do anything especially well. None of that really matters, though. Every time we see a spaceship on telly and get a look at how the crew read, write, watch a video or talk to each other, they’re using one of these tablet things. Forget jetpacks. The future is here (or on Amazon. co.uk, anyway).
THE IRONY OF PULLING OUT A TABLET AND HOLDING IT ALOFT TO THE ASSEMBLED MASSES AIN’T LOST ON ANYONE.
THE FEED BITE-SIZED TECH NUGGETS WITH ALEX COLE LARGE HADRON COLLIDER MAKING INSANE COLLISIONS, CAN'T GET TO GO BACK IN TIME - FLASH MAY ARRIVE ON SMARTPHONES THIS YEAR, EXCEPT FOR ANYTHING WITH A FRUIT ON THE BACK - SPOKEN LANGUAGE TRANSLATOR MAY BE COMING TO PHONES, NO NEED TO STICK THEM IN YOUR EAR - CHINA SHUTS DOWN HACKING WEBSITE, FEELS NO TRACE OF HYPOCRISY - GOOGLE PHONE GETS OFF TO ROCKY START, SAYS THINGS WENT BETTER IN REHEARSAL - LEEDS UNI REPORTS INTERNET ADDICTS ARE MORE DEPRESSED THAN THOSE WITH LIVES
20 THE SKINNY MARCH 2010
Are Friends Electric?
creative potential of the World Wide Web. The bulk of projects supported were artist’s websites, but in 2008 we decided it was time to shift the goalposts ourselves and encourage deeper thinking about what the web of things might be and what new ways of dynamic audience engagement might lie beyond the traditional screen. The surgeries help to tease these ideas out. Collectively we help Scottish digital culture continue its move forward. Alt-w is not about commerce or social benefit, it’s about supporting different kinds of creative economies that are equally impactful and relevant. With this in mind, and a continuing desire to support and retain our rising stars, we’re curating a new show, Are Friends Electric? with students from the Design & Digital Media course from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Art, Culture & Environment. If you’re passing by, look out for the man wearing the pixelated hat of a digital maven, that’ll be me. As it’s our first studio show, it’s too soon to say what the results may be, but expect the best.
New Media Scotland's Director Mark Daniels on the future of Scottish digital culture Illustration Parko Polo THE trouble with (or joy of) curating new media is that somebody somewhere moves the goalposts one way or another almost everyday. New media becomes old media in the blink of an eye. The fickle finger of fate just loves to decide which technologies and which platforms are to survive the cut and thrust of digital practice and use. At New Media Scotland we find that we have to strike a balance between the needs of the masses and the desires of the individual. It helps if we stay ahead of the game, be there right from the start with the killer apps that creators and consumers grasp hold of and run with. We do this by distributing funding for new ideas from artists and technologists via the Alt-w fund we manage on behalf of Scottish Screen and the Scottish Arts Council. We’re right in the thick of application surgeries right now, and by the time you read this we’ll have announced who the next batch of lucky recipients are. It’s always good to meet faces, old and new, and hear their ideas. Alt-w was set up in 2000 in recognition of the
IT HELPS IF WE STAY AHEAD OF THE GAME, BE THERE RIGHT FROM THE START WITH THE KILLER APPS THAT CREATORS AND CONSUMERS GRASP HOLD OF AND RUN WITH
Photo: Ruairi Glynn
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Saturday 13 March–Sunday 23 Mvay Visit www.dca.org.uk for details on related talks,
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workshops and cinema screenings Image courtesy of Sorcha Dallas, Glasgow
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Exhibition open: Tue–Sat 10.30am–5.30pm, Sun 12 noon–5.30pm. Open late Thu until 8.30pm. Admission free
Dundee Contemporary Arts is supported by
MARCH 2010
THE SKINNY 21
DIGITAL
NEW MEDIA SCOTLAND
READING
The StAnza Extravaganza Scotland's biggest and best Poetry Festival is back, so if you're after a verse, you're on the right track. Since this rhyming subheading is exceedingly arch, we'll get down to the details of Stanza, this March Text Johnny Chess Photo Jemimah Kuhfeld ST Andrews is small, which means that it’s useful to have handy if you want to fill a town up to the brim with poetry for five days in March. Funnily enough, that’s exactly what will happen from Wednesday 15 to Sunday 21 March, as the annual StAnza festival returns to town. Plenty of poets from present and past are presented in its programme, from the first day to the last (Hey, this poetry thing is contagious). There are some big names attending this year, and none bigger than Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney, who will feature at no less than three events. The biggest of these is titled An Evening With Seamus Heaney running from 8pm to 10pm on 18 March, and offers a chance to spend 2 hours in the poet’s company. Earlier in the day there will be an intimate table reading with a very limited ticket allocation – book now, and that means literally now, if you want to go. Heaney will round off his StAnza appearances with a slot in discussion with another Irish poet, Dennis O’Driscoll, on the 19th at the Byre Theatre. Another big name is dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, appearing with spoken word poet John Akpata. This event has to be looked upon as being at the cutting edge of spoken word poetry, with poetic craftsmanship and recitative talent being used, importantly, to tackle issues rather than for their own sakes. Akpata will also be appearing in a discussion with Gerry Loose, Rob A. Mackenzie and Alistair Noon on the 21st, entitled Poetry Beyond the Page, an intriguing sounding event covering the ways in which poetry is evolving both in performance and on the internet. Back to big names though – Booker Prize winner Ben Okri is as accomplished a poet as he is a novelist, and he’ll be discussing his work on the 20th of March. StAnza doesn’t just put poets on the stage though. There are free exhibitions running throughout the festival for anyone wanting to browse relaxedly through St Andrews. There will be pieces on Ivor
Cutler and Edwin Morgan, a Poetry Cinema exhibit showcasing various poetry on film, a visit from The Itinerant Poetry Librarian who promises to showcase lost and forgotten poetry, and The Byre Theatre will even be hosting the winners of StAnza’s Children’s Poetry Competition in its foyer, amongst many other pieces. Other events worth mentioning include intimate round table readings with Scotland’s own word wizard Douglas Dunn, Irishmen Matthew Sweeney and Dennis O’Driscoll, Glaswegian master poet Frank Kuppner, young upstart (she was the youngest ever winner of the T.S. Eliot poetry prize) Jen Hadfield and the exceptionally accomplished Don Paterson. As always with these events, book early or tickets will be gone. One recurring event that’s always a possible highlight is late on the first day, when the Inklights, St Andrews University’s creative writing group, will be showing off, with readings and performance pieces – almost always a very memorable evening. This will be the twelfth year that StAnza has run, and the festival goes from strength to strength. The events mentioned above are just some highlights of a varied programme where the only constant is the quality of the poets and performers featured. Poetry is often a neglected artform, often because people have bad memories of poring over the stuff for school exams, analysing it to death. What StAnza proves is that poetry is so much more than that, and if you’ve read this far into this piece, you owe it to yourself to check out this festival and prove to yourself that poetry is as vibrant and fascinating an artform as the novel, or perhaps more pertinently, as music. If you have any interest in getting into poetry this month, get yourself up to St Andrews. THE STANZA FESTIVAL RUNS FROM 17-21 MARCH IN ST ANDREWS Seeing Things: Seamus Heaney
MORE DETAILS AT STANZAPOETRY.ORG
REVIEWS PRIDE AND PROMISCUITY: THE LOST SEX SCENES OF JANE AUSTEN
NEVER AFTER BY DAN ELCONIN
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BY ARIELLE ECKSTUT
rrr It seems a a cruel sport to subject England’s celebrated lady of letters to such bawdy parody. The fashion of modern times for speaking of matters better left to discretion sadly lights upon the private lives of her elegantly crafted heroes, heroines and villains, bringing to light their sordid imaginings in an irreverent pastiche of Jane Austen’s austere prose. For those enamoured of Fanny Price, there is enchantment in the reimagining of the notorious play from Mansfield Park, yet surely this greatest of all love letters to temperance and patience garnered a more intense erotic charm from its restraint and tact. Quite what Elizabeth and Darcy consider of their own coupling is mysterious, and the sly Mr Churchill from Emma puts his riddling vanity to quite contrary ends. The abundance of Greek love, riding crop and sensual hieroglyphics may excite the lower sort of reader, yet must the august Austin be subjected to indignity? By aping her majestic language, Eckstut strips Jane as naked as the characters in their passionate embraces. As a further example of a vaudeville aesthetic entering our common tastes, the stripping of this literary giant is perhaps better left to the burlesque acts of the former colonies. [Gareth K Vile]
Since his first appearance back in 1902, many people (including Steven Spielberg) have attempted to produce a follow-up to J. M. Barrie’s iconic fairy tales about Peter Pan, the boy who never grew up – the most recent being the officially sanctioned sequel Peter Pan In Scarlet by Geraldine McCaughrean (2006). Whereas that novel beautifully understood and refined both the darkness and child-like innocence of the original – a reality where you can genuinely become someone else simply by putting on their clothes – Dan Elconin’s Never After is a disaffected teenage take on the tale, where Peter is the bad guy, kidnapping alienated teenagers, bringing them to the dream-like island and turning them into zombie ‘lost boys and girls’. Much of the drama in the novel comes from bad-guy Peter also being the main characters’ only return ticket back to reality. Yet, while the plot has all the obligatory twists, turns and set-action sequences, the novel’s first person narrative dampens much of the tension, particularly during several ‘tell not show’ passages. The result is a so-so tale, adequately told, but with enough penis jokes to ensure this isn’t the grown up sequel it wants to be. [Paul F Cockburn]
RELEASE DATE: 4 MAR. PUBLISHED BY CANONGATE. COVER PRICE £6.99
OUT NOW. PUBLISHED BY SIMON PULSE. COVER PRICE £6.25
22 THE SKINNY MARCH 2010
BOTH WAYS IS THE ONLY WAY I WANT IT
TAKING THE MEDICINE
BY MAILE MELOY
BY DRUIN BURCH
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Never mind that Maile Meloy’s last novel was on the Orange shortlist, or that Richard and Judy liked it, whichever way that nugget of information might bias you. Both Ways Is The Only Way I Want It is a collection of eleven short stories that is told with detachment and compassion enough to only make their observations sharper. Each story is brilliantly self-contained, never leaving the reader unsatisfied, and the collection as a whole feels like the very best kind of mixtape. It will be interesting to see what a UK audience makes of this collection; its authentic slices of everyday life are not quite as accessible on this side of the pond, seeming particularly disjointed in the first story of a ranch hand in Montana and a nine hour drive across the state. However, Meloy’s main theme of why human beings might knowingly act against their own interests should be familiar to all. What stands out on each page is the tension of two opposing forces held in the same place at the same time; and the unmistakable presence of an author with the skill, wisdom and good sense to stand out of the way of her own stories. [Kayleigh Bohan]
Taking The Medicine sets out to demonstrate how ‘doctors, for most of human history, have killed their patients far more often than they have saved them’. That Druin Burch is an NHS doctor makes this prognosis all the more startling. Sharply written, Burch’s work is a witty but robust account of the painfully slow evolution of medicine, from Sumerian civilisation to the modern day. It is never, though, a dry history or scientific treatise; the narrative fizzes along, enhanced by anecdotal asides. In different parts of the book, one can learn of the First World War that five million soldiers died of infections, and British people stopped buying aspirins because of their German heritage. At the centre of medicine’s ill health, writes Burch, has been the ‘God complex’, first identified by Scottish doctor Archie Cochrane, a rare paragon of virtue in the book. Instilled with the power to bring about life or death, doctors have often acted upon an innate, unquestioning self-belief that their actions will inevitably help patients. Untried theories have been recklessly applied; doctors are human, with all the egotism and flaws therein. Gripping, unless you happen to be reading it in the queue for casualty. [Daniel Gray]
RELEASE DATE: 4 MAR. PUBLISHED BY CANONGATE. COVER PRICE £7.99 PAPERBACK
OUT NOW. PUBLISHED BY VINTAGE COVER PRICE £9.99 PAPERBACK
READING
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www.rawmusic.info 4th March RODDY HART supported by My Fathers Name 11th March TOMMY REILLY supported by Lost City Lights [SOLD OUT] 18th March KITTY THE LION supported by We Break Mirrors 25th March THE GILLYFLOWERS supported by Jamie Marshall 1st April ABERFELDY supported by Andrea Marini sponsored by
THE GOAT 1287 Argyle Street, Glasgow, G3 8TL www.thegoat.co.uk
w Music Ra
Tickets available from www.ticketweb.co.uk or: 08444 771 00
MARCH 2010
THE SKINNY 23
Film
An Act of Faith
Jessica Hausner talks about her perceptive new film Lourdes which explores faith, longing and the strange phenomenon of miracles
Interview Gail Tolley Lourdes opens with a shot of an empty dining hall. Gradually people come into the room and take their places; many are in wheelchairs and others, the volunteers and helpers, are in uniform. This group has come together in the French town of Lourdes where even today, in a world where scepticism and the logic of science reigns, thousands of people go in the hope of experiencing a miracle. It is this intense longing that sits at the heart of Austrian director Jessica Hausner’s extraordinary new film. As she explains: “Right from the beginning I was really looking for the metaphor. What does it mean to experience a miracle?
What is the miracle standing for, not that I wanted to explore this strange phenomenon but I was interested in why people hope for a miracle and what it means for them? I had the impression that it is something childish, a bit like a fairytale, to hope that when you are paralysed that by a miracle you are going to be healed.” Yet Lourdes is anything but a fairytale. As we wait and watch for signs of a miracle, we are introduced to the people who make up the group, they recount rumours they have heard – it happened for one person in the baths, they say. Others speak of those who were healed and then relapsed. In their heads the group try to make sense of the nonsensical. When
Gail Tolley
Holding Court One of the highlights of this year’s Glasgow Film Festival was a collection of shorts by a film collective based in New Orleans called Court 13. Better known for their vibrant and playful music videos for MGMT the group have also made several short films which stand out for their use of inventive images, assimilation and awareness of film history and elegant composition. Being a big fan of American independent films (and more than a
little sad at the subsequent hijacking that’s taken place by the big studios) it was refreshing to be reminded of just where the spirit is being kept alive. What was also exciting to see was the strong grassroots connection that the collective had. Their film Glory at Sea used the deserted spaces of postKatrina New Orleans and collaborated with local residents to create a dreamlike tale of loss. Chatting to one of the founding members,
24 THE SKINNY March 2010
Ray Tintori, after the screening he talked about how they were one of the few film crews to be allowed access to the area, making the film a rare document of the landscape of one of the worst natural disasters in American history. Tintori is currently working on his first feature film (produced by none other than Spike Jonze), here’s hoping we’ll be seeing more of the ethos and passion of the Court in cinemas soon.
what appears to be a healing does occur the chatter doesn’t subside; this is no Cinderella story and it is not necessarily the person with the most faith or the one deemed the most worthy who experiences the miracle. As Hausner comments, this is a film about “the kind of injustice that rules within society.” Lourdes is a film that at times feels intensely cruel: the story is told in a detached style reminiscent of the bleak and unflinching world of Michael Haneke. Hausner’s observations are remarkably astute and throw up a myriad of questions surrounding faith and religion and more generally the oppressiveness of the human condition. Through this Hausner points to something far more universal behind the phenomenon of miracles and the strange environment of Lourdes, what she calls “the very human longing for happiness and fulfilment.” One of the most distinctive aspects of the film is its complete lack of judgement – towards both the characters and the topic of religion. “I didn’t want to make either a Catholic film or a film that says it’s all bullshit.” Hausner says, “I wanted to be above that because I think taking sides would have been too easy, too one dimensional.” As a result both sceptics and devotees have welcomed the feature and it won the FIPRESCI prize in Venice as well as Christian film awards. Critics have also applauded the remarkably restrained performance by Sylvie Testud, who plays the central character Christine, who is paralysed from the neck down. Testud spent long periods of time in character to give authenticity to the role. “During the shooting it was often very tough for her and very exhausting,” says the director. “We practiced how in the wheelchair the shoulders go down and the hands and legs are cramped. It was very tense for her to be seated like that all the time and that of course [gave rise to] an emotional tension too.” Testud’s commitment to the role and Hausner’s intelligent observation of the conflicts and emotions
“I didn’t want to make either a Catholic film or a film that says it’s all bullshit.” Jessica Hausner of the group combine to create one of the most distinctive and confident films of recent months. The absence of any obtuse moralising also gives the film a refreshing openness which raises more questions than it attempts to answer, allowing audiences to explore the themes for themselves. Lourdes is released on 26 Mar
Film
Family Affairs
Young French director Mia Hansen-Løve discusses her assured new feature The Father of My Children Interview Gail Tolley The Father of My Children is the second feature from Mia Hansen-LØve, who at the remarkably young age of 29 has already had a career as an actor and has garnered critical acclaim for both of her directorial efforts. Her latest film, which won the Special Jury Prize at Cannes, seems a surprising work to come from such a young director– for one it shows great maturity; it documents the impact of the death of a film producer (played by Louis-Do de Lencquesaing and inspired by the true story of Humbert Balsan) without frills, over-indulgence or excessive emotion (all easy trappings for young directors eager to make an impression). I met the filmmaker during the London Film Festival where she spoke with great passion and articulation about the project. The story is inspired by the life of French film producer Humbert Balsan. How do you see the relationship between the film and his life? The film is indeed inspired by the story of Humbert Balsan who was a producer who helped me a great deal for a year when I was making my first film. But I wrote it very freely which is why I would say it is a film inspired by his story rather than being a biopic. I’m not trying to solve the enigma of his death or explain who he was, it was just a story that touched me and which also expresses certain themes that I was dealing with in my earlier films such as childhood, the passing on of things and loss. How did you come to cast Louis-Do de Lencquesaing in the central role? And how did you come to choose his real life daughter, Alice de Lencquesaing, to play his daughter in the film? I knew Louis-Do – I’d seen him in cinema and also on stage. It very quickly became clear that he would be the best actor to play the role because he had the presence and charisma and he would be able to express the character. Louis-Do’s daughter was chosen much later. I knew her already and had seen her as an actress and I knew she was very good but I didn’t want to use Louis-Do’s daughter to play his daughter in the film. So she was chosen much, much later after I had seen many young women but it became obvious that she was the right person. You’ve said in the past that you wanted to show the character's inherent contradictions – could you explain about this a bit more? There is always a conflict within the character and in the film between despair and a desire for life and you sense the growing despair. I see his despair even when he is very active, and there is a scene in the film which really expresses that: he’s in the car, he’s doing something quite banal, he phones up someone and asks them for help. It’s shortly before he dies and his voice doesn’t express anything like that, it’s very calm [yet] I’m always very touched by this moment because I can see the despair that this is expressing. Do you see the film as reflective of a certain aspect of the French film industry? It’s a very realistic representation of the French cinema industry, of that type of [national, independent] cinema. It’s almost a documentary – the way the offices of the production company are portrayed is very realistic. And I think it’s the first time that the French film industry has been shown in this way. The Father of My Children is released on 5 Mar
Dead dad: Louis-Do de Lencquesaing as father Gregoire
March 2010
THE SKINNY 25
Film
March Events
Coming to a cinema near you
FILM Reviews The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The GFT has outdone itself this month with not one, but two horror double bills – in one weekend! Fans of the video nasties can treat themselves to the Don’t Go In The House Night (12 Mar, 6.45pm), when House of the Devil and Last House on the Left (the original Wes Craven) will be followed by a Q&A with the latter film’s star David Hess. If you survive that, the next night at the same time is a Fulci double bill, showing two of the legendary giallo master’s finest – The Beyond and City of the Living Dead. Catriona MacColl and Giovanni Lombardo Radice, stars of each film respectively, will be attending, making this an absolute must-see weekend for fans. At the CCA in Glasgow there is a free screening, for those keeping an eye on the purse strings. Showing in conjunction with The Bag of Tricks Show (also at CCA until 13 Mar), the screening of the same name on 10 Mar at 7pm will be presenting videos by artists whose work focuses on themes of appropriation, reinterpretation and modification. Film distributor Soda Pictures has announced its latest venture to support independent British films and filmmakers. The New British Cinema Quarterly (NBCQ) has chosen three films, with a fourth yet to be selected, to showcase British talent, and will be touring the country throughout the year. Well received at its first screening at GFF 2010, 1234, about the trials and tribulations of being in a band, is their first choice and is released in cinemas from 5 Mar so keep an eye on your cinema listings. After the success of the Japanese cinema strand at last month’s GFF, the DCA is offering a chance to see two Japanese films, one by a celebrated master of cinema and one by the man who many consider to be his worthy successor. Still Walking by contemporary director Hirokazu Koreeda (showing until 4 Mar) and Late Autumn by Yasujiro Ozu on 14-15 Mar are two excellent examples of the distinctive Japanese filmmaking style viewers have come to expect. [Becky Bartlett]
Director: Niels Arden Oplev Starring: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Lena Endre Released: 12 Mar Certificate: 18
rrrr In case this particular publishing phenomenon has passed you by, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo is the first book in The Millennium Trilogy – a collection of crime novels by Steig Larsson that explore the corruption ingrained in the higher echelons of Swedish society. The books have topped international bestseller lists in recent years, fuelled in part by the tragic story that Larsson died before they were published, something which has served to give his work a certain mythical status. The film adaptation of the first book tells the story of disgraced journalist Mikael Blomkvist who is hired by a wealthy industrialist to explore the disappearance of his niece. As with many translations to screen the film tries to fit a lot into its already lengthy two and a half hours. Despite this it’s an exhilarating ride – well paced, gripping and with an intelligently crafted narrative, meaning it will without doubt have appeal beyond its already established fan base. [Gail Tolley] www.thegirl.co.uk
1234 Director: Giles Borg Starring: Ian Bonar, Lyndsey Marshal, Kieran Bew, Released: 5 Mar Certificate: TBC
rrr If you, like indie-popper Stevie (a gawky Ian Bonar), remember the first time you heard Tigermilk; harbour ambitions of touring the land; or just find yourself regularly falling in love with kooky artistic types, 1234 may feel tailor-made. Like High Fidelity’s earlier encapsulation of the music fan’s malaise, it’s a rom-com in which the object of the protagonist’s affections is as frequently a record as it is the opposite sex. Its blend of band politics, indie-scene eulogising and tentative relationship drama resembles a fey, more personal take on The Young Person’s Guide to Becoming a Rock Star, and its misfit characters prove appealing even as you check off the stereotypes. 1234’s slightness is both a recommendation and a caveat, its amiable charm refreshingly unembellished but lacking in dramatic possibility. But between awkwardly-accurate scenes of hellish call centre training exercises and glamourless gig misadventures, it finds a relaxed, wry tone sure to strike a chord with satchel-wearing enthusiasts and sensitive romantics everywhere. [Chris Buckle]
More film reviews
online theskinny.co.uk
A Taster Of What’s To Come @ mFEST!
A multi-arts festival 30th July – 2nd August, programmed, marketed and run by a group of 12-17 year olds! Create and perform with
La Fura Dels Baus Calling all young people aged 15-17 to be part of a unique project devising and performing a show with internationally acclaimed physical theatre company La Fura dels Baus - www.lafura.com. The director, Jurgen Muller, needs 25 participants with superb physical drive and 100% commitment to perform alongside members of his company. This work will headline Scotland's first ever festival planned, run and promoted by 12-17s; mFEST. To find out more come along to the macrobert on 7 March at 6pm or contact macrobert Dance Development Artist Yolanda.aguilar@macrobert.org 01786 467154. Stan Won’t Dance presents
BABEL Written by Patrick Neate Combining explosive movement with words of mass destruction, the choreographic mavericks Liam Steel and Robert Tannion create the ultimate act of dance-theatre terrorism.
11 & 12 March 8pm
- Tickets £12 / £9 concession / £6 under1 18’s / £2 mPOWER 12-17 yr olds
Motionhouse presents
Scattered
Evoking the beauty and enormity of water as well as its savage, destructive power. Performed on a huge curved floor which disappears skywards the show promises a whole host of new acrobatic possibilities.
26 & 27 March 8pm - Tickets £12 / £9 concession / £6 under1 18’s / £2 mPOWER 12-17 yr olds Conflux
Spokes macrobert will be hosting the world premiere of this circus theatre piece which fuses Chinese pole and aerial silks to create an exciting, original performance by Lucy Deacon and Stirling's own Jen Patterson.
31 March 8pm & 1 April 1.30pm & 8pm - Tickets £12 / £9 concession / £6 under1 18’s / £2 mPOWER 12-17 yr olds To book your tickets call our Tickets and Information desk on 01786 466666 or book online @ www.macrobert.org For more on mFEST and mPOWER visit www.mpowerscotland.org macrobert, University of Stirling FK9 4LA
26 THE SKINNY March 2010
TALK TO ME
WE LIVE IN PUBLIC
SALVAGE
DIRECTOR: KASI LEMMONS STARRING: DON CHEADLE, CHIWETAL EJIOFOR, TARAJI P. HENSON RELEASED: 22 MAR CERTIFICATE: 12
DIRECTOR: ONDI TIMONER STARRING: JOSH HARRIS, TANYA CORRIN RELEASED: OUT NOW CERTIFICATE: 15
DIRECTOR: LAWRENCE GOUGH STARRING: NEVE MCINTOSH, DEAN ANDREWS, SHAUN DOOLEY RELEASED: 22 MAR CERTIFICATE: 18
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EDWARD II DIRECTOR: DEREK JARMAN STARRING: STEVEN WADDINGTON, ANDREW TIERNAN, TILDA SWINTON RELEASED: OUT NOW CERTIFICATE: 15
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“When truth becomes legend, print the legend,” said John Ford, and while he couldn’t have been further from the director of Stagecoach as a filmmaker, Derek Jarman nonetheless takes this as his cue for this angry and impassioned and highly imaginative take on the play by Christopher Marlowe and the life of the titular monarch. While historians can argue heartily over the accuracy of either work, Jarman was far more interested in crafting a tale of persecution, prejudice and martyrdom. Why? Well for a start (as Peter Tatchell points out on the accompanying documentary), Thatcher’s government had made second-class citizens of the LGBT community, and the director’s use of anachronistic imagery (riot police, Outrage campaigners, Annie Lennox singing Cole Porter) gives the piece a devastating urgency. Budgetary constraints gave the film its identity, but also made Gary Oldman and Tim Roth unaffordable, resulting in a gravitas vacuum in its leads (though Waddington and Tiernan give solid performances). Nevertheless, a fine piece of work. [Michael Gillespie]
Ondi Timoner is perhaps best known for her 2004 documentary DiG!, which followed the tumultuous relationship between The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre. We Live in Public takes a similarly detailed look at fraught relationships, this time between internet entrepreneur Josh Harris and, well, almost everyone he comes into contact with. He’s a fascinating subject, renowned (among other things) for setting up a Big Brother style art project in 1999 where 100 artists, filmed 24 hours a day, locked themselves into a basement with messy consequences. Harris emerges as a complex and ultimately unlikeable personality and We Live in Public works best as a character study of the troubled pioneer. The documentary doesn’t succeed quite as well in its attempt at a wider commentary on the impact of technology on our lives, however, which means that its more far-reaching observations don’t always have the impact and resonance they were perhaps intended to. [Gail Tolley]
In pursuit of ratings, Channel 4’s flagship soap Brookside went to desperate measures, from helicopter crashes, religious cult suicide pacts, incest, bodies under the patio and a postmodern rant from Jimmy Corkhill about the state of British television, which culminated in the final residents lynching a gangster (who used sweary words). Whether they would have gone to the lengths of having troops land in the Close to fight off a killer mutant is anyone’s guess, but that’s what Lawrence Gough has done with Salvage, a low-budget horror shot on Brookie’s disused sets. It’s an efficient genre workout, with plenty of shocks and splats and a political subtext, but, most impressively, it successfully combines dread with the domestic, its story of the fractured relationship between a mother (McIntosh) and daughter performed with conviction. There are, however, gaping plot holes, and it loses credibility once the unconvincing creature appears. Here’s hoping things improve when someone decides to move ninja werewolves into the Crossroads Motel. [Michael Gillespie]
GEORGE A. ROMERO’S SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD
DON’T WORRY ABOUT ME DIRECTOR: DAVID MORRISSEY STARRING: HELEN ELIZABETH, JAMES BROUGH RELEASED:8MAR CERTIFICATE: 15
DIRECTOR: GEORGE A. ROMERO STARRING: DEVON BOSTICK, ATHENA KARKANIS, JULIAN RICHINGS RELEASED: 15 MAR CERTIFICATE: 18
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Number six in Romero’s flesh-eater franchise, this latest opus of the undead is a pretty moribund effort. Things kick off nicely with a group of soldiers turned highwaymen (and woman) making their way to an island inhabited by two warring families whose ideas on zombie maintenance differ more than a little. Romero, whose genuis has always lain a seemingly effortless combination of social commentary and crowd-pleasing splatter, here takes on the great American myth of the Western… and fails. With an underwritten screenplay, blank performances and production values which seriously diminish its atmosphere, this is a pretty rum addition to a shuffling, rotting saga. Dramatically, it never takes hold, its ideas becoming lost amidst scenes of CG heavy and uninspired carnage (gorehounds can expect their bloodlust to be unsated). Neither taking the mythology nor internal logic of the series any further (and providing little subtext), this is only a few notches above a Zone Horror cheapie. Shame really. [Michael Gillespie]
rrr Produced for the stage by its two out-of-work stars, actor David Morrissey ((Red Riding, Blackpool, The Deal) adapts a slight but affecting drama into a kind of blue collar Before Sunrise. David (Brough) is an under-achieving Londoner who foolishly pursues a one-night stand to Liverpool: the consequences aren’t good. Stranded, he pops into the bookies for a cup of tea, where the kindly cashier (Elizabeth) offers him a tip that pays off enough for the two of them to spend the day together. Predictably, they will expose their worst fears, secrets, hopes and flaws, and do the whole “lonely souls entwining” thing you always get in films like this. Fortunately, for all its first act tweeness, it takes a shocking but fearlessly honest turn, and evolves into an authentically bittersweet and moving love story. There’s sentiment but not sentimentality, romance without näiveté, and while there’s something of the travelogue about its Merseyside locales, it’s a film the city can be proud of. [Michael Gillespie]
From Gaga to Google Great food, coffee and free WIFI
Visit traverse.co.uk for info on the Traverse A&E Quiz, Noisy Nights and other Bar Café events
10% off your food with your current issue of The Skinny Photos: Terry Leddy
The name Petey Greene won’t ring many bells this side of the Atlantic, but the outspoken DJ was big enough in his hey-day to garner an invitation to Carter’s White House. Director Kasi Lemmons punctuates the proto-shock jock’s familiar trajectory (from unhappy, to happy, back to unhappy) with footage of Vietnam protests and Luther King marches, aligning Greene’s establishment-bothering career to the zeitgeist – though whether that’s as a sign o’ the times reactionary or inspirational visionary is never settled on. The cast excel: Don Cheadle as Greene channels charm and obnoxiousness, but Chiwetel Ejiofor as boss-cumbusiness-partner Dewey Hughes satisfies more, compelling whether tearfully eulogising his mercurial charge or mollifying apoplectic radio chief Martin Sheen. Even the insufferable screeching of Taraji P. Henson as Greene’s wife settles into something more nuanced, suggesting her early caricature is more a fault of the script than performance – typical of a film that squanders its talented cast on a rote run through a remarkable life. [Chris Buckle]
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MARCH 2010
THE SKINNY 27
FILM
DVD REVIEWS
Theatre
The Return of the The Wanderer Peter Brook, one of the greatest directors of any generation, comes back to the venue he helped to found with his new play 11 and 12
11 and 12 Tramway, 30 Mar – 3 Apr
“For us to feel truly concerned, theatre needs to be very close to our lives, but to capture our imagination its elements must always be fresh and unexpected. Hampaté Bâ’s story unites these two conditions. It offers no answers, but it brings to life a mystery.” Peter Brook has been one of the most dynamic directors for over fifty years. Having astonished British audiences with his radical stagings of Shakespeare and his brutal Theatre of Cruelty, he eventually migrated to Paris, where he began to consider the global meanings of theatre. In 1988, he brought his epic Mahabharata to Glasgow, discovering the space that would become Tramway and leaving behind the majestic red wall that still dominates the building. After more than a decade’s absence, Brook is returning to Tramway with 11 and 12. The cryptic title refers to an argument about the numbers’ hidden, spiritual meaning that led an African state to violence and war, yet this adaptation of African author Amadou Hampaté Bâ struggles as much with theology as human cruelty. Like much of Brook’s theatre in the past twenty five years, it approaches universal themes, draws
influences from around the world yet without losing sight of a common humanity that transcends culture. The international cast reflects Brooke’s globalised vision, and the script unflinchingly studies the broadest philosophical questions. The story is based on the life of Tierno Bokar, a Sufi (Muslim mystic or ascetic) in a small Malian village. In a time of strife, Bokar strove to maintain and teach patience and compassion. As a Sufi, he represented Islam’s most mystical movement, and his life became a teaching summed up in his famous words: “The only struggle that really concerns me is the one that is aimed at our own weaknesses. This struggle, alas, has nothing to do with the war that so many of Adam’s sons wage in the name of a God they claim to love deeply, but whom they love badly – because they destroy a part of his creation.” 11 and 12 epitomises Brook’s enthusiasm for religious thought, as well as offering a rare chance to see a master of theatre interpreting a profound narrative. While Brook demonstrated early in his career that he could revolutionise the way that British theatre was conceived, even in his later years he is restlessly challenging the possibilities of performance.[Gareth K Vile] Tramway Tues 30 Mar – Sat 3 Apr, 7.30pm £20
Gareth K Vile
no more lonely nights After the horror of a Valentine’s weekend assuaged only by a play about hardcore pornography, a recitation of RD Laing’s deconstruction of love in Knots and a hip-flask full of absinthe, March brings me back to fragile life, like an early spring blossom. Not only is The NRLA reopening The Arches, theatre legend Peter Brook is returning to Tramway. For once, my taste and expectations are not disappointed. The Traverse Spring Offensive keeps pushing, with a Schoenberg concert, a version of Eurydice and Chekov’s Three Sisters. Scottish
Opera are starting to tour La Bohème, in a production by Glasgow’s Stewart Laing who most recently dragged audiences into an evolutionary Argument About Sex. A frantic version of The 39 Steps hits Aberdeen, next door to an updating of Hamlet. There is even a rumour that The Art Club Cabaret is returning to Glasgow’s finest members’ club. A recent article suggested that Scottish theatre, in particular the National Theatre, was in some way failing to preserve its rich heritage of Scottish plays. Since this month has major international
28 THE SKINNY March 2010
artists sharing proscenium arches with emerging talent – much of it being cultivated and mentored by the NTS, it feels like a petulant and parochial argument. Without disparaging the actual work of the past, Scotland’s contemporary identity, which is multi-cultural and diverse, is far better served by a dynamic series of performance styles, grafting genres and overlapping platforms. There is obviously a place for the classics – they are the rich heritage that feeds the present yet it is the evolving forms that best serve our ever-evolving cultures.
venue of the month
Òran Mór
Òran Mór is a venue best known for lunchtime drama and one of Scotland's most prolific producers of new writing: A Play, A Pie and A Pint Interview Michael Cox Photo Leslie Black “Fun. That really is important. People say that ‘it’s great fun’. It’s not called ‘a play’ for some accident. It is ‘play’ and it is ‘playful’. Theatre engages our imagination and, I think, that people get terribly serious about it, and it is serious in some ways, but the element of sheer bloody enjoyment and playfulness and fun is at the heart of it for me.” So says David MacLennan, acclaimed director, writer, actor and mastermind behind one of Scotland’s most successful, and prolific, theatre companies: A Play, A Pie and a Pint. Based at Òran Mór, the company started out as an experiment in the autumn of 2004. Over 175 plays later, it continues to go from strength to strength, not only winning great acclaim but seeing many of its plays obtain ‘second lives’ through performances at festivals, overseas and on radio. And there is the upcoming second season of plays that crossover to the Traverse, the other great steward of new theatrical writing in Scotland. In speaking about the difference between the two theatres, MacLennan says that “We can’t offer the services that the Traverse can offer. What we can offer is a stage that will put on a new play every week. ”Indeed, MacLennan has a plethora of scripts to choose from. He not only gets scripts from established playwrights but from novelists, poets, directors and also from journalists. He even gets a lot of unsolicited scripts, all of which he reads because "there’s always a nugget of gold amongst the tsunami of the ‘less good’." In speaking about what he looks for in a new script, MacLennan says “The only criteria is to ask: is this a kind of distinctive voice? Does the script make my heart go faster? The plays elect themselves by the quality of their writing.” As for any budding playwrights out there, his advice is simple. “Well, first of all write. There’s no substitute for being your own writer. I think that, with writing, you’ve either got it or you haven’t. The thing that I love when I read plays is when that wee bell starts ringing: this is an individual speaking. Then you know you’ve got a writer. It comes off the page like an original voice. "MacLennan not only has a new season but is also quite proud of the company’s new website, calling the technology behind it “a great thing”. But he quickly added “I don’t much believe in publicity and advertising on its own. I think what really sells a place is the work. You come to Òran Mór and you see a great play and have a nice pint and a nice pie, and it’s enjoyable. People want to repeat enjoyable experiences. It kind of sells itself if it’s any good. I think that’s true about theatre, and the arts in general, that the good will sell themselves. So I don’t look at the website as a marketing tool but as a complement to what we’re trying to do here. And it’s fun, isn’t it?” he says with a cheeky smile. ‘It’s such good fun.” www.oran-mor.co.uk/playpiepint.php
Sexy pie-jinks with The Company Policy
Top Five march Theatre Events Fourth Deaths CCA, Glasgow, 5-6 Mar, 7.30pm Slovenia’s Via Negativa compete for the love of their audience by killing off their rival performers, in their first visit to the UK.
The Hot Dots Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, 18 Mar, 7.30pm Paisley Arts Centre, 20 Mar, 7.30pm Love story set in the 1930s, with acrobatics, film and physical theatre.
Is That All There is? Tron, Glasgow, 23-27 Mar, 7.30pm A young couple find themselves hurtling towards marriage, only to find that regrets are already emerging.
Va Va Voom Electric Circus, Edinburgh, 6 Mar, 11pm From the team behind Kabarett and fetish club Torture Garden’s extravagant outings in the capital comes a night of retro burlesque with a curiously kitsch soundtrack. [Gareth K Vile]
For the Love of Mrs Brown Playhouse, Edinburgh, 9-13 Mar, 7.30pm Bawdy humour from the cross-dressing housewife, who seems to be forever on tour.
Comedy
glasgow comedy festival previews
Funny ha ha
The Magners Glasgow Comedy Festival is back in town with a whopping 356 shows on offer; a mix of stand-up, film and theatre. One of the acts whizzing through is Richard Herring, with his 5-Skinny rated Hitler Moustache. We chat to him about what he looks for himself in good comedy
By Anton Chekhov
A new version by John Byrne Directed by Tony Cownie
16 April – 8 May 2010 CURTAIN RAISER EVENT
Tuesday 20 April 2010 In conversation with John Byrne.
www.lyceum.org.uk/cherry BOX OFFICE 0131 248 4848 GROUPS 8+ 0131 248 4949 TEXT RELAY 18001 0131 248 4848 Company No. SCO62065 Scottish Charity Registered No. SCO10509
Interview Lizzie Cass-Maran In Hitler Moustache Richard Herring examines society’s hypocrisies when it comes to race. The toothbrush moustache he has had intermittently for many months now has prompted both offence and misplaced respect and the show has courted much controversy. Does he subscribe to the view that comedy has a duty to make a wider political impact? "Not a duty, it’s up to everyone to decide for themselves. It’s like anything – if you listen to one type of music you probably get bored of it after a while. It’s more about having a variety to what you do. There are all kinds of comedians that I like but my top ones are the ones that surprise me or are doing something a bit more interesting… I think some people like to go to comedy and hear things that they’ve thought themselves. Peter Kay is great at what he does, but I’d expect to be having
The Skinny @ Magner’s Glasgow International Comedy Festival MGICF 11 - 28 mar
As festival partners for the MGCIF, The Skinny is presenting not one, but two very special shows running all through March at the historic Sloans Bar and Restaurant. First up, native Glaswegians Des Clarke and Scott Agnew will be bringing their award-winning comedic talents to The Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show. Each show promises a range of guests from all over the festival and Agnew is quick to remind us there’s a lot more happening than ‘just’ comedy and chat. "It’ll be like Friday Night with Jonathan Ross – but in the afternoon!" he tells us. We’re going to have a lot of different things going on – interviews, comedy, music, some cabaret. Des and I have known each other for years; we actually went to school together. It’s so much fun working with someone who knows you that well. I’m really looking forward to us bouncing ideas off each other live on stage."
conversations like that with my friends down the pub. I prefer to go and see comedians who say something that I haven’t thought of, or create some new angle." So are any taboos left in comedy? "If you don’t want to hear jokes about religion, don’t go and see a comedian who does jokes about religion, rather than say that nobody’s allowed to joke about religion – or race, or sex, or whatever. It’s a lot easier to police that kind of system. If someone is really overstepping the line and no-one wants to see it then they won’t have a career. “I don’t think there’s anything that’s off limits but you have a responsibility to be true to yourself and true to what you think." Richard Herring: Hitler Moustache, The Garage, Glasgow, 13 Mar, 8pm (Part of the MGICF). The Stand, Edinburgh, 14 Mar, 8:30pm www.richardherring.com
And despite the promise of top-notch celebrity guests, one thing in particular has gotten Agnew very excited. "It’s only £3 to get in, but an extra fiver gets you soup and a sandwich too. If you’ve never had the soup in there, you don’t know what you’re missing! The soup is the real star." For a double helping of Skinny-hosted entertainment, Thursdays and Sunday evenings bring Stand Up @ Sloans, featuring the comedy stylings of top names and local favourites such as Benjamin Crellin, Marc Maron, Jena Friedman, Todd Barry, Hannibal Buress and Brian Scott McFadden for the bargain basement price of £7/£5 concession.[Jen Lavery]
Peter Brook
11 and 12 C.I.C.T. / Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Paris
Co-commissioned by C.I.C.T. / Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Paris, barbicanbite10, London and The Grotowski Institute, Wroclaw. Presented in association with William Wilkinson for Millbrook Productions Limited.
Tue 30 March – Sat 3 April 2010 7.30pm Matinee performance Sat 3 April 2.30pm Tickets £20 / £15 0845 330 3501 Book Online at: www.tramway.org Booking fee applies Please note no late admittance
The Skinny presents...The Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show Thursdays-Sundays at 1pm during the MGICF £3/£8 including lunch The Skinny presents...Stand Up@Sloans Thursdays and Sundays at 8.30pm during the MGICF £7/£5 www.glasgowcomedyfestival.com
March 2010
THE SKINNY 29
Art
Good Wives, Warriors and Painters Becky Bolton and Louise Chappell, aka Good Wives and Warriors, are a collaborative duo whose drawings and paintings have been lighting up galleries, shops and pages for the last few years. They’ve been insanely busy of late, appearing in Taschen books, painting on walls in Berlin and generally being globe-trotting international artists. This month sees them back in Glasgow for a show in Recoat, so The Skinny thought this would be the perfect time for a bit of a catch up
Interview Rosamund West You’ve been working together for a few years now. How did your collaboration come about? "We both studied painting at Glasgow School of Art and graduated in 2005. We first worked together in the 2nd year of art school doing the same exhibitions and projects. We were friends and wanted to do stuff together as it was more fun than doing it alone!" How does the collaboration work in terms of the practicalities of making? Your artworks look completely seamless, is there a clear difference between authors that might be visible to the more trained eye? "Perhaps there used to be more of a distinction, but now it would be pretty hard to spot who did which bit. Collaboration is always hard at the beginning as there is a natural tendency to fight for your own identity, but for it to work really well, I think you need to give up your own ego to create something truly collaborative." How did you continue to make work when you were on different sides of the world (Becky was living in Melbourne and Louise in Glasgow)? "It was oddly a lot easier to carry on working together than we thought! The time difference made it a little tricky, but we worked through it with lots of Skype chats and emails. I think because we felt that we’d already established our ‘style’ it was more a matter of dividing up the work and making sure we both had a clear idea of what we were to do. Although we couldn’t work on the same piece of paper like we used to, we’d often do half and half, or when we were doing a series of drawings, we’d do one and then email it, and the other would do a drawing in reaction,
30 THE SKINNY March 2010
so there were quite a few long distance artistic ‘conversations’. We had a show in Melbourne too, so Louise came over for that. All in all, we managed pretty well on different sides of the world!" Prior to Melbourne you did a painting tour of South America. How did that work? "We were backpacking and painting! That’s the good thing about painting on walls – you don’t need much. Just a couple of paintbrushes and you buy paint along the way. I think we would have liked it to have been more structured but it ended up being quite free-form. We had an exhibition in San Francisco and then we flew to Peru. Apart from that we only had a rough plan. We had been planning to go to South America for ages, and we’d tried to plan the paintings with galleries, especially in Buenos Aires, but this was pretty much impossible until we were actually in the place and could talk face to face with people. The painting in Cusco, Peru was quite difficult to organise as getting permission to paint on Inca walls proved quite hard!" I bet. You’ve been pretty busy since then [projects have included wall paintings in Europe, Australia and the USA, and projects for Adidas, Swatch and MTV as well as the obvious excitement of a Skinny Showcase]. What are the highlights of the past year or so? "We have been doing a lot of paintings recently! I think we always enjoy travelling and painting, so in October we did a painting in Berlin at Illustrative and had to fly straight to Copenhagen for an exhibition there, so that was fun. Also, being in a Taschen book (Illustration Now 3) made us very happy!"
Is there a clear distinction between your ‘design’ work and your ‘art’ work? "This comes down to context and intent. With our design work, we work to a brief set by someone else, whereas with our own work it is entirely self-initiated with no restrictions. Context is also important, as our artwork is generally located in a gallery or artist-run space, whereas our commercial work fits a purpose and the location depends on the project." What inspires you in your work? What are you wanting to give to the viewer? "We are inspired by shared obsessions, historical reference points, organic forms, complex natural structures, mathematical shapes and scientific imagery. We want our work to be accessible on lots of levels. Each work is heavily based on image research and although it is often very dense forming a pattern like mass, the individual elements always have a theme or story." You’re living in London now, is that working out well? What prompted the move from Glasgow? "We loved living in Glasgow for 7 years but felt it was time for a change. We’re really looking forward to coming back to Glasgow for the Recoat show and seeing our friends for the weekend!" What are your plans for the Recoat show? "We’ve done 20 drawings on hexagons that are going to make up a large wall patchwork and 4 new drawings that are more ‘Fun-occult’ – intricate pseudo scientific symbols. Also a window drawing that we will do once we’re in the gallery." Good Wives and Warriors: Fun Occult is at Recoat, Glasgow, until 28 Mar www.goodwivesandwarriors.co.uk
ART
MULTI-DISCIPLINARY MULTI-DISCIPLINARY
DESIGNEDUCATION EDUCATION DESIGN
A centre for the arts and creativity This month’s highlights include:
always conscious of the extent to which world been designed, orthe of the those "We"We areare notnot always conscious of the extent to which ourour world hashas been designed, or of rolerole thatthat those who design it play. Design surrounds is present in the layout of this magazine, in the clothes who design it play. Design surrounds us; us; it is itpresent in the layout of this magazine, in the clothes thatthat youyou wear; is there in the iPod in your pocket, and in the TV shows watch. wear; it is itthere in the iPod in your pocket, and in the TV shows thatthat youyou watch. what a designer? A designer a polymath, of the kind typifi by Leonardo Vinci. Famously, ButBut what is aisdesigner? A designer is aispolymath, of the kind typifi ed ed by Leonardo Da Da Vinci. Famously, Leonardo artist, scientist, engineer, anatomist and inventor, amongst other things. By necessity, Leonardo waswas an an artist, scientist, engineer, anatomist and inventor, amongst other things. By necessity, today’s designers must able to visualise artists, technology of scientists, specify materials today’s designers must be be able to visualise likelike artists, useuse thethe technology of scientists, specify materials engineers, apply human factors using skills of anatomists and innovate inventors, amongst likelike engineers, apply human factors using thethe skills of anatomists and innovate likelike inventors, amongst other things. other things. what a design education? It may to defi nedesigner, a designer, what determine So, So, what of aofdesign education? It may be be diffidiffi cultcult to defi ne a butbut what we we cancan determine is is to fulfi l a rounded design education students need to collaborate technologists, engineers, thatthat to fulfi l a rounded design education ourour students need to collaborate withwith technologists, engineers, entrepreneurs and a range of other experts. exploit at Edinburgh Napier University and, entrepreneurs and a range of other experts. WeWe cancan exploit thisthis at Edinburgh Napier University and, withwith excellent industry partners, enable students to interact interdisciplinary creative teams. ourour excellent industry partners, enable ourour students to interact withwith interdisciplinary creative teams. TheThe design graduates presented at our degree show toMay*) 23 May*) prepared for the increasingly design graduates presented at our degree show (13 (13 to 23 willwill be be prepared for the increasingly multi-disciplinary work place." multi-disciplinary work place."
Cafe Flicker GMAC
Family Weekends
Free creative fun on the third weekend of each month Grounded Project Ability & Mono Music Performances Russian Café – Gallery Cossachok Nummianus by Steffi Klenz Street Level Photoworks Sharmanka Kinetic Theatre FIRST Y SDA THUR
Lambert IanIan Lambert Director of Art & Design, Director of Art & Design, School of Arts & Creative Industries, School of Arts & Creative Industries, Edinburgh Napier University Edinburgh Napier University
Also First Thursday: An evening of art and culture on the first Thursday of every month, 5-9pm.
Plus artist talks, music, performances, workshops and classes, food and drink and much more. For more information please visit www.trongate103.com or call 0141 276 8380. Trongate 103, 103 Trongate, Glasgow, G1 5HD • info@trongate103.com
* for more details * for more details visitvisit www.edinburghnapierdegreeshow.com www.edinburghnapierdegreeshow.com www.courses.napier.ac.uk www.courses.napier.ac.uk Image: Ross Coffield Puppet of Propaganda 126x155 T103 skinnyadMar.indd 1
12/02/2010 14:05
MARCH 2010
THE SKINNY 31
MUSIC
The Paradox of Choice
As The Dillinger Escape Plan prepare to break loose with album number four this month, guitarist Jeff Tuttle explains how a modern problem forced them to write their most expansive offering to date Interview Dave Kerr
PARTY SMASHERS
WHEN we last had a word with The Dillinger Escape Plan, guitarist Jeff Tuttle was the quiet new guy in the corner, soaking up the experience of conquering Europe with the mathcore quintet for the first time. Now, two years later – finding a minute to talk in-between two sold out shows they’re playing on the same a day – he’s their measured spokesperson, at ease within the ranks of perhaps the most primal, polarizing and stupefying hybrids of hardcore, jazz and progressive rock to stab its flag in the metal underground this past decade. As The Skinny dons its crash helmet to listen to new album Option Paralysis, we look both ways for danger…
If you thought these mathcore alchemists were unpredictable, take a look at the mavericks who got Mr Tuttle interested in picking up a guitar in the first place.
JIM MARTIN "One of my first guitar heroes was Jim Martin from Faith No More. He was the sole guitar player in the band and had a lot of bases to cover, blending a traditional metal style with the more progressive tendencies of the band as a whole. It was a strange dichotomy they had going on with Jim; he could be playing some crushing chug riff while Roddy [Bottum] was headed in a much more airy and melodic direction on the keyboard. For a long time – until I joined Dillinger – I was in a band where I was the only guitar player because I wanted to capture that. " Choice cut: Faith No More – Surprise, You’re Dead
A wee bit of chaos can be a fine thing, but when we met you in Glasgow – not long after [2007 album] Ire Works came out – you were feeling the benefits of slowing the gigs [where the band have broken many bones] down to less of a frenzy. Did you take that mentality with you to the studio for this album? “Absolutely. I think the biggest departure on Ire Works was Mouth of Ghosts, with the introduction of the piano, but the piano shows up quite a bit more on Option Paralysis. We’re going to be incorporating a lot of that stuff live and we definitely look forward to playing a lot more of the piano-based songs from the new album.”
JIMI HENDRIX "Another big influence on my playing was Jimi Hendrix – one of my all time favourites, I’ve never seen or heard another guitar player who can really convey energy and emotion through their instrument better than he could. His live albums will destroy anything he did in the studio because there was greater freedom going on in his improvisation. " Choice cut: Jimi Hendrix – Fire (Live at Woodstock)
Does Option Paralysis relate to your relationship with music, in that there’s an increasing number of forms and directions that a Dillinger song might take? “I’d say so, but I think more so that the idea of the Option Paralysis concept deals with the nature of technology and the direction that the information age seems to be headed in. There are millions of bands, millions of critics; everybody with a webcam is now a music critic. Everybody with a laptop is now a musician or a recording engineer. That’s something we see as problematic, as the reason why people are becoming more alienated from one another. Both conceptually and lyrically, the album touches on it quite a bit.” In terms of the options you’ve explored quite recently, was joining Trent Reznor onstage for the last [ever?] Nine Inch Nails gigs an inspiration? “Maybe not so much musically, but ethically I’d say Trent was definitely influential, he’s somebody who really took the music that was going on when he started out in a new direction. And if there wasn’t a way to create the music that he wanted to make, he’d figure out a way to do it himself. That ingenuity is something that we try to emulate when we write, record and play live.” You’re releasing Option Paralysis on a variety of elaborate formats, including a box set which folds out like an accordion. It seems to be a growing trend; I mean, Fear Factory went a bit mental and released an album with a massive toolbox last week. How important is the principal of selling recorded music as an artefact to you? “Very, man. We recognise that getting people to buy a physical CD is a hard thing to do, because it’s not really even necessary anymore. When you’ve got any song you want at your fingertips for free it’s very hard to construct an argument to get people to see your point of view on that subject. That’s why we did this with the packaging – to remind fans that there’s something special about the physical media of a record.”
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CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG
"THERE ARE MILLIONS OF BANDS, MILLIONS OF CRITICS; EVERYBODY WITH A WEBCAM IS NOW A MUSIC CRITIC. EVERYBODY WITH A LAPTOP IS NOW A MUSICIAN OR A RECORDING ENGINEER. THAT’S SOMETHING WE SEE AS PROBLEMATIC." JEFF TUTTLE
Dillinger have become notorious for a huge turnover in their members over the years, do you feel as though the current line up is rigid or might that change at any old time? “No, I think we all feel strong and – for the first time in a very long time – there’s a rigid core to the band. There’s a definite feeling of semblance between the five of us right now and I think it’s going to show through on this record, because each one of us really had the opportunity to add a little here and there. There’s something special about that which we all recognise and want to pursue for as long as we can. That’s true not only in the studio but also on stage, there’s a definite gelling. None of us want that to go away anytime soon.” We got Greg [Puciato, vocals] hooked on Irn Bru the last time you were in town, I take it you’ll be back soon so he can restock? “Absolutely, we’re planning on hitting Europe very hard this year. If everything works out we’ll be coming back in June. You’ll definitely see us by the fall; Scotland has always been good to us.” Is touring still a giggle? “It is, man. As much as we try to complain about it, at the end of the day it’s not hard to forget that we get to do what we love every day for a living. All the bullshit that we deal with, the lack of sleep and the lack of privacy doesn’t even compare to being able to go on stage every night.” OPTION PARALYSIS IS RELEASED VIA PARTY SMASHER INC/SEASON OF MIST ON 22 MAR
"With Option Paralysis I had an opportunity to write the lyrics and vocal harmonies for the album closer Parasitic Twins. Believe it or not, I drew a lot of influence from Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. I’ve always been attracted to a lot of the vocal harmonies they perform and it’s probably an influence that a lot of Dillinger fans would be surprised to hear. With De Ja Vu – particularly on the title track to that record – they’re building these intense four-part harmonies in an extremely staccato, fast-paced tempo. It’s flawless. To do that in an era where digital editing didn’t exist... it’s what true musicianship is all about. " Choice cut: CSNY – De Ja Vu
VARIATIONS ON A MACARONI DISH Never ones to turn down a tip from a celebrity chef in times of economic hardship, we invite Dillinger’s self-confessed one-trick culinary assassin to spruce up the quintessential TV dinner.
Ingredients: ½ onion (diced) Two mushrooms (diced) One tbsp vegetable oil Kraft® Macaroni and Cheese Preparation technique: "Heat up some oil in the frying pan, dice two healthysized mushrooms and half an onion – you do not want too much onion in there. Sauté in oil and garlic til you’ve softened the mushrooms and the onions caramelise whilst simultaneously preparing the mac and cheese to the packet’s instructions. You could even add a little sausage. Mix that together, season with salt and paya pepper to taste and – I’m tellin’ you, man – you will have a creamy delight on your plate for dinner." Recommended accompanying beverage: Kool-Aid.
On the eve of the release of Oversteps, a milestone record for the pioneering Mancunian duo, The Skinny chats to Autechre's Sean Booth about hip-hop, artistic isolation and the lure of Hollywood
Interview Mark Shukla IF NASA ever decide to repeat their grandiose publicity stunt of 1977, which saw them launch the famous Voyager Gold Discs into the depths of space, one imagines that Autechre’s laser-etched, steel-enclosed deluxe edition of their 2008 album Quaristice should serve as sufficient payload to bluff any alien civilisation into believing that Earth is a planet that actually has its shit together. As well as holding the distinction of being the only CD packaging that The Skinny has worn gloves to handle, its formidable, uncompromising beauty serves as a seemly analogue for Autechre’s musical output since their inception over 20 years ago. And yet, while Quaristice may look like the kind of thing that Mr Spock would keep in his CD rack, its actual musical content is definitively eclipsed by the glassy tones and deep-space drones contained on the group’s forthcoming LP. Oversteps is, even by the duo’s dizzying standards, something of an opus – a widescreen spectacle both terrible and beautiful. With a saucy tap of our communicator we open a channel to Sean Booth and pose an obvious question: why have we yet to see Autechre score a sci-fi epic? They must be getting schmoozed by smooth-talking movie producers left, right and centre, surely? “Not as much as we’d like!” bemoans a weary sounding Booth (obviously having just torn himself away from a draining mind-meld with Rob Brown, the other half of the
EXTENDED PLEASURES
Some of Autechre's strongest work can be found on their numerous EP releases. These are four of the best
ENVANE 1997 Opening with a Dr. Octagon-sampling mutant hip-hop epic, Envane finds Autechre taking a scalpel to their formal influences, recombining the elements with metric precision and creating a whole new sound in the process. Career highlight
entity known as Autechre). “We do now and again but it’s usually for totally inept stuff. They never let us talk about it – they always make us sign these fucking non-disclosure agreements. To be honest with you I haven’t liked a lot of recent sci-fi apart from District 9. Most of it’s been junk really. I am really into film, so I wouldn’t want to sell myself short. That sounds really snobby, doesn’t it?” Coming from a lesser musician it might, but there are precious few artists working in any discipline whose creative development has described a trajectory of such excellence and innovation. It feels quite natural to trace a path backwards from Autechre that passes through the key experimentalists of numerous genres: from the polyrhythmic hip-hop of Mantronix to the bizarre transgressions of Coil and Psychic TV; all the way through Kraftwerk, Brian Eno and Klaus Schulze; and finally intersecting with Karlheinz Stockhausen and the stochastic techniques of Iannis Xenakis. For this they are unique amongst their peers. Booth is not so modest as to deny this fact: “There’s a trail following us, which I’m not really aware of... and then that’s it. And then nothing else. There’s almost like a complete void around us.” So are the group happy with their status as lonely caretakers of the vanguard? “Yeah, it’s good. It’s fucking liberating – I mean, really. It means you can pretty much do what you want,” he adds, emphatically. Whilst it’s clear that Booth feels Autechre are operating at a remove from current trends in electronic music, he’s also diplomatic when it comes to discussing the scene’s
Laughing Quarter couches its bleak melodies in fluttering loops of industrial noise before building to a hyper-complex yet emotionally singular crescendo that even outstrips Aphex’s Ventolin in terms of caustic beauty. A highly recommended entry point into the group’s daunting back-catalogue.
CICHLISUITE 1997 Comprising five unrecognisable remixes of a single track, Cichlisuite (pronounced sickly sweet) tempers the abrasiveness of its parent LP Chiastic Slide with terse percussive samples and icy sound design to produce an elegant clutch of tracks that speak more about surface and sheen than texture and
prevailing reliance on powerful production software such as Ableton, together with what he pithily refers to as “the whole unlocked hip-hop thing: “You know that [Mr] Oizo album from a few years back, Moustache? I fuckin’ love that album. It’s beautiful. Really concise and fucking direct and super good but there’s been so many things since that rip it. It’s become a thing now and it’s bleeding into that Sensational, Dilla, Madlib influenced hip-hop stuff that’s kicking about at the moment. I can see where all the overlaps are in production terms and why it’s happening and it totally makes sense to me but it’s a little bit predictable, maybe. Which is not necessarily bad. It’s good. I kind of like it when ideas resonate with large groups of people. You get really mad extrapolations coming out of it.” As the discussion turns to other Warp artists, Booth warms to a mention of the forthcoming and much-delayed Boards of Canada LP (a group he praises for being “super fucking careful and anal”) and is endearingly apologetic when I mention the difficulties of balancing work and family life: “Oh, I’m not giving them any stress,” he insists, in his most peaceable Rochdale brogue, “I just like their music!” Of course the flip side of the group’s futurism has always been an odd sort of mechanical shamanism, borne out by their obsession in using kit in ways it wasn’t designed for. It’s never been the case that Autechre got the jump on their peers by having better technolgy, it’s simply that they know how to commune more effectively with the machines that are available; to eke out the maximum of human expressive
feeling. Autechre would go on to greater things but Cichlisuite will always be seen as a crucial aesthetic milestone.
GANTZ GRAF 2002 Much has been written about the title track and its groundbreaking synaesthetic music video but it’s the two longer cuts that make this EP unmissable. Dial. pushes the dark, relentless pulse of Basic Channel’s Axis into savage new directions before seguing into Cap.IV – a juggernaut concoction of distended cut-ups and feverish electronics that hustles the BPMs into four figures before achieving its writhing, entropic denouement.
potential from circuit boards and semiconductors. It’s the most fascinating aspect of their creativity and we wonder: just how much are Autechre themselves intrigued by the music that they make? “Quite a lot. It’s what keeps us doing it really. When you’re working on tracks, what you’re looking for really is a feeling of recognition that something’s good. If I produce a good bit of music and play it to Rob, we’ll both be sitting there thinking ‘fuck, this is good’ but we won’t know why it’s good. I don’t even think like that and I’d find it really unnatural and oddly limiting if I had to. I know a lot of musicians who can talk the talk as well and would be able to break down what I’m doing but I find it’s almost like explaining to a kid what play is. It’s not gonna help, really.” And so to return to our original flight of fancy, one senses that if Booth and Brown were left in charge of Mission Control they wouldn’t be conceited enough to waste energy firing their own records into the great beyond – although they might well be tempted to use SETI’s radio telescopes to scan for a banging intergalactic pirate station. As the absent Brown himself opines in a brief, frosty email exchange subsequent to our chat with Booth: “Music’s only futuristic if you haven’t heard it yet.” Always questing; always questioning, theirs is the music of discovery – a thrilling exploration of the unknown. AUTECHRE PLAY SUB CLUB, GLASGOW ON 16 MAR. OVERSTEPS IS RELEASED VIA WARP ON 22 MAR. AUTECHRE.WS
QUARISTICE. SUBRANGE.EP.AE 2008
A splendid anomaly in the group’s catalogue, this single hour-long track comprises limpid drones, spare, looped samples and barely perceptible microtonal shifts that seem to mimic the serenely dislocating experience of sensory deprivation or deep trance. “It seems to really, genuinely satisy the sort of mission statement for ambient music without being what people would consider ambient at all” says Booth. (Tip: you can snaffle the full MP3 for 99p on Bleep.com under the track title Perlence Subrange 6-36).
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Unknown Pleasures
Music 34 THE SKINNY March 2010
Music
A Tale of Two Cities
A walk around LA can get you shot, loaded, famous or all three. Luckily for Liars there are recording studios to hide out in. Contrasting the city with his time in Berlin, frontman Angus Andrews reflects on a culture clash
Interview Dave Kerr Before pressing the ejector seat button on their involvement in the New York post-punk resurrection show in the early noughties – only to do a Bowie and exile themselves in Berlin for six years – art-punk chameleons Liars had long since characterised their career with huge stylistic shifts from album to album. Having documented their frustration with scenesterism (2001’s They Threw Us All in a Trench and Stuck a Monument on Top), studies of witchcraft (2004’s They Were Wrong, So We Drowned) and an adroit masterclass in tribal percussion (2006’s Drum’s Not Dead), their departure from Berlin in 2007 was marked by a soul-searching self-titled LP where the Liars retraced the follies of youth to produce an album arguably more song-based than the barbed percussive haze of yore. Since returning to the US to record their latest effort, frontman Angus Andrews believes they’re one step closer to working out “what a song is” with Sisterworld. Only took them ten years... You’re nearly a decade into your career with Liars, what is it that keeps driving you back to the studio? “It’s still this idea of just learning and being fascinated with more and more possibilities. We’re not a band that gets itself into a creative rut, it’s never like falling back into a comfortable state – it’s always that the next project is like creating a new band or a new way of making a record. As you go on you start to feel more capable and that brings about more opportunity. I don’t know that ten years ago I would have been sure we’d be writing music for people to play on horns or strings, that I’d ever have the courage to do that.” Liars were lumped in with the whole New York chapter of the post-punk revival when
you first emerged; have you found a way to plough your own furrow since? “Yeah, I don’t know if it’s particular to us [laughs], but it is in our nature to keep evolving. There are great bands around that have stuck to what they know and continue to put that out. It just functions in a different way as music to enjoy more than it does as a challenging or confrontational medium. I just prefer – and I guess it depends on your mood – things that get me thinking, that’s the kind of work I like to make.” In a nutshell, what’s a Sisterworld? “It’s about the idea of identity, or losing it and trying to find it in another place. Where you feel a bit lost and you need to find somewhere to retreat to, to regain that sense of self. That would be a Sisterworld. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a physical place, it could be somewhere mental as well – or in the case of some people it’s ye olde digital space. Somewhere you can feel a bit more connected to your surroundings, rather than the ones that we’re plumped into around the world.” This is the first full album you’ve recorded in the United States in around six years – was it important to the themes at hand that it was done entirely in Los Angeles? Was that a reverse culture shock, to go from relative isolation to a full on pop culture frenzy? “The themes haven’t been that foreign to us for most of our career. A lot of our records have dealt with a certain feeling of uneasiness or alienation. The circumstances that came round to making this record being that we’ve done the last two in Berlin in a certain sense of isolation, we didn’t speak the language and we didn’t have a particularly large community of people to work with or anything, but I think that’s how we wanted it. I do like extremes like that, which some people can’t really understand. The
idea in Berlin was to almost purposefully not engage in the culture, so I didn’t consume TV, newspapers or anything like that while I was there, it’s a real introspective kind of thing. “But when you fuckin’ turn up in LA, man, it’s like mainlining media, it’s non-stop everything coming at you from all sorts of directions – it’s a real turn on, but how much can you handle? Julian [Gross, drums] and Aaron [Hemphill, everything else] were both born and raised there, so I think that desire – to go back home – came pretty early on. If you mix that with the idea of being out of place or what it feels like to be uncomfortable, you lay that over the landscape of LA and realise that you’ve got something to look at and think about.” The lead single [Scissor] and Scarecrows on a Killer Slant are, by your standards, fairly straight up punk rock songs – is that the shape of things to come? Are tracks like these, which fit a slightly more ‘radio friendly’ format for Liars, a reflection of any external pressure to crossover? “I don’t think so; it’s just something you get from yourself internally where you ask ‘what are you looking for? What are your goals?’ Over time it seems to me that we’ve been working slowly towards this idea of ‘what is a song and how does a song work?’ We’ve been thinking more of those traditional elements of melody and verse/chorus/verse. In the past we’ve done pieces that were purely to do with sound so it’s become more interesting to see what it’s like to craft a song, a full album and see how that works as a whole.” The reconstruction of the album that comes with the original hasn’t been put out to the press yet, but it looks like you’ve assembled a bit of a dream team for that. Looking back at
the results, which were you most impressed with? “I’m hesitant to do that – to call any one of them a favourite, because they’re all incomparable – but I remember freaking out when I heard the Alan Vega track; it spun me out because he actually sings on this track with me. It’s just an amazing feeling to have your voice next to Alan Vega’s... so weird. Did you have a very clear idea of the particular people you wanted to approach? “No one said no, which was probably the craziest thing about it. We kept on going up and up until it got to the point of saying ‘who should I ask next? Macca?’ [laughs]. It started with this idea of ‘what is a remix and why is it so damn boring?’ This kind of formula that goes on where you take your single, give it to five different DJs and producers and they put a house beat to it with a long intro. Surely there’s more to talk about and more room in that genre? “I remember we were talking to Thom Yorke and saying ‘you could record your baby crying for five minutes and turn it back to us, that’s totally fine, that makes sense to us because in some way our work has inspired you to do that piece, without any limitation on whether this is the right thing commercially.’ "Mostly I was trying to think of an opposite, someone whose music doesn’t sound at all like the track we were giving them. I was always really looking for females, because I like the idea of my voice coming from that other world.” What went wrong there? It’s called Sisterworld, but where are all the sisters? “They’re all bummed out [laughs]. My sisters were under the impression that they were going to be the cover art. It’s unfortunate, but it’s not quite so literal.” Sisterworld is released via Mute on 8 Mar
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Land Ahoy!
Glaswegian five-piece Olympic Swimmers have risen from the ashes of Bad Dancer but remained under the radar for some time despite their impressive credentials. Singer Susie Liddell explains it's time they bubbled to the surface
Interview Lauren Mayberry Photo Sarah Roberts
IT’S easy not to feel nostalgic for childhood when you consider some of the shit you went through at the hands of your siblings. You know, those times your brother pushed you down the stairs, or his generally fusty aroma. Yet, as you get older, the urge to hold his head under the bath water may begin to subside, such that many musicians – from The Beach Boys to The Breeders – choose to keep it in the family. With Olympic Swimmers, Simon and Susie Liddell keep the good tradition alive. Having played together for years, the brother and sister met bassist, Graeme Smillie and drummer Jonny Scott through the quartet’s previous band Bad Dancer. Second guitarist Jamie Savage was added to their ranks in 2008, cementing their epic indie-folk line-up. Hang on – ‘indie-folk’ – can we call it that? “I would describe our music as shoe-glancing indie that goes down the quiet/loud path, but with lots of wandering around along the way,” says vocalist Susie. “We’re all agreed in our admiration of Low, Pavement, The Wedding Present, The National and Bonnie Prince Billy.” With their sonic frame of reference sorted, the quintet recorded a double A-side single at Glasgow’s Chem 19 studio with award-winning producer Paul Savage (The Delgados, Phantom Band – again, we could go on) last summer. A track titled Jamie’s Brother exemplifies the melodic, almost reluctantly hopeful flavour of their music; at times it’s befitting of a David Gordon Green soundtrack. “I prefer to listen to music that has a balance between the music and the words, where neither is a focus above the other. I’d like to think we
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try to do that,” Susie points out. “I don’t think that I’m particularly melancholic, but I do like a good rant.” Gigging sporadically until now, the Swimmers have achieved an impressive amount in the little time they spend on stage, including support slots for Idlewild and Bowerbirds. A reason for this lack of limelight may simply be their indulgence in extracurricular activities, with full-time members of Take a Worm For a Walk Week, Strike the Colours, Piano Bar Fight, Black Rat Death Squad and Emma Pollock’s band in the
"I DON’T THINK THAT I’M PARTICULARLY MELANCHOLIC, BUT I DO LIKE A GOOD RANT" SUSIE LIDDELL
ranks. “Everyone has a lot of commitments,” admits Susie, “but I suppose you make time for something that you enjoy doing and with people you enjoy doing that with. It’s not exactly like finding time to do the housework.” Of the sense of camaraderie about the Olympic Swimmers and their immediate peers in the west, Susie speaks adoringly: “There is more of an unspoken Glasgow identity and attitude linking acts rather than any real stylistic qualities, meaning it is a lot harder to pigeonhole a lot of the best Scottish bands into any particular category. So, you can get some bands playing on the same bill that on the surface don’t have that much in common, like DeSalvo and Zoey Van Goey.” In the wake of Bad Dancer’s demise, Liddell was not disheartened by the prospect of building everything from the ground again with a band far removed from the ethereal Cure-inflected indie rock vibe of their former incarnation. “I think it was – and is – exciting, not daunting or frustrating, to start something new and have new motivation for doing it. In some ways we’re not really starting over, we’re just doing something different.” As Olympic Swimmers find their focus, that ‘something different’ will hopefully soon be easier for us to stumble across. “We are recording, with the intention of possibly bringing out an EP,” says Susie. “And we have made a New Years’ resolution to play more. Honest.” We’ll be holding them to that. OLYMPIC SWIMMERS SUPPORT THE UNWINDING HOURS AT STEREO, GLASGOW ON 5 MAR AND CABARET VOLTAIRE, EDINBURGH ON 10 APR WITH MEURSAULT AND CONQUERING ANIMAL SOUND WWW.MYSPACE.COM/OLYMPICSWIMMERS
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Black-Eyed Blues For the past couple of years, Fife lass Suzanne Shaw - AKA Panda Su - has been infiltrating the Scottish underground, winning and breaking the hearts of many with her bittersweet acoustic style. It looks like the songwriter's painted face is about to become unavoidable this year Interview Ryan Drever
songs that boast both quirky idiosyncrasy and fragile balladry. Consequently, this quickly heralded an influx of attention and praise from her adopted Glasgow scene as well as many of her peers including fellow Fifers King Creosote and KT Tunstall; owing as much to her intimate live performances as her striking debut EP, Sticks And Bricks. When describing her development as a songwriter, it all appears to be rather effortless, though just as playful and imaginative as you might expect: “I used to write my own lyrics to songs like Greensleeves and Edelweiss on my Yamaha keyboard when I was about 7 years old,” says Shaw. “At 10 I started writing my own songs and would sing them to the other kids in my class. They would make up the backing track using their recorders. Then I spent the next 10 years honing my songwriting skills.” And hone them she has. Though previously self-released, Sticks and Bricks had its official digital release at the end of January. Now, with a trip to Europe and tentative festival dates in the works – already including a welcome return to the annual Fence ‘Homegame’ this month – as well as Shaw’s keen desire to lock herself in her room and get cracking on the next release, the coming year is already looking to be busier and bigger for her bamboo-munching alter-ego.
LIKE that scene at the start of the The Wrestler where Mickey Rourke tapes up his wounds backstage at a community centre, Suzanne Shaw has been known to hunch over bathroom sinks in countless beer-soaked venues for the past couple of years with similar focus, painstakingly painting her face like a panda. No, she’s not crazy, nor is she some part-time children's entertainer. She is, however, one of the most intriguing figures to waltz onto the Scottish circuit in recent times: She is Panda Su. Far from the shock rock gimmickry of yore, Su’s now almost trademark self-decoration is more a reflection of her dry humour, adding a darkly comic tone to her collection of pretty and often remarkably poignant acoustic numbers. However, if it’s not meant as some kind of deliberate, albeit abstract selling point, then what exactly inspired Ms Shaw to emulate her doeeyed muse? “Well, my own name was already in use by Suzanne Shaw who won Dancing on Ice,” she laments. “I wanted the name Panda Bear but that had already been taken too. Then one day I was walking home from the park, I got on the wrong side of two girls and went home with two black eyes. The name Panda Su just sort of stuck.” Collaborating with close friends including producer and former Beta Band-er Steve Mason, Shaw – who hails from St Andrews – has spent the bulk of her time under this deceptively cuddly moniker crafting
PANDA SU PLAYS HOMEGAME, ANSTRUTHER ON 12-14 MAR; SNEAKY PETE’S, EDINBURGH ON 26 MAR (SUPPORTING NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION) AND HINTERLAND, GLASGOW ON 3 APR WWW.MYSPACE.COM/THEPANDASU
Glasgow
Soundhaus 47 HYDEPARK ST, G3 8BW 0141 221 4659 www.soundhaus.co.uk
WITH
DJ Q hosts
PUSSYPOWER and in the wee room
MONKEY BUSINESS 27TH MARCH 2010
11pm til late £5/£7
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MUSIC
Damon Albarn has come a long way since Blur and the heights of Britpop. As the third Gorillaz album gets ready to launch, we consider Albarn's development from indierock singer to multi-genre auteur Text Ally Brown Photo Greg Williams WHAT is the best shorthand to introduce Damon Albarn now? Is it: “former Blur frontman...”? Too retro. Perhaps it’s “Gorillaz mastermind...”? But that forgets his first decade of fame. Is it “Chinese musical composer...”? Well, he’s from Essex, but he has composed a Chinese musical, Monkey: Journey to the West. But that description leaves out Blur and Gorillaz completely, as would any focusing on his The Good, The Bad and The Queen supergroup, or his recording ventures in Western Africa. There is no shorthand for Damon Albarn. He’s done a lot. My first memory of Albarn is as a lairy looking lad singing Girls & Boys on some Saturday morning show, early 1994, I was ten. Country House was the first CD I ever bought, having been persuaded by hype to pick a side and fight for it in the great Britpop battle of 1995. Only £3.99 from Woolworths; fill in your own old man joke here. How the guy who wrote Country House, and the system that sold it, has changed since then. That’s quite a pish song, actually, but I chose the right side in that battle. Do you ever meet people who seem to have listened to the same three bands for the last ten years? Those bands used to be the Stone Roses, Oasis and Ocean Colour Scene. Now, they’re Oasis, Kasabian and Kings of Leon. That’s Noel Gallagher. Blur’s final album, and possibly its best, Think Tank, was recorded in Morocco. Liam Gallagher can’t spell Morocco. Though we didn’t know it in 1995, Damon Albarn is a proper music geek. He’s obsessed by it enough to be curious about its every form. That could make him a dilettante, but, incredibly, he’s morphed his endless curiosity into creativity everywhere he’s turned, and successfully too. Following six Blur albums, four of which had topped the UK album charts, Albarn and his pal Jamie Hewlett thought it’d be fun to invent a virtual group, Gorillaz, 50% hip-hop, 50% everything else. Gorillaz’ self-titled debut was Albarn’s biggest selling record yet. Let’s stop and think about this for a second. Was Blur not big enough for him? Gorillaz gets even bigger. Someone ask Chris Cornell how easy it is for a rock singer to make a good rap record (or, let’s ask Lil Wayne the reverse). Few even attempt it. Then there was Mali Music, Think Tank, which also went to No.1, and the second Gorillaz album Demon Days, which was even better and sold twice as m as the first. Before meeting his Blur bandmates in Morocco for Think Tank, Albarn spent months in Mali recording with local musicians including Toumani Diabaté. Mali Music (2002) gathered little attention in the British press, but it was praised by
those already familiar with Malian sounds. Since then, Diabaté, Ali Farka Touré and Amadou & Mariam have taken Malian music worldwide. It might be a coincidence, or there might’ve been a push. Anyway, critics don’t always take kindly to African sounds: Vampire Weekend get a lot of shit thrown at them for supposedly being “cultural tourists”. How dare middle class Westerners be inspired by African music! That’s all bullshit; but it’s a persistent criticism, easy to cop, avoided by Albarn. The Good, The Bad and The Queen, Mojo’s Album of the Year in 2007, was Albarn with The Verve’s Simon Tong, The Clash’s Paul Simonon, and Fela Kuti’s extraordinary drummer Tony Allen, himself one of the central figures of Nigerian music history. Shall I keep going? In 2008 Albarn and Hewlett created a musical stage show based on an ancient Chinese folk tale; Albarn composed the frequently beautiful score for Monkey Journey to the West. Isn’t this range remarkable? David Bowie is widely praised for his chameolonic tendencies: boho folk, to glam, to soul, to krautrock, to disco, to industrial. That is an impressive range, but those genres are all related, or at least neighbours in the same borough. Madonna gets similar praise for latching onto new fashions early and helping to boost them, in a self-propelling pop-culture-fashionpop cycle. By 2005 Albarn had taken Blur from She’s So High to Moroccan People’s Revolutionary Bowls Club, and made an album of Malian music, and recorded two multi-platinum hip-hop(ish) records with guests like De La Soul, MF Doom, Roots Manuva, and Dennis bloomin’ Hopper. Now, Gorillaz are getting ready to release their third album, Plastic Beach, which includes guest spots from Snoop Dogg, Bobby Womack, Lou Reed, and – if you’ve been following up til now you’ll almost be expecting this – the Lebanese National Orchestra for Oriental Arabic Music. No joke. Is this really the same gurning lad who was leaping around miming “following the herd down to Greece” at the height of Britpop’s pomp? It’s hard to believe. Going to Greece is something he might do, but he certainly wouldn’t be following anyone.
DAMON’S FINEST FOUR BLUR
PARKLIFE Britpop’s finest hour, the album that launched a thousand magazine trend pieces about Essex lads behaving badly. So, that’s mid-90s Britain generalised then, but don’t blame the music. “Yes, they’re stereotypes,” Albarn sang on the first song of next album The Great Escape, “there must be more to life.”
BLUR
THINK TANK With more input from William Orbit and Norman Cook than estranged guitarist Graham Coxon, Blur were forcibly removed from their college rock comfort zone, resulting in their most creative album of all. A glorious final gasp before the burial.
GORILLAZ
DEMON DAYS Before Danger Mouse hit No.1 with Gnarls Barkley, he helped produce Gorillaz’ second album which included a trio of classic singles: the kids’ choir trip-hop of Dirty Harry, the languid groove and manic laugh of Feel Good Inc, and Shaun Ryder lording it over Dare.
MONKEY: JOURNEY TO THE WEST The soundtrack to an opera based on a 500 year-old Chinese folk tale: a belated natural follow-up to Girls & Boys, of course. Monkey is daring, moving, sometimes confounding, and truly unique. It’s also unrecognisable as a Damon Albarn work, an outlier that demonstrates his remarkable range. GORILLAZ’ THIRD ALBUM PLASTIC BEACH IS RELEASED ON 8 MAR VIA EMI.
38 THE SKINNY MARCH 2010
Welcome to Tomorrow, In A Year. A musical project so ambitious that even The Knife's Olof Dreijer had his doubts
Interview Chris Duncan Photo Claudi Thyrrestrup ON the phone from his studio in Stockholm, Olof Dreijer has a confession to make about his latest work: “I knew nothing of opera; I had never even seen one. This project began as a performance piece and at first I thought it would be difficult or impossible to take on a project that I couldn’t realise,” admits Dreijer, one half of the sublime – and typically interview shy – Swedish electronic duo The Knife. “I went to my first opera and then began studying more contemporary composers so that I could approach the area I was being asked to work on. I think our lack of knowledge and preconceptions about opera helped, actually.” Olof is speaking about the recently completed Tomorrow, In A Year, produced by Danish theatre company Hotel Pro Forma. Informed by the evolutionary theory, life and work of Charles Darwin, the production is brought to life by an opera singer, pop vocalist and actor performing The Knife’s music whilst representing Darwin, time and nature on stage. Not entirely a breeze. So how did the soundtrack commission come to arrive in Olof’s lap, given his unfamiliarity with the medium? It seems his background in experimental sounds and secretive production processes proved alluring. “They contacted us and asked us to create the music for this piece,” Olof starts. “We didn’t have experience in this field and I think that’s why they approached us. Hotel Pro Forma have been around since the 80s, so they obviously know what they are doing and they must have thought that our inexperience would have brought a different approach to the project.” As the project began to unfold, Olof was aided and abetted by his sister and other half of The Knife, Karin Dreijer Anderson, who worked on the opera whilst preparing her now successful side project, Fever Ray. The musical process began early in 2008 with the duo adopting Berlin-based experimentalists Janine Rostron and Matthew Sims (AKA Planningtorock and Mt. Sims respectively) as creative family members. The ensemble was completed by Danish mezzo soprano Kristina Wahlin Momme, Danish actress Laerke Bo Winther and Swedish pop singer Jonathan Johansson who shared the variety of remaining vocal parts. As the work unfolded the group studied concrete music – music typically composed of found sounds, often from an unseen source. In this case, The Knife sought recordings of nature. “I had the opportunity to go on a trip to the Amazon and I recorded a lot there whilst I tried to capture individual animal sounds,” reveals Olof. “Of course, in the Amazon, recording individual sounds in all that noise is impossible. In a way, those recordings are very appropriate for the subject matter. And there are sounds that you at first think are random, like the rhythms of a frog chorus for example. But then you start to hear these very strict patterns and rhythms. It’s really fascinating and wonderful.” So how did they approach the idea of representing Darwin’s texts and ideas in song? “Reading about Darwin’s discovery of the development of bird song was important,” asserts Olof, alluding to the imagery on the soundtrack’s sleeve. “Birds learn from one another and add various notes to create an evolving song. From that, I set up a process that would allow my equipment to create an evolving sound with little or no input. It would begin with a note, followed by another from a youngling as it copied from its mother. So I constructed a feedback noise inspired by this. I made a small short sound and let it duplicate until it created something with a completely new character. “Self-copying is a reference to Richard Dawkin’s book The Selfish Gene. By setting up a series of analogue effects that were designed to change into each other we were able to let the sound evolve without having any more input as the system carried out its own evolution.” How easy was it to attach emotion to a piece of work that involved machines creating entire parts of the music themselves and with a subject matter so rooted in science? “We struggled with how to get the super scientific
theory and how to bring emotion to it. How could we explain anything that scientists haven’t already covered? We make music through an intuitive process and that process is what brings the emotion. We had to question what we find natural, that’s what Darwin did in his studies. Once work started, everything began to fall into place. When I was reading Darwin he made references to everything being part of a bigger system.” The daunting prospect of merging advanced electronic music and experimental techniques with opera was made all the more difficult by the different creative parties – composers, choreographer, costume designer and set designer – being apart from Olof and his musical collaborators. How has the opera been received so far? “Most people have liked the music and I’m happy about that,” says Olof. “The main criticism has been the presentation and choreography, which I suppose is part of the process of us all being separated.” Tomorrow, In A Year is set to be released as a double disc audio recording to coincide with the opening of the stage production. It is an expansive and at times challenging record that takes on the mammoth task before it with a lot of skill if not perfection. But where does Olof see this work in the context of The Knife’s catalogue to date? “Well, it’s definitely conceptual. Every sound is motivated by the text of someone other than us, it is lifted straight from Darwin. Also, this is the outcome of a collaboration from four people so it is a whole different process.” The Knife are made special by their desire to remain different and avoid stagnance through repetition. To this day – even after three albums, discounting their soundtrack work – they’ve only embarked on one official tour, a fact which Olof attributes to their struggle to present the music on stage. Now that The Knife has created new material for the Hotel Pro Forma project and Karin’s duties as Fever Ray have indefinitely cooled (with the exception of a date at Coachella Festival in April), might a proper sequel to 2006’s Silent Shout be soon to follow? “There are no plans at the moment,” says Olof, before offering some parting consolation. “There are still a lot of projects on the cards. We’re focusing on the label just now, but we are both open to the idea. Time will tell.” TOMORROW, IN A YEAR BY THE KNIFE IN COLLABORATION WITH MT. SIMS AND PLANNINGTOROCK IS RELEASED VIA BRILLE RECORDS ON 1 MAR
R-EVOLUTIONARY: Jonathan Johansson, Daner Agnete Beierholm in a scene from Tomorrow, In a Year.
"OF COURSE, IN THE AMAZON, RECORDING INDIVIDUAL SOUNDS IN ALL THAT NOISE IS IMPOSSIBLE." OLOF DREIJER MARCH 2010
THE SKINNY 39
MUSIC
Tomorrow's World
RECORDS
THE DIRTY DOZEN
[He hears it] Scott: Man, it’s quite cheesy. There’s no ‘diamonds on the soles of their shoes’ production going on here. Grant: Sounds like a kids TV theme tune. Scott: Yeah, it’s weird. If it wasn’t them I might give this hell. I want to give it an eight though. Grant: What!? I’ll have to give it a one then to even it out. So that’s, what, a five?
Wisely avoiding the televisual horror of The Brit Awards, Darren Carle chaps on the door of Frightened Rabbit brothers Scott and Grant Hutchison to bunker down with a cuppa and diligently take on the March singles.
Peggy Sue – Watchman (Wichita, 22 Mar) [There is a long silence. We point this out to the boys] Scott: It makes you want to listen I suppose. That’s why we’re so silent. Grant: It’s going well. Scott: It keeps changing. That’s good. It’s like a campfire at Glastonbury. Grant: That’s it done. We listened to it all the way through. Scott: That’s a seven I think.
Photo Markus Thorsen Reviewing Personnel: Scott Hutchison (guitar/vocals) Grant Hutchison (drums)
Dan Le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip – Get Better (Sunday Best, Out Now) Scott: It sounds like a kind of educational Streets. Grant: It’s not as clever as the Streets. It sounds like a DJ has found an old recording of elocution lessons and put it against a dance track. Scott: I’m going to give it a six [out of ten]. Grant: Yeah, it’s a strong pass.
Eugene and The Lizards – Bug Juice (Domino, Out Now) Scott: In my head this guy’s got a quiff. It’s not something I would put on willingly. Grant: Yeah, I’m finding it a bit irritating. Scott: I can see some people would enjoy that but they’re the sort of people who have been listening to the same music since 1979. Grant: What are we giving it? Scott: Does it matter? Four?
Fanfarlo – Harold T. Wilkins , or How to Wait for a Very Long Time (Atlantic, 8 Mar) Grant: [immediately] Bit Smashing Pumpkins, there. Scott: [later] It seems to be going on. I think I’m going to turn it off. Grant: No, I’m enjoying it. Something’s going to happen soon. Scott: Is it really!? Bet you a pound it doesn’t. [The track shifts up an octave to a pleasing result] Scott: Maybe I’ll give you 50p then. It’s come good. Grant: That’s an eight.
Expatriate – Blackbird (La Digit, Out Now) Scott: Death Cab on a bad day, so far. [A kick drum comes in] Grant: There you go! Scott: Ha ha. I was just gonna say... Grant: Yeah, there was either going to be a ‘tss tss’ propulsive cymbal there... Scott: ...or a kick drum. I bet they’re all really good looking. I’m sure they’ll be supporting loads of bands for years and years to come. Grant: It’s a four and that’s being kind.
North Atlantic Oscillation – Drawing Maps Form Memory (Kscope, 8 Mar) Scott: It’s like Mew. Grant: I really like the backing but the vocals are a bit watery. Scott: I think it works. [There’s a crunchy guitar bridge breaking the ethereal vibe] Scott: [scrunching up face] That bit I like less. I like my songs to be a bit more consistent. But I like it overall. That’s a seven.
SINGLE OF THE MONTH: WOODENBOX WITH A FISTFUL OF FIVERS
BESIDES THE POINT (Electric Honey, 29 Mar)
She and Him – In The Sun (Domino, 15 Mar) Scott: Could be Wilco at this point. The drum sound is classic. Grant: You can imagine girls like Zooey Deschanel dancing along to this and loving it in their floral pattern dresses. Scott: She has a very distinctive voice as well. Grant: I like it. A seven? Scott: Yeah, OK. Arctic Monkeys – My Propeller (Domino, 22 Mar) Scott: They’re not appealing to the kids and they’re not even trying to. It’s pretty grown up. Grant: If you heard this as a track by any other band it would be the single of the month. Scott: Although if you sped it up it would probably just sound like a riff from the first album. Grant: Yeah. Scott: But on its own as a single it’s good. I can’t find it in me to give it a drubbing, so it’s a six from me.
Broken Bells – The High Road (Columbia, 8 Mar) Scott: I’m definitely a fan of Danger Mouse’s production in general. When I heard he was doing something with James Mercer [of The Shins] it just seemed right. This sounds like the Shins with a bit of swagger about them. Grant: This bit here, I can just hear the Shins. Scott: At face value it’s fine but there’s something more interesting about it because of the history of the two people involved. That’s an unavoidable way of listening to it really. Grant: Let’s give it a seven then.
First Aid Kit – I Met Up With The King (Wichita, Out Now) Grant: Nothing wrong with it. It’s nice. Scott: There’s a lot of this female duo thing going on. It seems too content with itself. Grant: There’s not much of a melodic hook is there? Scott: [turning it off] I’m going to call that a five. Weird that that should be a single. The Hidden Cameras – Underage (Arts and Crafts, 29 Mar) Scott: I’m going to give this a ten before I’ve even heard it!
Scott: Very cool. The brass is awesome. Grant: It sounds like it’s just a bunch of people in a room playing and someone has just hit ‘record’. There’s that kind of ramshackle element to it. It really suits the song. You wouldn’t not dance to that. Scott: [mocking] You “wouldn’t not?” Therefore you would? Grant: Yeah. I’m muddling things with my double negatives. [The song ends] Scott: Fuck yeah. Single o’ the month. Stick a nine on that. FRIGHTENED RABBIT’S THIRD ALBUM THE WINTER OF MIXED DRINKS IS OUT NOW ON FATCAT WWW.MYSPACE.COM/FRIGHTENEDRABBIT
SINGLE REVIEWS THE BOY WHO TRAPPED THE SUN
HOME EP
8 MAR, CHESS CLUB/GEFFEN
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PENSIONER
PENSIONER EP
DEATHPODAL
EXU_WOW EP
OUT NOW, UNSIGNED
OUT NOW, ELECTROPAPKNIT
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Home is an incredibly mature effort for sun-trapping boy Colin MacLeod, considering that he was last spotted drunkenly dishing out Deep Purple covers in an Aberdeen bar. The title track is a finely wrought acoustic blues number that drops a heavy couple of hooks over a deftly stuttered beat, its bravado deceptively drawing in listeners for what turns out to be a sober remainder of an EP. In the Dark is haunted by the ghost of Nick Drake, whilst The Fox finds MacLeod’s vocal floating in the style of Thom Yorke, its pained expression contrasting with serene piano. Producing an arresting voice in such a tried and tested format is no easy task, but Home is an uncommon success. [Joe Barton]
There’slittlestraightforwardaboutPensioner.Thename’samisnomer,theirhistoryis writtenincolourful,far-flungprose,whilstthisself-titleddebutEPisarestless,mutating beastthatjerksandspasmswithinventivetimechangesandunexpected,crunchingcodas, spawnedfromDundonianbandAlamos.OpeningtrackGoodbyeTension,HelloPension carvesseveral,wrong-footingrockcrescendosfromitsdelicateopeningbars,whilstLeCoq Sportif’scontrasting,to-and-frovocalduellingareaneasilyspottedhighlight.Instrumental offeringFromRagstoGlitchesfeelsalittlelostinamongstitall,andperhapshighlightsthat Pensionerneedtheirall-singingabilitiestotietheirmanystringstogether.Thankfully,finale CreditCrunch,SchmeditSchmunch(wheredotheygetthesewonderfultitles?)getsthese seniorcitizensbackontrack.[DarrenCarle]
In little over 21 minutes, solo music encyclopedia Al Chivers invites comparisons to some of the most far-flung influences one man can surely muster. This EP kicks off in the realms of Constellation’s Exhaust and quickly morphs into Billy Mahonie before the first track has even expired. There are a couple of bursts of feral, lo-fi rock, reminiscent of the dissonant early nineties that give way to Set Fire To Flames-esque, quasi-musical weirdness. It’s diverse and consistently well done, yet could earn equally high praise as a compilation. From what’s on offer here, there is the potential for a number of quality bands to sprout in each direction. One thing is for sure, Mr Chivers certainly has no lack of options. [Chris Cusack]
SUPPORTING LISA MITCHELL AT KING TUT’S, GLASGOW ON 6 MAR.
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/PENSIONERBAND
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/DEATHTOAL
40 THE SKINNY MARCH 2010
Post-hardcore forefathers Jawbox re-release their long out-of-print masterpiece this month, we reappraise its charm and considerable influence
WWW.TENTRACKS.CO.UK
OUT NOW ON TEN TRACKS HIDDEN DOOR 2 (THE POLICE BOX)
A collection of top quality, live multi-tracked recordings sourced from the recent Hidden Door festival, mixed and mastered by Ten Tracks inhouse engineer Frankie Lowe. The bundle also features tracks that include samples of the crowd, sourced from the Hidden Microphone installation - so if you were there at the Hidden Door, you might even hear yourself somewhere on this bundle... spooky.
Text Chris Cusack Photo Katherine Davis GENERALLY accepted as one of the most accomplished albums to emerge from the fertile Washington D.C. scene of the early nineties, the remastering of For Your Own Special Sweetheart sharpens the guitars and fills out the bottom end of the sound on an already brilliant recording. The addition of three bonus tracks, including the excellent 68, is simply the icing on a most delicious cake. That’s the bare bones for those of you lucky enough to already own it. For the uninitiated, it’s perhaps prudent to illuminate the genesis of Jawbox’s masterpiece. Amongst its many highlights include the breakthrough MTV single Savory (later adopted to stunning effect in a collaboration between Deftones and Far), the brilliantly jagged Cruel Swing and teeth-gritting opener FF=66. The latter particularly exemplifies the way in which this pivotal group united progressive D.C. hardcore with the brittle, angular fury of Chicago’s noise scene. The textured guitar of Tar and gargling bass of Shorty were seamlessly merged with Fugazi’s sense of experimentalism and the results can feasibly be seen to pave the way for the last ten years of post-hardcore. It’s strange to think that, at the time of its original creation, Sweetheart was the subject of considerable controversy. Prior to its release, many DIY scenesters of the day were indignant following Jawbox’s decision to leave the ultra-hip Dischord Records and sign for Atlantic, one even writing to the band wishing them death in a fiery van crash. Yet Jawbox demonstrated great savvy by carefully negotiating the terms of their major label contract, maintaining full creative control of their work. They knew the risks to their credibility but, on the back of the feeding frenzy generated largely by Nirvana’s ascendency to the mainstream, it presented an opportunity they felt was too good to pass up. With two musically-strong but weakly-produced albums behind them it was arguably – and somewhat ironically – the larger studio budget afforded to them by Atlantic that helped finally capture Jawbox’s live brilliance on tape. Theirs was indeed a steep learning curve (their first ever show was with Fugazi) and yet it was only the transition to Atlantic that finally allowed J Robbins and co. to travel outwith the USA. Besides, for all the accusations levelled at them, Jawbox’s own imprint, DeSoto, founded to put out their debut EP, is one of the US underground’s most enduring independent labels and the driving force
www.hiddendoor.org
LEITH RECORDS 1
An array of new Scottish talent is featured in this bundle, and the launch of new Edinburgh label Leith Records - based on a barge in Leith! With brand new tracks from Little Eskimos, Come On Gang, Six Storeys High, plus welcome returns to Ten Tracks from A Band Called Quinn and Over The Wall, it's a study in catchiness. Launching just last month, Leith Records also have a monthly show on Leith FM Radio - well worth tuning into when you're next in Edinburgh (98.8FM).
LISTINGS MARCH 2010
MANY DIY SCENESTERS WERE INDIGNANT FOLLOWING JAWBOX'S DECISION TO LEAVE THE ULTRAHIP DISCHORD RECORDS AND SIGN FOR ATLANTIC, ONE EVEN WRITING TO THE BAND WISHING THEM DEATH IN A FIERY VAN CRASH behind this re-release. The band’s subsequent and final eponymouslytitled album, though strongly delivered and well-written – and despite College radio picking up on an inspired cover of Tori Amos’ Cornflake Girl – never quite scaled the heights of its predecessor, with many suggesting that it was too polished and lacked the balance of powerful production and raw punk attitude so prevalent on Sweetheart. So it stands that For Your Own Special Sweetheart remains Jawbox’s crowning achievement: one demanding investigation by any fan of contemporary post-hardcore as well as a rebuke to anyone convinced that no good can come from working with a major label, albeit a rare bit of testimony to that effect. FOR YOUR OWN SPECIAL SWEETHEART IS RERELEASED VIA DESOTO ON 29 MAR
ROXY ROOM, Roxburgh Place Edinburgh Friday 5th March Braw Gigs presents: Heatsick (Steven Warwick from Birds of Delay’s solo project) Blue Sabbath Black Fiji Windordamonsbeast Lamplighter. Saturday 6th March Esperi, with Iona Marshall & Mayhew. Doors 19:00 Tickets: £5 Friday 12th March Punch and the Apostles, with Wounded Knee, Pineapple Chunks, Horsebreaker (JL Williams) Doors 19:00 Tickets: £5 Saturday 13th March Lipsync for a Lullaby, with The Foundling Wheel, plus special guests Doors 19:00 Tickets: £5 Wednesday 17th March Crab Tea Eclectic, Art College Degree Show fundraiser,Lineup tbc. Doors 19:00 Tickets: £5 Thursday 18th March Scree Magazine presents: The Douglas Firs, with Helhesten, Tomthenoisemonger, Alan the Hexagon, Magic Poncho. Doors 19:00 Tickets: £5 Friday 19th March Randan Discotheque, with The Byrons plus special guests Doors 19:00 Tickets: £5
Saturday 20th March Grind Sight Open Eye presents: Free improvisation, noise, electro acoustic, avant garde and the like, (feat. member of Whitehouse). Doors 19:00 Tickets: £5 Friday 26th March An evening with Wise Blood Industries Featuring Alan Bissett performing sections of The Moira Monologues and The Shutdown, Adam Stafford(Y’all is Fantasy Island), The Kays Lavelle, Burnt Island and Jamie Sturock. Doors 19:00 Tickets: £5
STEREO, Renfield Lane, Glasgow Wednesday 10th March Punch & The Apostles, with The One Ensemble Two and special guests. Doors 19:00 Tickets: £1 TEN TRACKS LIMITED EDITIONS SERIES No.1: THE VERDEN WHISTLE TEST Saturday 27th March Verden Studios, Portobello (Fishwives Causway) 10 Artists, 2 rooms, 1 DVD 100 tickets available Resulting DVD comes with every ticket
Buy your Ten Tracks tickets at...
THE NOT JUST FOR PROFIT TICKETING SERVICE www.BrownPaperTickets.co.uk www.tentracks.co.uk MARCH 2010
THE SKINNY 41
RECORDS
A special Sweetheart
ADVERTISING PROMOTION
RECORDS
ALBUM OF THE MONTH: AUTECHRE
OVERSTEPS 22 MAR, WARP
rrrrr Having aggressively tested the limits of loop-based electronic music with the diamond-perfect vignettes of 2008’s Quaristice, Oversteps finds Autechre revisiting more melodic compositional methods. In doing so they’ve managed to strike a near perfect balance between the radical modes that characterise their recent work and the stirring textures of their salad days. Although many tracks employ beats sparingly or eschew them altogether, the record’s brilliant procession of synthetic tones generate their own unique and fascinating kind of kinetic energy. Album highlight Treale teasingly shifts its structure between
the aleatoric and the metrical before resolving into the single most devestating melodic motif that Autechre have ever written - we’ve been caning it for two months now and we’re still getting goosebumps. “We didn’t hold back at all on this one” says Sean Booth of the album’s unusual emotional charge, and he’s not wrong. By bringing their production genius to bear on such deep reserves of human feeling Autechre have created their most important record since 2001’s game-changing Confield. [Mark Shukla] AUTECHRE PLAY SUB CLUB, GLASGOW ON 16 MAR. AUTECHRE.WS
ALBUM REVIEWS FRIGHTENED RABBIT
LIARS
THE KNIFE
THE WINTER OF MIXED DRINKS
SISTERWORLD
TOMORROW, IN A YEAR
OUT NOW, FATCAT
8 MAR, MUTE
OUT NOW, BRILLE RECORDS
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Frightened Rabbit’s third album lands with both the pressure of the past and the expectation of the future weighing heavily on its shoulders. Yet with its refined production and singer Scott Hutchison’s sunnier disposition, The Winter of Mixed Drinks assuredly side-steps negative comparisons with The Midnight Organ Fight, whilst building a platform for the Rabbits to reach a wider audience. Hutchison’s barbed wisdom has certainly been tempered, initially feeling like the loss of a good friend. But with songwriting of this calibre it would be mean-spirited for old fans to stoically expect the band to remain static. Swim Until You Can’t See Land will see the cap of their previous bittersweet anthems open so that even indie-Mum can join in, whilst Skip The Youth shows the band skilfully stretching out of their usual confines to glorious, uplifting effect. Frightened Rabbit are that little bit happier. You will be too. [Darren Carle]
Inspired by the profound sense of alienation which clouds Los Angeles, Liars present the abrasive Sisterworld: a place where funeral choir vocals are met with reckless thrash-punk abandon (Scissor) and frontman Angus Andrew dares to ask ‘why’d you pass the bum on the street?’ (Scarecrows on a Killer Slant). Distortion and delay take prominence over their old friend Drum, and although lulling cuts like Drip and the hazy, Y Control aping Proud Evolution give measured respite from the minefield of barbed guitars and feral time shifts, there’s a relative directness at play which scratches an itch that the trio’s ADD has often left in the past. The companion disc of remixes was still under strict lock and key as we went to print, but with reinterpretations from kindred spirits like Melvins, Bradford Cox and Suicide’s Alan Vega beefing up the tracklist, Sisterworld looks like an attractive getaway this spring. [Dave Kerr]
To try to imagine a scenario where you might want to listen to an electronic opera about Charles Darwin’s evolution theory would be to miss the point of Tomorrow, In A Year entirely. But equally, to appreciate this soundtrack without its visual façade is by no means straightforward either. Anyone expecting more pulsating Nordic electronica from The Knife will have to endure a first half of Amazonian field recordings, inscrutable vocal interplay and jarring feedback. Weird doesn’t begin to cover it. But there is payback for more adventurous listeners. The metallic clang of Variation Of Birds gives way to beguiling operatics, and even the most non-musical stretches at least sound interesting. CD2 is rather more accessible: The Height Of Summer could be an offcut from Silent Shout, and the aptly named Tumult gives way to Colouring Of Pigeon’s irresistable heartbeat and primordial cello. This radical opera crackles with genius and creativity, even if it does upset the traditionalists. Darwin would approve. [Nick Mitchell]
WWW.FRIGHTENEDRABBIT.COM
WWW.THESISTERWORLD.COM
THEKNIFE.NET
GORILLAZ
TO ROCOCO ROT
TRIPS AND FALLS
PLASTIC BEACH
SPECULATION
HE WAS SUCH A QUIET BOY
8 MAR, EMI
29 MAR, DOMINO
22 MAR, SONG BY TOAD
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Last year a couple of L.A. producers gathered an all-star cast of guests for an album about peace, love and understanding: N.A.S.A.’s The Spirit of Apollo was an idealistic dream that proved impossible to execute. Gorillaz’ third album Plastic Beach is reminiscent because its impressive and wide-ranging cast list – Snoop Dogg, Lou Reed, Mos Def, Mark E. Smith and more – has gathered to grumble about consumption and pollution issues, and because the variety of guests has forced Damon Albarn into some dizzyingly eclectic styles. When Snoop’s drawl gives way to bongo rapping and a shimmering synth line is replaced by an ornate flute melody, you have to check you’re not set to shuffle. The star of this show is Bobby Womack, whose pained warble adorns Cloud Of Unknowing and brilliant first single Stylo; beyond that, there’s a lot of filler. That’s the problem with all-star albums: it’s hard to cut the lesser tracks when you made them with your heroes. [Ally Brown]
For their eighth album, To Rococo Rot maintain their established aesthetic – impersonal atmosphere, sparingly stocked with isolating electronics and organic krautrock grooves. Their music does very little, but it does it well. Seele is an early treat, its processed piano striking and shattering glitchy electronica and intricate drums, but it’s relatively conventional by the Berlin trio’s standards. Things don’t get weird till No Way To Prepare’s tuneless squall, but that’s only a thirty-second bridge linking the sparse pulse of Forwardness to Working Against Time’s minimal synth-squiggles. The closing Fridays is a more interesting departure from the template; washes of electronic noise are lightly infiltrated by organ courtesy of Faust’s Jochen Irmler, the amorphous result shifting throughout its ten and a half minute sprawl. But dissecting Speculation and analysing its tracks individually is to drain it – as a complete work this is an excellent addition to a moody discography. [Chris Buckle]
Trips and Falls are full of surprises. Prelude To A Shark Attack, for example, sounds nothing like the Jaws theme; instead, it’s a moving Ballboyesque sob-serenade. Male and female voices take turns to acquiesce to the dreams of the other: he’s willing to run away with her; she promises to one day settle down. When their voices combine it’s stirring; when they start to simultaneously sing opposing plans, it’s heartbreaking. A song so smart in form and so devastatingly beautiful in content is rare, and alone would be enough to recommend the Montreal quartet. But it’s only a slither of this record’s wonders: from the dizzy spin of And In Real Life He Wears Corduroy Pants’ off-kilter melody to You Should Really Get Yours’ sinister threats, they excel. Their woozy experiments sound like a band that decided to play their instruments backwards and blindfolded – and discovered it worked. [Chris Buckle]
WWW.GORILLAZ.COM
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/TOROCOCOROT
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/THETRIPSANDFALLS
BONOBO
DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN
POLAR BEAR
BLACK SANDS
OPTION PARALYSIS
PEEPERS
29 MAR, NINJA TUNE
22 MAR, PARTY SMASHER INC/SEASON OF MIST
OUT NOW, THE LEAF LABEL
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There are a few new strands woven into the tapestry of Simon Green’s Bonobo. The surprises start with Kiara Prelude, whose lush strings drop into warm, distinctly electronic breakbeats laced with sub bass and a swash of cut-up vocal samples. The electronic influences continue on the hip-hop / jazz hybrid of Swing, and the sparse but soulful 2-step of Eyesdown. Even more familiar-sounding tracks such as All in Forms have a warm digital sheen to them. Green pulls this off without once compromising the epic, organic sweep he achieved on Days To Come. Andreya Treyana’s vocals pack less punch than previous collaborator Bajka, but she does lend an earthy, soulful quality to the album. Its closing title track is an understated waltz which effortlessly shows Green’s skills as a composer and producer, on a par with labelmates The Cinematic Orchestra. He also has at least one ear still on the bassbins. The results are simultaneously beautiful and heavy. [Bram Gieben]
Thirteen years on, DEP’s current staff bears little resemblance to that original maelstrom of god-baiting vitriol and intimidating technicality. Of the founding fathers, only Ben Weinman remains – accompanied by late-arrival Liam Wilson – and since 1999’s Calculating Infinity knocked the bar numerous notches higher for every mathcore group on the circuit, it's all gotten subtly but progressively more pedestrian. Certainly replacement vocalist Greg Puciato had big shoes to fill but, whilst his original melodic input seemed a logical progression, incorporating the influence of one-time collaborator Mike Patton, here he frequently strays a little too close to an angry Brandon Boyd [ouch! - ed]. Consciously or otherwise, courting mainstream success seems to have turned 18 certificate Dillinger into 15 certificate Dillinger. Option Paralysis is certainly packed with ability and the band still pursues ingenuity but, whether down to the lure of mass appeal or not, DEP are in danger of letting the rest of the musical pack catch up. [Chris Cusack]
While you don’t need credentials to review an album (shhhh, don’t tell anyone), a familiarity with the genre at hand usually pays dividends. So I’ll come clean and admit my jazz-experience amounts to Giant Steps and early Miles Davis – nothing recent, and certainly nothing cut from the same experimental cloth as Seb Rochford and co. So I should probably humbly decline an opinion, right? Nah. Because removing the potentially-daunting ‘post-jazz’ label reveals enjoyably off-the-wall compositions which can be appreciated without a vocabulary of wailin’ and burnin’. Sure, the horns honking throughout Drunken Pharaoh might test the patience of non-aficionados, but generally this is an atmospheric fifty minutes with similarities (in accessible-yet-challenging-scene-darling attitude, if not necessarily aesthetics) to the likes of Animal Collective or Four Tet. Purists may conclude otherwise, but in the opinion of this layman an infiltration of the jazz-allergic mainstream would be very nice indeed.[Chris Buckle]
WWW.BONOBOMUSIC.COM
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/DILLINGERESCAPEPLAN
WWW.POLARBEARMUSIC.COM
42 THE SKINNY MARCH 2010
THE BESNARD LAKES
FURSAXA
EMMA POLLOCK
ARE THE ROARING NIGHT
MYCORRHIZAE REALM
THE LAW OF LARGE NUMBERS
8 MAR, JAGJAGUWAR
8 MAR, ATP
OUT NOW, CHEMIKAL UNDERGROUND
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It’s surprisingly difficult to feel let down by a new Besnard Lakes LP. Big on instrumentation and flowing melodies, the Montreal ensemble’s previous efforts sounded out a band with the capacity to combine indie rock appeal with complex arrangements. Album number three is as disarming as its predecessors. The dark, moonlit soundscapes of Like The Ocean, Like The Innocent... Pt. II: The Innocent and Light Up the Night meld post-rock structures with gooey harmonies to mesmerising effect. Chicago Train is equally engaging, passing from horn-blushed lilt to reverb-sodden ethereal pop without the trace of a seam. The record’s cavernous aesthetic can jade in places, with the comparatively tired Land Of Living Skies, PtII: The Living Skies and album closer The Lonely Moan teetering between comatose and barely conscious. But, despite these lulls, The Besnard Lakes have composed an enriching mosaic of sound that comes very close to fulfilling its ambition. [Billy Hamilton]
Let me save you a trip to Wikipedia: a mycorrhiza is a symbiotic association between a fungus and the roots of a plant, which would locate a mycorrhizae realm beneath the topsoil, deep in the earth. Fursaxa (a.k.a. experimental songwriter Tara Burke) fills this domain with uncanny sounds: opener Lunaria Exits the Blue Lodge is an atmospheric awakening that evokes the breaking of dawn; Ode To Galliard’s sinister cello lurks beneath wails and moans thick with mystery; while Well of Tuhala’s wispy spell should soundtrack graveyard sleepwalks. Whether you’ll find this esoteric hokum or enchanting genius can be gauged by your reaction to the penultimate Charlote. A funereal dirge leavened by Mary Lattimore’s harp, its accessible beauty is shaken by its sudden collapse six minutes in. As the bottom drops away you’re either dazzled by its daring or frustrated by its abstruseness; if the former, dig this out. [Chris Buckle]
After a couple of relatively quiet years Emma Pollock redefines herself on her second album, her solo career no longer relying upon residual goodwill earned during her time with the Delgados. Its exquisite centrepiece House on the Hill will be familiar to anyone who attended The Burns Unit’s inauguration at last year’s Celtic Connections festival, and it’s even more magisterial in this incarnation. The switch from tempestuous piano runs in the verse to stalled heartbreak in the chorus is potently powerful, the slightly unhinged air it generates packing emotional punch. Nothing else matches it, but some come close: after an opening piano overture the punchy Hug The Harbour leaps from the speakers, while The Loop’s eerie waltz mesmerises. After the comparatively underwhelming Watch the Fireworks, The Law of Large Numbers proves solo Pollock just as exciting a prospect as her former band were at their peak a decade ago.[Chris Buckle]
THE BESNARD LAKES PLAY CAPTAIN’S REST, GLASGOW ON 28 MAR
WWW.FURSAXA.NET
EMMA POLLOCK PLAYS KING TUT’S, GLASGOW ON 19 MAR
WHITE HINTERLAND
KAIROS
NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION
8 MAR, DEAD OCEANS
GRAPPLING HOOKS
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22 MAR, KSCOPE
Lesser bands must hate White Hinterland. Armed with gorgeous swells of jazzy-electronica, Casey Dienel and Shaun Creeden make the complicated sound ridiculously easy. Fluttering out like a cool morning breeze, the Portland-based duo’s sophomore LP is an irresistible 40 minutes of deceivingly minimal textures and rhythms. Much of the tranquillity comes from Dienel, whose glorious intone is an unavoidable focus. Wandering blissfully above the thumps of Icarus and album stand out Cataract, her gentle mew is as enchanting as an aural hypnosis session. To shrug this aside as another female voice-driven waltz does no justice to the musical finesse on offer. By knotting together reams of organic samples with spacious beats, tracks like Huron form an entangled, yet strangely delicate, mesh that does the groundwork for Dienel to take flight. Both pure and oh so simple, the only difficult thing about this record is removing it from your stereo. [Billy Hamilton] WWW.WHITEHINTERLAND.COM
ROB SWIFT
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CHRIS BRADLEY
AT THE OUTPOST 29 MAR, 17 SECONDS
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As a title, Grappling Hooks is highly ironic given that North Atlantic Oscillation’s debut album is sorely lacking a stable influence to give it some grounding. Make no mistake, this is an ambitious album as the Edinburgh trio throw every trick in their arsenal at a mighty big canvas. Inevitably some of it sticks, particularly when NAO play it reasonably straight on the spaced-out Cell Count and Drawing Maps From Memory. Most of the time though, the roll call of influences on any one song is dizzying the end results are often wholly derivative. Some Blue Hive couldn’t be more Sophtware Slump-era Grandaddy if its life depended on it, whilst the wholesale theft of Sigur Rós on Ritual’s opening half is as unimaginative as it is blatant. North Atlantic Oscillation have the potential to make a great album for sure, but they need to make their Pablo Honey before they attempt OK Computer. [Darren Carle]
Singer-songwriter Chris Bradley joined Edinburgh quirk-poppers Aberfeldy shortly after their second album Do Whatever Turns You On. From the sound of his second solo album, Bradley’s personal litany of trouser-bothering influences include Jackson Browne and The Eagles. Sometimes his drive-time FM emulation works: the frail falsetto of The Man I Love resembles Neil Young (his lesser material admittedly, but Young nonetheless); Goddess of Love’s shifting tempo carries shades of Love; while Running Song survives dodgy lyrics by powering on in an Elton John vein. But Your Close Friend’s gospel-blues is listless, and the less said about Status Quo pastiche (at least I hope it’s pastiche) The Beatles the better. Ultimately it’s not the old-fashioned sources that disappoint (some of my best friends are artists from your dad’s record collection), but the tepid execution; it’s ‘Mojo Magazine: The Musical’ and it’s considerably less than the sum of its forebears.[Chris Buckle]
PLAYING SNEAKY PETE’S, EDINBURGH ON 26 MAR AND THE CAPTAIN’S REST, GLASGOW ON 27 MAR
ALBUM LAUNCH AT THE ROXY ARTHOUSE, EDINBURGH ON 27 MAR
BABY DEE
ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT
THE ARCHITECT
BOOK OF SONGS
COCONUT
22 MAR, IPECAC
OUT NOW, TIN ANGEL
OUT NOW, DOMINO
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It often seems that the further hip-hop progresses, the more it sounds like industrial music from 20-odd years ago, albeit with an impeccable groove. Ex-X-Ecutioner turntablist Rob Swift ruins needle after needle to ask the question “what would composers like Chopin and Bach do if scratching existed back in their time?” I’m not sure The Architect approximates anything like that, but it is certainly a heady cocktail of atmospheres, textures, routines, genre-smashing, looping and mashing and goes a long way to (again) qualify the turntable as a valid compositional tool. Drawing upon good ol’ electro funk, organ runs, knuckle-dragging a Cappellas, creepy cinematic horror ambience, bad ass horns, stabbing strings, chamber ensemble drones and all manner of found sounds and noises, The Architect literally builds its way up from those components via scratching, layering and manipulation to create a perfect balance between out’n’out boom-bap swagger and moments of tense terror. [Ali Maloney]
The press release for Book Of Songs declares Baby Dee “the epitome of the phrase ‘back story’”. Surprisingly, this apparent hyperbole is supported by a spot of online research, which sheds some light on her life’s twists and turns (too many to go into here). At first the music isn’t quite so interesting; a pale approximation of Antony Hegarty’s androgynous chamber pop (the album is produced and arranged by touring Johnson Maxim Moston). It’s less theatrical than its predecessor Safe Inside The Day (or should that be successor - 150 copies of these songs were released back in 2004) and there’s a lingering air of pretentiousness to huskily sighed lyrics like “so write my song with a triad bright as a belt of stars”. But after a few listens it seductively slides beneath the skin, the odd beauty of her poetry making this wider release more than worthwhile. [Chris Buckle]
With 2006’s aptly titled Derdang Derdang, Archie Bronson Outfit hit a seemingly effortless groove of knuckle-bruising, country-soaked rock with a keen ear for a memorable chorus. You could have conceivably criticised the London trio for milking a one-song blueprint to its limit, but never disputing that song being a beauty in the first place. More of the same would have been a sterile endeavour, and so follow-up Coconut finds the Bronson’s proverbial record needle skipping all over the shop. It opens with the hypnotic space-rock freak out Magnetic Warrior then quickly follows it up with stuttering, funk-led single Shark’s Tooth, producer Tim Goldsworthy’s DFA production at its most evident. The common thread throughout Coconut comes back to the band’s near-mythical worshipping of old-school guitar riffage and psychedelic, yet accessible vocals. It’s experimental in the face of Derdang Derdang, but the tune is still assuredly king. [Darren Carle]
WWW.DJROBSWIFT.COM
WWW.MYSPACE.COM/THEONLYBABYDEE
ARCHIE BRONSON OUTFIT PLAY KING TUT’S, GLASGOW ON 26 MAR
RM HUBBERT
FIRST & LAST OUT NOW, UBISANO
rrr El Hombre Trajeado are lost icons of Glasgow DIY. I say this as someone who had never heard of them prior to this review commission, but whose excitement has been well and truly piqued by the tracks found online. Former member RM Hubbert’s debut solo album generates significantly less excitement, but perhaps that’s just a matter of preference: personally, late-Fugazi grooves cross-pollinated by a glitchy Yo La Tengo have always appealed more than instrumental flamenco-guitar compositions. As a pay-what-you-like release accompanied by a ‘will-play-for-food’ gigging arrangement, it’s clear that Hubbert hasn’t lost his self-sufficiency, and perhaps it’s better to consider First & Last a low-key reintroduction ahead of his already-in-the-works second album (which carries the more fulfilling promise of Aidan Moffat, Alasdair Roberts and Emma Pollock collaborations). Till then I’ll stick to downloading El Hombre Trajeado’s back catalogue, gratis, from their website – thanking you kindly Mr Hubbert. [Chris Buckle]
TOP FIVE ALBUMS
1) AUTECHRE OVERSTEPS 2) FRIGHTENED RABBIT THE WINTER OF MIXED DRINKS 3) LIARS SISTERWORLD 4) EMMA POLLOCK THE
LAW OF LARGE NUMBERS
5) WHITE HINTERLAND KAIROS
REVIEWS ONLINE r rrr rrr rr rrr rrr rrr rrr rrr rr rrrr rrr rrr
ALPHABEAT THE BEAT IS... BARREN EARTH CURSE OF THE RED RIVER THE BLACK BOX REVELATION SILVER THREATS BOMB THE BASS BACK TO LIGHT DAN LE SAC VS. SCROOBIUS PIP THE LOGIC OF CHANCE DUM DUM GIRLS I WILL BE IAIN SHAW MAY YOU LIVE ALL THE DAYS OF YOUR LIFE KRIS DREVER MARK THE HARD EARTH LAURA MARLING I SPEAK BECAUSE I CAN THE RUBY SUNS FIGHT SOFTLY SAMBASSADEUR EUROPEAN SERENA MANEESH NO.2 ABYSS IN B MINOR WOODEN SHJIPS VOL. 2
MARCH 2010
THE SKINNY 43
RECORDS CLUBS
ALBUM REVIEWS
Mastodon Barrowlands, 19 Feb
St Deluxe
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Stereo, 6 Feb
rrr It’s always a shame when an audience is tardy, leaving a band like Licker (***) to play to the walls. However, the band themselves don’t seem too fazed and manage to coast through a set of chunky, infectious guitar pop with minimal fuss. A few selfdeprecating quips delivered with cheeky grins suggest this trio are having more fun than you might think. On to Peter Parker (***), who make no bones about how happy they are – well, mainly singer/guitarist Roz Davies who grins and dances to every beat of the band’s ragged yet utterly sunny tunes. A broken bass and mysterious tempo drops aside, the harmonies are spot on and the guitars mush together to create a shimmering backdrop to their endearing yelps. As the last cluster of bodies finally pile inside, St Deluxe (***) set about asserting their position as headliners. Covers, new cuts – including latest single After The Fire, being launched here tonight – and fan favourites like Stupid Ideas and Can’t Change are delivered with the youthful exuberance of a bedroom jam and the visceral guitar attack of J Mascis. Despite the occasional instrumental meandering, tonight’s performance is confident and well executed; as blissfully melodic as it is truly ear-baiting. [Ryan Drever]
photo: Heidi Kuisma
Packing an abridged revision of the set they played at the ABC last summer – even if they are on stage for nigh on 90 minutes – Atlantan sludge behemoths Mastodon return to give Crack the Skye to Glasgow within the more homely environs of the Barrowlands. Though a gruelling tour schedule is surely to blame for rendering tonight’s full album performance workmanlike (Troy Sanders seems to be the only guy with any puff left), the accompanying visual montage of bearded Tsarists and eerie Russian period pieces has since evolved into something which holds its own interest and more accurately fits the ambition of the prog-metal opus’s astral-travelling narrative (in lieu of the full-blown feature film they’d hoped Warner might finance). Come the encore, the remaining three are finally up on par with Sanders for an all-too-brief pick’n’mix exploration of a catalogue with expansive range and dynamism; Brent Hinds jolts awake from his haze and Brann Dailor stands up to give it a little more Lars during the thunderous, bowel-loosening segue of Iron Tusk and March of the Fire Ants. Crack the Skye was a trip, but Mastodon might want to start drip-feeding it to the crowd if they mean to kick our ass all night long. [Bob Morton]
www.myspace.com/lickermusic www.myspace.com/peterparkerglasgow www.stdeluxe.co.uk
www.cracktheskye.com
Vampire Weekend
Yeasayer
HMV Picture House, 14 Feb
Òran Mór, 17 Feb
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Vampire Weekend’s preppy chic was always going to go down a treat on a school night in Edinburgh, but the ecstatic cheers from teenaged girls suggest the New York quartet has breached all-out heartthrob territory overnight. Entering to DJ Kool’s Let Me Clear My Throat, they reach for White SkyAnd Holiday from sophomore offering Contra before indulging in the first of several call and response karaoke jams with Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa. “We’ve got a reputation as some hard motherfuckers,” jokes Ezra Koenig, “but every tough guy has a soft side.” Cue a rousing run-through of Ben E. King soul standard Stand By Me (it is Valentine’s night after all) which has the ladies in rapture all over again. But it’s only when the blinding veneer of their Graceland-inflected schtick momentarily subsides during the beautifully understated Taxi Cab that the possibility of a band with weightier ideas flashes its fangs. [Johnny Langlands]
Having shed their ‘Enya with bounce’ mantra to become ‘Depeche Mode on peyote,’ as facelifts go Yeasayer have undergone more than a little nip and tuck since 2007’s All Hour Cymbals. As if announcing this renewal of aesthetic purpose, the icy echo of Q Lazzarus’ Goodbye Horses ushers the Baltimore-via-Brooklyn trio – tonight fleshed out as a five-piece – onto a stage lit like a neon karaoke booth. Clearly liberated in their embrace of euphoric pop cheddar and squelchy euro house, there’s no danger of a limb staying still. Sure, The Children crawls out of the speaker like a legless Terminator from a hydraulic press, but it’s the most downbeat thing they’ll play all night. Soon we’ve got Tightrope – taken from last year’s all-star Dark Was The Night compilation – making a welcome appearance, a firm middle ground between their debut’s infatuations with tribal percussion and Odd Blood’s ‘synthesizers gone wild’ predilection. But it’s the epic oriental vibe of Madder Red – helmed by Anand Wilder’s lilting vocal – and the arms-aloft glory of Love Me Girl which attest that this about-turn might ultimately prove to be Yeasayer’s best foot forward. [Dave Kerr]
www.vampireweekend.com photos: stewart fullerton
Music
Live reviews
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www.hotchip.co.uk
It pays to have influential friends. First White Rabbits acquire the production skills of Britt Daniel for second album It’s Frightening, then the Spoon frontman invites them on tour. But with a well-oiled hype machine currently pushing the band, Daniel’s patronage seems superfluous, White Rabbits likely capable of filling Tuts without their mentor’s help. They fly through their 45 minutes like a more forcefully percussive Cold War Kids, with up to half the sextet fervently bashing out paradiddles at any one time, and while it feels a touch over-familiar, it firmly cements their talents. There are Rabbits accompanying the headliners too, intermittently assisting their esteemed touring partners on drums and keys. “Oh my gawd!” screeches a North American voice nearby, “no one knows anything! I’m the only one that knows them!” Her smug protest (if not, alas, her voice box) is rendered mute by the cheers greeting every song’s opening bars, with particularly warm receptions reserved for Way We Get By and Don’t Make Me A Target. But she has a partial point – the veteran college-rockers (now sixteen years young) probably don’t play to such immobile crowds very often, particularly not Stateside where their profile is higher. If anything, their audience is less tightly-packed than their support’s – a sign that newcomer buzz often trumps consistency. What Spoon’s longevity does permit, however, is a 90 minute filler-free set, and the joyous friction of a varied, evolving back catalogue. It’s something for their Brooklyn-based brethren to aspire to. [Chris Buckle]
www.myspace.com/casiokids
www.myspace.com/whiterabbits
Hot Chip HMV Picture House, 13 Feb
rrrr Hot Chip attract an unusual Saturday night audience blend: part muso, part fashionista, part clubber. So credit to support band Casiokids for appealing to all-comers with their calypso-coated, funk-fuelled electro-soul. The Norwegian synth children (well, 20-somethings) demonstrate an on-stage enthusiasm that gradually infects the entire room, and with set-closer Fot I Hose, they have a tune with enough rump-shaking verve to upstage tonight’s headliners. But at this point in their career, now four albums deep, Hot Chip know exactly how to push the live buttons – quite literally, judging by the multitude of electronics on stage. New LP One Life Stand forms the backbone of this show, but there’s always room for retinted versions of old favourites like Boy From School, Ready For The Floor and Over and Over, a track always guaranteed to test a venue’s foundations
Spoon King Tut’s, 14 Feb
when the crowd starts bouncing en masse. But even a tightly-packed, sold out Picture House survives any structural stress, leaving the diminutive Alexis Taylor and his backers to try out more new material, including a ‘world premiere’ of Brothers and the swarthy Thieves In The Night. But it’s the new album’s title track, a shape-shifting love song built on steel drum, syncopated synths and rhythm guitar, that emerges as the highlight, while Take It In by comparison falls surprisingly flat. As do more sombre, soulful tracks like Slush. But these constitute the exception rather than the rule, and once again Hot Chip, the most unlikely of pop bands, knock out a crowd-pleasing set that underscores their multifaceted appeal. [Nick Mitchell]
www.myspace.com/spoon
44 THE SKINNY March 2010
www.myspace.com/yeasayer
Lou Barlow Stereo, 1 Feb
rrrr Despite a somewhat underwhelming visit with Sebadoh in 2008, Lou Barlow returns to Glasgow tonight in considerably more triumphant fashion with a solo(ish) endeavour, packing Stereo’s murky basement to the hilt. After an engaging opening trio of acoustic numbers, the alt-rock stalwart, backed here by The Missingmen – a duo most commonly associated with Minutemen/Stooges bass legend Mike Watt – then kicks into a boisterous run-through of his solo works, paying particular attention to 2009’s fantastic Goodnight Unknown. Lending new energy and force to these gems – and some on-stage dialogue worth its weight in comedy gold – the trio’s dynamic only falters when Barlow struggles repeatedly with technical issues and in turn, his innate perfectionism. Taking three attempts to play Too Much Freedom before bottling it is a little awkward to watch, however an eventually victorious encore rendition ensures that doesn’t detract too much from an otherwise faultless performance. [Ryan Drever]
www.loobiecore.com
Garage Skinny_March Ad_PRINT.pdf
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MARCH 2010
THE SKINNY 45
MUSIC
Live Music
Highlights by Mark Shukla
YOU probably don’t need me to spell it out to you but The Phenomenal Handclap Band really want you to have a good time. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a time and a place for getting bummed out by nervous, guitar-strumming adolescents but sometimes you just want to feel like The Fonz, dig? This band can make that happen. Funky, discomovin’ beats? Check! Hypnotic, sugar-sweet vox? Fo’ sho! Truckloads of authentic, old-school NYC cool? AIN’T NO DOUBT. The action is go at Glasgow Captain’s Rest, 5 March. Dynamic girl/boy duo Blood Red Shoes love grunge and punk and pop in roughly equal measure and they tend to batter hell out of their instruments when they play live. It’s a tried and tested formula for sure, but the Shoes’ forthcoming album Fire Like This is a curt reminder why that particular equation has resulted in some of the most glorious music ever made. Watch them at Edinburgh Electric Circus on 8 March, Dundee Doghouse on 9 March or Glasgow
JAPANESE POSTROCK DARLINGS MONO PLAY GLASGOW ÒRAN MÓR ON 17 MARCH IN WHAT IS SURE TO BE ONE OF THE GIGS OF THE MONTH.
King Tut’s on 10 March. Elegant and swooning, but with an urgent, brooding power swirling just beneath the surface, the music of Grizzly Bear finally reached a wide audience in 2009. You’d better move fast for tickets at Edinburgh Queen’s Hall on 9 March but the lucky ones can expect a spellbinding show. Formerly one half of psych-drone poster-girls Pocahaunted, the awesome Bethany Cosentino brings her new outfit Best Coast to Glasgow Captain’s Rest on 9 March. This is wistful, scuzz-pop slacker music of the very highest order, dirty around the edges and bleached by the sun. Pure vibes. Super-promising Dundonians Pensioner bring some melodic rock action to Dundee Dexter’s on 14 March, Edinburgh Sneaky Pete’s on 17 March and Glasgow Bloc on 18 March. Heavy guitars, interesting song structures and a sense of humour make them a solid live prospect. Support for the Edinburgh date comes courtesy of heavy-hitting two-piece Bronto Skylift and unkillable local legends Degrassi – you can’t afford to miss a line-up like that. Japanese post-rock darlings Mono play Glasgow Òran Mór on 17 March in what is sure to be one of the gigs of the month. With influences drawn from Morricone and modern classical, theirs is an engaging and unashamedly emotional take on the instrumental guitar music template. We have a hunch this will be epic. Scottish folk musician Alasdair Roberts has been getting some serious attention from the tastemakers recently, so you’d better move fast for tickets to his gig
on 18 March at Aberdeen Tunnels. His talent for narrative songwriting, combined with his spectacularly nuanced voice should make this one to remember. Edinburgh lads The Gothenburg Address deal in lush, energetic instrumental guitar music and look set to take The Mill Edinburgh by sheer bloody thunder storm when they play Cabaret Voltaire on 18 March. Magisterial rock action is all but guaranteed, and a dreamy shoegaze influence only sweetens the deal. Enigmatic electronic artist Frog Pocket certainly keeps his fans on their toes. One minute he’s lulling you to sleep with a mournful string refrain, the next he’s lacerating your senses with the kind of vicious glitch-core moves that make grown men cry. Expect the unexpected at Glasgow Captain’s Rest on 20 March. This month’s instalment of the recently resurfaced Limbo at Edinburgh Voodoo Rooms on 20 March reads like a dream team of contemporary alterna-folk mavericks. Withered Hand takes the folk-pop thang to intense places with on-point lyrics and captivating delivery while support comes from Fence Records lynchpin The Pictish Trail, 8-bit upstart Les Enfant Bastard and Newcastle folkster John Egdell. Ambitious Canadian indie types The Besnard Lakes walk an interesting line between psychedelic rock and the unorthodox compositional chops of Arcade Fire, resulting in a sound that is big, dreamy and hard hitting. They play Glasgow Captain’s Rest on 28 March.[Mark Shukla]
Mono, Glasgow Òran Mór, 17 March
PREVIEWS HOMEGAME VARIOUS VENUES, ANSTRUTHER, 12-14 MAR
This spring marks the Fence Collective’s 7th annual Homegame, taking place over three days in March (Fri 12 - Sun 14) across various small halls in the Collective’s picturesque hometown of Anstruther in Fife. Homegame – which has sold out in record time this year – boasts a tantalising range of musical delights culled from the Fence roster (and beyond) as well as offering you the chance to taste “the best chips in the world”. The festival only holds around 700 people, crammed into the quaint local accommodation, but ultimately this only adds to the homespun feel of the surroundings, in keeping with the intimate nature of Fence’s musical output. Oh, and the bill? Well, recent signings François & The Atlas Mountains will close the first night, an act whose frontman Fence boss Johnny Lynch describes as “one of the most inventive musicians we’ve ever come across, fusing sonorous folk-tinged balladry with African percussive elements.” The following evening sees composer, pianist and
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melody-led electronic maestro Jon Hopkins take the top slot, while fellow Domino Records wunderkind FourTet brings the curtain down on the final night, marking Kieran Hebden’s second appearance in the festival’s existence. Elsewhere – and temporarily defecting from the west coast – electronic bliss guru RememberRemember will rub shoulders with minimal maestros Pantha Du Prince, Skinny favourites Django Django, Findo Gask, Eagleowl and an embarassment of other riches, including much of the Fence stable. Of course, The Three Craws will be chief among them – a band comprised of The Pictish Trail, James Yorkston and King Creosote. The trio can also be found performing solo and with other projects including members of Meursault and Animal Magic Tricks over the weekend. The Homegame is always known for offering up plenty of treats and surprises along the way. This year in particular will see King Creosote add an extra-special twist to proceedings with the announcement that he will be playing a brand new album in its entirety at several unique, low-key shows across the weekend.
Performed for the first time at last year’s Fence Halloween party, the album, entitled My First Bit Of Strange In 13 Years, is part of a unique experiment, exclusive to Homegame. To help explain it a bit better however, here’s a few words from the man himself: “My next album isn’t going to be recorded at all, it’s only going to be a live experience. I’m going to do seven performances of the album at Homegame in a small room that only holds about 40 people, and what I’ve insisted on is that the audience records it for themselves on all sorts of cheap, portable equipment (dictaphones, old Mp3 players, mobile phones, etc.) and then passes it around. The idea being that if it’s true that passing files around and file-sharing helps build a live audience then this will be the proof in the pudding. But those songs won’t exist outside the live performance.” All in all this year’s Homegame looks set to trump its predecessor good and proper, so if you’re lucky enough to have scored a ticket, bring warm clothes, and have that dictaphone at the ready.[Ryan Drever & Dave Kerr] FULL LINE UP AVAILABLE ON FENCE’S WEBSITE. WWW.FENCERECORDS.COM
WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO HOMEGAME! Visit www.theskinny.co.uk/competitions for details..
The Three Craws
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Music
by Eric Ledford The fact that heavy metal can concern itself with any number of themes is a testament to its cultural longevity and musical dominion. Death, war, hatred and the occult appeal to some, while dragons, time travel, ancient history and scantily clad female bejesus out of the regulars at Balcony Bar (5 Mar). barbarians fascinate others. Most fans like a wee bit of Leper messiahs Trivium, in consort with deathcore everything, which is perhaps the best way to indulge standouts Chimaira and Whitechapel, ravage the our yearning for all things metal in the weeks ahead. Ironworks in Inverness (11 Mar) and the Barrowland Early in the month, Glasgow boasts multiple gigs on Ballroom (12 Mar). Two weeks later, Scottish metal a single night of battering-ram heaviness. Corpses bands including Annihilation and La Luna Del bring their staggering nemesis to 13th Note (5 Mar), Cacciatore take over Barrowlands 2 (26 Mar). On the while Polish war-eagles Vader blitzkrieg Ivory Blacks same night, chaos magicians Co-Exist and nihilists (5 Mar). Around the block, English upstarts Sylosis Facegrinder scorch the walls of Ivory Blacks (26 are joined by local deathmob Scordatura at the Mar) with their concentrated wrath. Classic Grand (5 Mar). Back east in Dundee, lunatics For those who exhibit more continental tendencies, March 256x155 Skinny Ad PRINT.pdf 23/2/10 11:01:41 Nerrus KorCathouse and infidels Threshold Sicks scare the HIM unveil their trendy brand Finnish goth-popsters
Pontiak, Glasgow, 8 Mar
of “love metal” at HMV Picture House in Edinburgh (15 Mar), while annoyingly-named German powermongers Edguy bodyslam the Cathouse (15 Mar). Back at Ivory Blacks, black metal pessimists Nachtmystium herald a twilight of countless idolatries (24 Mar). As one of the key founders of the death metal genre, Obituary need no introduction, and we should count ourselves lucky that they have chosen to bring their ferocious onslaught north of the border. Early albums like Slowly We Rot and Cause Of Death are undisputed classics, and they will no doubt deliver the goods at O2 ABC2 (9 Mar). Prepare
to be chopped in half or buried alive, as these are your destiny. Space cowboys White Hills stampede the Captain’s Rest (8 Mar) by means of shamanic incantations alongside bourbon-drenched lumberjacks Pontiak. Finally, and perhaps most tragically, a band from Florida by the name of Lynyrd Skynyrd (pronounced ‘leh-‘nerd ‘skin-‘nerd) will attempt to honor their departed brethren at the sold-out Clyde Auditorium (9 Mar). Don’t bother yelling “Free Bird!” cuz they’re gaunnae play it regardless of how drunk you are.
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CLUBS
Keep on Groovin' Marking its 250th outing this month is Edinburgh’s only remaining regular house night, Ultragroove Interview Colin Chapman ULTRAGROOVE is helmed solely by DJ/promoter Gareth Somerville, which originally established the club with fellow DJ, Colin Cook and promoter Frazer McGlinchey in 1999. “It was an outlet for both Colin and I to play the kind of music we were into at the time,” explains Gareth, describing its origins. “There was a real space in the market back then; we were equally inspired by stuff like François Kervorkian’s Wave Music, Basic Channel and a lot of disco while most nights around the city were more specialised. Nobody was really focusing on an all-encompassing house thing.” Aside from this notable gap in the capital’s club scene, the influence of other nights Gareth was frequenting at the time also gave him the impetus to start something new. “I was going to Body and Soul in New York; it was a massive inspiration, as was London’s Faith and one of their events in particular cemented the idea of me establishing my own night rather than just playing those put on by others. A month or so later we found out La Belle Angele had a free Friday night; I’d had a lot of good history there with my previous club, Yip Yap so Colin and I jumped at the chance to use this slot.” Running for four years at the venue, Ultragroove moved to Cabaret Voltaire in 2003, at which point Colin ended his involvement. With Frazer eventually bowing out after their tenth birthday celebrations, what is it that’s encouraged Gareth to continue solo? “The energy that’s created on a good night… there’s something special about seeing the music I love being enjoyed by others. We had Linkwood and Fudge Fingas play last month and everything about the night just fell into place which was a great feeling.” “I’m not sure why it’s lasted. It’s probably a combination of tenacity and experience,” he adds, reflecting on the club’s longevity. “I think it also helps that I’m a music geek, but can translate that into a party setting; something that’s sadly missing from so many underground nights.” With a determination to avoid falling into the trap of focussing on whatever’s the ‘hot’ house sound of the moment, Gareth’s more open-minded approach to what he plays has almost certainly been another factor in the night’s success. “Musically, we’ve always concentrated on playing a broad church of house-based sounds, which perhaps began to feel a little anachronistic when minimal was in full swing a few years back, but I’m glad we stuck to our guns.” Naming appearances from Derrick Carter, Metro Area and their 10th birthday celebrations as Ultragroove highlights, Gareth’s invited Todd Terjé to
headline their landmark 250th party. “I really enjoy the sense of playfulness and fun that comes across in his sets,” he offers, explaining the motivation behind booking the Norwegian. “He played for the first time last year and I think he enjoyed playing more across the board rather than solely disco, so in that respect he’s the ideal Ultragroove guest.” 11PM - 3AM @ CABARET VOLTAIRE, 6 MAR INCLUDES GUESTS TODD TERJE AND THE BLESSINGS ALONGSIDE RESIDENT GARETH SOMERVILLE
High Profile: Todd Terje
DJ CHART BOOM MONK BEN
Chris Duncan
KODE RED THIS month marks the welcome re-opening of the Arches after essential work took place within the venue throughout January and February. 2ManyDJs return to Glasgow on 5 March to celebrate the doors opening to the public once more. Pressure won't return to the Arches until April, continuing their brief stint at the O2 Academy on the same evening as Laurent Garnier appears with a full live band as part of his extensive and highly praised ongoing tour. Elsewhere, Floating Points, Martyn and
Kode 9 spearhead the first of two Numbers nights at the Sub Club this month.
Across in Edinburgh there seems to be no sign of the city loosening its vice-like grip on its reputation for being the best place in Scotland for dubstep nights. 12 March at Cabaret Voltaire hosts Innuendub which features Bar9, Emalkay, Taz Buckfaster, Victor Q, MC Johnny 'Biscuits' Aitken, Gus Armstrong, Dickie Drysdale, Pyz and Big Toe's Hi-Fi. Taz Buckfaster is worth the door
48 THE SKINNY MARCH 2010
"I'M NOT SURE WHY IT'S LASTED... PROBABLY A COMBINATION OF TENACITY AND EXPERIENCE" GARETH SOMERVILLE
(Solid Steel / Mixed Bizness)
fee alone for his talents as a homegrown dubstep producer. Since the age of 17, Taz has been making electronic music, starting off with house and techno and slowly progressing to where he is today as a well respected producer within the genre. He has helped organise dubstep events and has played many venues from Glasgow to London whilst receiving recent radio support from the likes of DJ Tootsi of Rinse.FM and Mary Anne Hobbs of BBC Radio One.
1. Headhunter - Prototype (Modeselektor’s Broken Handbrake remix) Everyone’s favourite Germans show us how dubstep should be done. Incredible.
5. Freeland - Rock On (Siriusmo Remix) One of the most consistent producers of recent times does us all a favour by removing most of Freeland and giving us much more of Siriusmo.
2. Zebra Baby - +1 (Schlachthofbronx Remix) The new sound of Munich collides with the new sound of Brooklyn for some serious dance floor bizzle.
6. The Leisure Allstars - How We Roll feat Good People (Substatic’s ‘Pork Chop You Don’t Stop’ Remix) The best hip-hop Bristol has to offer gets some serious low-end remix treatment. A Mixed Bizness classic.
3. ZED BIAS - Neighbourhood 09 feat MC RUMPUS & NICKY PRINCE (Zed Bias club mix) Zed Bias is hot on the UK Funky scene just now and this bouncy ragga number is a perfect example of why.
7. Rob Threezy - Seranata (Forthcoming 2 Hype) Rob is leading the charge of the new generation of Chicago producers with his old skool rave cut-ups
4. Hovatron - Gold Star Radiation Montreal’s finest treats us to a slice of digital, acid hip hop beats. Brilliant stuff from a serious new talent.
8. Zinc & Ms Dynamite - Wile Out (Bingo) Zinc shows us how pop music should be done. If Basement Jaxx were any good, they would sound like this.
Clubs
Martyn Adds Strength In Numbers Only three months in and it’s already been a busy start to the year for Numbers Interview Colin Chapman Photo Matt Cheetham After merging their labels, Stuffrecords, Dress 2 Sweat and Wireblock to operate as one under the Numbers banner last November, the first releases under their consolidated guise; Deadboy’s If U Want Me and The Golden Handshake EP from Low Limit and Lando Kal (aka Lazersword), dropped last month. They also hosted Fabric’s Room One in January, the line-up featuring Numbers DJs, Jackmaster, Spencer, Nelson and Goodhand, as well as live sets from Hudson Mohawke (his Oops twelve was a collaborative Wireblock/Luckyme release) and former Stuffrecords, Dress 2 Sweat and Wireblock artist, Rustie, with Deadboy also making an appearance and Todd Edwards headlining. “The records have gone down well, I’m really proud of them”, says Neil Morton, a member of the Numbers collective whose Remote Location design studio provides artwork for the label and the club. “They’ve been getting radio airtime, played at parties and had print and online coverage. It’s great to get new artists like Deadboy and Lazer Sword in front of new ears.” ”The Fabric gig was cool and totally bouncing until it closed at 6am”, he continues. “Everyone played great sets, but Hudson with Oliver Daysoul singing live was a standout and totally amazing. It was so good it actually encouraged a stage invasion and crowd surfing!" March sees them take a further step toward making 2010 their own, thanks to the seriously heavyweight line-up they’re serving up for their first Sub Club party of the year. Featuring native Glaswegian, Kode9, who runs the very necessary Hyperdub label; Floating Points, an artist who’s responsible for productions that join the dots between 80s synth-funk, deep house and UK bass music and finally, Martyn, whose Great Lengths album, 3024 label and DJ sets all blur the lines between dubstep, techno and house. Originally hailing from Eindhoven but now based in Washington, Martyn’s entry into the world of dance
music came in his teens when he began frequenting clubs and buying house and techno records. Acknowledging Detroit techno as a definite early influence, his taste evolved with age and by the mid-nineties, the fast emerging drum n’ bass scene had caught his attention, initially through the DJ sets of Grooverider and Randall. “I suppose what attracted me to it were the forward thinking ideas, the urge to develop a style and a sound, with new progressions occurring almost on a weekly basis…that’s what makes music exciting,” Martyn explains. Indeed, he quickly developed a real passion for the style, particularly Metalheadz artists like Photek and Goldie. “I visited London to check out the label’s night at The Blue Note, which had a real impact on me, as it was a hotbed for what was happening for the sound; everyone who was interested in it was there to hear and experience what was going on at the time, in a similar way to how DMZ and FWD>> later became the focus points for dubstep and its off-shoots.” In fact, it was this trip which motivated him to start his Eindhoven drum n’ bass night, Redzone in 1996, which, over its eleven year existence featured guests from across the scene, including the likes of Goldie, Marcus Intalex, Klute and DJ Krust. Aside from DJing drum n’ bass, he produced a number of tracks in the mid-noughties, however, it was the influence of the emerging artists Kode9, Burial and the DMZ label that saw him begin to consider its high tempo as musically restrictive, ultimately prompting his shift to a slower paced style, both DJ and production-wise. Since then, he’s cultivated a bass-heavy sound, merging elements of dub and techno and fusing them to both 2-step and 4-4 rhythms. There’s also often a definite feeling of melancholy about his tracks; a fact that seems to be confirmed by his myspace statement; “…making music to me is like a game between happiness and depression.” “Well when you’re feeling blue, there’s an urge to get to a better place”, he expounds. “You want to do something about the situation you’re in, and it’s this motivation that
makes me want to write music, to express this feeling. It’s like writing something in a notepad, then closing the book and the feeling is gone. So I suppose it’s of therapeutic value” Having moved from an urban setting to Northern Virginia, after marrying his American wife two years ago; does he feel the change in environment has impacted on his sound in any way? “It has, but not in the literal sense of the word. I think living in a certain place has an effect on your state of mind. Where I live now is much more
“When you're feeling blue, there's an urge to get to a better place...you want to do something about the situation you're in, and it's this motivation that makes me want to write music"
remote and quieter than the Dutch cities I lived in. I’m definitely more focussed in the studio and I think over here my motivation has increased as a lot of people around me seem eager to make a real living for themselves.” Earlier this year, he mixed the 50th edition of Fabric’s mix-CD series and with its combining of dubstep, house, techno, funky and broken beat somewhat of a departure from previous offerings, did he feel the club was trying to make some sort stylistic statement? “No I don’t think so, but if they were they never informed me about it! From my perspective, I just wanted to record a reflection of my DJ sets of the last year; a summary of my favourite tracks, with a few new ones added too, mixed together into one coherent ‘story’. I really hope I succeeded!” Also a talented re-mixer, it was his take on TRG’s Broken Heart that broke him to a wider audience, resulting a flood of further remix offers. However, of late, Martyn has ventured beyond re-interpreting the tracks of his peers, instead working on those by the likes of MaxÏmo Park, Detachments and Fever Ray. “I’ve really enjoyed remixing ‘bands’ lately because it just gives you a different instrumentation to work with., says Martyn. Also, because they’re songs, they follow a different structure than those that are purely instrumental, electronic tracks. I think I’ve learned a thing or two about music outside my comfort zone, which I hope will be useful in the near future.” Finally, after making a live appearance at a co-promoted Numbers/Electric Eliminators night just over a year ago, is he looking forward to returning, this time to play alongside Kode9 and Floating Points? “I’ve played with Kode9 many times; we really seem to complement each other musically. I also played at the Numbers stage at last year’s Bloc Weekend which was a great experience - the whole crew is very open minded and have been in this for a while, which is really cool too.” Kode9, Martyn & Floating Points appear at Numbers at the Sub Club. 11pm - 3am, £10, 5 Mar www.nmbrs.net
March 2010
THE SKINNY 49
Clubs
Thrill of Invention
Ahead of his new EP being released, Daedelus talks about his love of Wales, secretive samples and his bond with technology
Interview Rosie McLean Photo Laura Darling Everyone loves a bit of un-trivial trivia, and I am fascinated to find that Santa Monica’s Alfred Darlington, aka Daedelus, is most likely to be found holidaying in Wales. He first heard rave on his way to a family holiday there, lived there awhile, and holds infinite respect for the people, their history and culture, which inspired his record Of Snowdonia. Top of his proudest moments was being sampled on the track Accordian by the guru Madvillain for his album Madvillainy — “He usually goes back to the 60s/70s jazz or funk, and to be made basically into raregroove is a really proud moment for me!” He likes Hyperdub’s Ikonika, but doesn’t “feel like she’s embodying a female perspective” musically. Other London-based female dubstep producers, Dot and Subeena, are “doing it maybe a little bit better.” He loves “the hunt”, and his rarest record is one of twenty or thirty studio copies of “the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory soundtrack from the 70s, it’s actually all sung by Anthony Newly.” It’s hard not to be compelled – Daedelus effervesces conversationally. He does, however, excuse his hushed “morning voice” early on – “It’s kinda early here in America.” But despite my catching him at a “soft start” he’s knife sharp, articulate and anecdotal. Keen to discuss his latest release on Flying Lotus’ label Brainfeeder, which appears to be a self-consciously transgressive record, he’s comfortable in the realms of conceptual and historical juxtaposition, and paints himself thus: a modern music producer taking his name, Daedelus, from the Ancient Greek inventor. “I won’t make a song if there isn’t something behind it… You should make sure you come at something with such a furious tenacity that it shines, I think. But it’s enough just to have a melody.”
50 THE SKINNY March 2010
The eight track EP takes its name from a group of uprising rebels during China’s 1898 Boxer Rebellion. For Daedelus, the groups’ rejection of the West’s religious and sociopolitical dogmas was “an incredible moment”, made all the more interesting for his artistic purposes by the fact that “they believed they had all these magic powers – they believed they could fly, they wouldn’t die because of bullets or fire.” Their mysticism was their earthly downfall- “a hail of British gun and cannon took 100,000 boxers down”. He locates his own element of danger, of subversion, in risking an eschewal of his own previous hip-hop leanings, and also reaction to his view of contemporary production aesthetics. “Listen to your latest dubstep song and there’s no reverb, no space to the music. It’s upfront, it’s made to hurt you… Not in a bad way but in an impactful way. This record is really about texture, its about distance, size, space, and it’s kind of made to whisper in your ear, it’s made to kind of tell you this secret thing of the past or something. And that feels kind of dangerous to me nowadays, I don’t know why!” Observing that his career has embraced various stylistic experiments, Daedelus praises his patient fanbase, and eagerly anticipates what they make of this release. Interestingly, the Righteous Fists EP’s overall tone is abstract, symphonic, and often melodic – certainly mystical. Soft, folk and falsetto vocals, including contributions from his wife – acclaimed folk singer Laura Darlington – lend tracks like Order of the Golden Dawn and Succumbing To a perfumed delicacy. “I really wanted to have the female vocal be something that escaped those kind of clichés about war and about that masculine thing.” Track three, The Finishing Of A Thing, culminates in the opposite – a cacophonous, concussive build up. Talk about the importance of tension and release in music leads him to enthuse about the 1760’s German aesthetic movement Sturm und Drang (Storm and
Stress) – the musical tangent of which was characterised by dramatic oscillations between pattern and breakdown in rhythm, melody and tempo. These tensions both cater for the short attention span of the 21st century, and makes for a turbulent emotional listening experience. Other journalists before me have asked him about the 'love sound' he’s created in the past with Love To Make Music To and the Long Lost (another release with Mrs Darlington). But perhaps this is even more important working with the Brainfeeder label, as he explains: “part of the mandate of the label is to explore some inner space as well as some physical space.” While Righteous Fists is very different from previous records, it retains notions of evoking emotion through reworking musical clichés such as the orchestral swelling of film music. Travelling, however, has made him wise to the cultural relativism of musical and emotional conventions. “I played a show in China, in Shanghai, and a lot of the things I usually rely on for textural beauty basically didn’t work! I’m having a hard time, trying a lot of different samples, and I got to the hip-hop, and it really felt like the sound of rebellion out there. It was dangerous music.” As well as knowing his way around five acoustic instruments, live shows often rely heavily on his monome, which allows him to cut and sample live, and it's not too licentious to draw a comparison between him and his technology. The interview is littered with his historical references, as are his ideas. In a society obsessed by the figure of the innovator, the blurring of old and new appears particularly relevant. Is it important to him to comment on that? “Absoutely. I mean, everything I do is that. I mean, the reason I dress up Victorian is that!” The secret to the perfect sample, he alleges, is finding something obscure enough that people feel they know, but
isn’t located too specifically in cliché. But borrowing from history is not without its repercussions. “I hate to say this, but you have to be careful what you print as a journalist, because the way I got caught was that a journalist outed me on a sample! In a positive review the person said that ‘I really flipped that Fat Back Band sample’. And I did a record called Agent’s Agent, and on that record I had this disco-y fun track and I sampled some of their bass… It was positive but there are people who trawl the internet looking for things like that and then I got sued, you know!” Another chap whose creations bit him in the arse is, of course, his namesake. The original Daedelus’s invention of wings led to the death of his son Icarus, and the labyrinth to his entrapment in a tower. The Righteous Fists of Harmony EP then, is “not only about this uprising and war, but also about technology being… well, we live in a crazy age for it. It’s both about now and the past and the future I guess.” We’ve spoken a lot about history, so I ask him to nominate some future talent as well. “Jogger are an amazing group that I do some work with and are unknown to the general public… Daphs are soon to be releasing. That group are fusing beats-music, wonky-music and song writing. It’s beautiful, so incredible. No Such Thing is another absolutely excellent up and coming act – when it drops their record is going to be incredible. You got people like Illumsphere from Manchester and his debut record just dropped today I think, of all things! He’s an incredible beatmaker. He’s doing the Red Bull Music Academy this year along with so many other talented kids. Another is Tokimonsta from L.A, also doing Red Bull, as a female that’s really holding her own in this all too male-dominated world of beats.” The Righteous Fists of Harmony is out 22 March
Autechre Numbers, sub club, 16 Mar
Swiss Watch
An EP on Modular, name-checking Erol Alkan as a fan and having SidWho? as a band member. No wonder The Swiss are making joyful, upbeat disco nuggets, they haven't got a care in the world
Autechre are a Manchester duo that need no introduction. Or do they? There’s no easy way to acquaint chaste ears to a catalogue that spans nearly 20 years, especially when said catalogue is a dense and occasionally inscrutable fug of algorithmic blips and beats; so, where do you start? Numbers offers would-be punters the perfect opportunity to delve into the Autechre oeuvre this March, alongside fellow electronic music atom-splitters Russell Haswell, Rob Hall and Didjit. Meanwhile, Autechre devotees can look forward to a preview of Oversteps, the full-length follow up to the excellent Quaristice, released later this month. Though their experimental style might remain a hard sell for the casual listener, an adventurous spirit will be rewarded with a show that will look and feel, to a man, like an alternate dimension, where melody is but a faint, emaciated moan buried and shackled beneath jittering loops-within-loops, machine-gun snares and the Warp duo’s inimitable live atmosphere. [Ray Philp] 9pm, £10. www.nmbrs.net
Drums of Death Origin, 27 Mar
As Colin Bailey’s tour dates become ever more exotic in early 2010 (OK, Nottingham excepted), you’d be forgiven for thinking that the erstwhile shaman had turned his back on us pasty faced Scots. Woe betide the thought: Drums Of Death swoops by the Granite City on the 27th like a Halloween seagull to treat Origin revellers to his unique brand of moshpit-inciting house beats, on what will be the only Scottish date of his European tour. While Bailey’s last 12”– the downright priapic Got Yr Thing – continues to enjoy heavy rotation, news is slow as far as a release date for debut album Generation Hexed is concerned. As we wait cap in hand for scraps of rumour on Drums Of Death’s forthcoming longplayer, expect to hear quite a bit of click-clacking around The Drill Hall as we pace the floors and raid the swear jars, fretting over how to fund a four hour car journey to Aberdeen. [Ray Philp]
The recent resurgence of disco has led to various acts jumping onto the musical bandwagon without any real ties to the genre. After all, an Aeroplane remix of your recent 12” does not a disco act make. Bearing in mind the wash of charlatans surrounding the sound, due credit must be given to Adelaide trio The Swiss, who are a legit live disco band whose existence is well founded and praised by lovers of the genre. They say that they are a band who “are getting Giancarlo Meo tattoos rather than looking up Giorgio Moroder best-of tracklists.” Their Bubble Bath EP on Modular Recordings (released last month) is testament to what lies at the core of The Swiss. They merge crisp drums, effectdrenched vocals, melody rays and synthesised strings into a finely tuned performance that has received praise from the likes of Erol Alkan and Fake Blood. The EP also comes stacked with two floor-ready remixes from prime re-rinsers Knightlife and Tensnake. Beyond signing to Modular, tearing up the festival circuit, getting Bubble Bath added to national rotation on Triple J, supporting Ladyhawke on her national
Death Disco returns to the Arches on 20 Mar with Bloody Beetroots Death Crew ‘77, Annie (DJ set), Egyptian Hip Hop, Don Rimini, Hey Today! and Death Disco residents. 10pm - 3am, £8/£16
The Arches, 253 Argyle Street, Glasgow 0141 565 1000 www.deathdisco.info
Subcity: possibly the luckiest teenager, like, ever. A birthday bash to herald its fifteenth year of life at The Arches won’t be your typical paper hat and Asda sponge cake affair; a decade and a half of block parties, 4am raves, low-budgetbut-high-quality radio broadcasting and countless rolls of masking tape deserves better. Ergo, Freakmenoover and LuckyMe regular Dema will give it considerable laldy as the evening’s headliner, along with fourteen other acts on the bill: R-P-Z, Symbiosis, Shaun fae Solar, Thirty Two (“a couple of fannies”, according to Subcity’s rather subversive PR bumf) and more than we have space to mention will offer a rammy of electro, techno, dubstep, dancehall, hip-hop and whatever else you fancy. Likewise, Subcity’s VJ talent promises to be equally eclectic: if the eyes are the window to the soul, then expect Visual AIDS, Sweets and Spacewood to make light work of tanning them in with projectors, LEDs and a kitchen sink or two. [Ray Philp] 10.30pm - 3am, £6/£7/£8
EL-B & Neil Landstrumm Volume, bongo club, 5 Mar
El-B originally made his name as part of the well-known Groove Chronicles outfit, creating a darker streak to the garage scene at the time. He pioneered alongside greats such as MJ Cole, Wookie & Zed Bias and founded his label Ghost, comprising of EL-B, J da Flex and Roxy. El-B has sculpted and defined the modern dubstep sound and famously inspired the prodigious talent of Burial. Joining him on 5 March is Neil Landstrumm, one of the most respected artists in the UK electronic music scene. His first album for Planet Mu Restaurant of Assassins saw Landstrumm combining the various influences from techno, dubstep, garage and breaks as well as vintage 90s rave and the sounds of Sheffield. The success of his ravestep sound led Neil onto a string of sessions for the BBC, more releases and relentless live tour dates all throughout 2009 to cater for his huge underground success. [Chris Duncan] 11pm-3am, £8
DJ Derek
www.myspace.com/drumsofdeath4eva
Bongo Club, 4 Mar
Monox, Sub club, 5 Feb
tour and preparing a national tour of their own, The Swiss’ journey to the centre of 4/4 had by no means gone unnoticed. Annie Mac and Sinden have highlighted The Swiss as a band to watch as well as giving Bubble Bath some well deserved airplay. Meanwhile Aeroplane are opening many of their sets with a Swiss number and showing the threepiece glowing chart appreciation, but most of all the kids at the shows are going batshit insane for the live spectacle before them. Harvesting hits in the studio with Australian mega-producer/songwriter Donnie Sloan from Empire Of The Sun, The Swiss have a lot to live up to when arriving on stage. Transferring the infectious sound of their recent EP to the stage should be a daunting task but based on reports from their recent tour dates it is a challenge that the band have taken to well. Once they hit these shores expect to hear a lot more from the group throughout the year.
The Arches, 6 Mar
10pm, price tbc
Seldom Felt & Cottam
Text Chris Duncan
Subcity Radio’s 15th Birthday
Seldom Felt are a masked collective of well known and highly respected techno producers operating within different cities around Europe whilst their records have been supported by everyone from Laurent Garnier to Marcel Dettman and Len Faki. This will be the first Seldom Felt showcase, followed by an appearance in Berlin’s Berghain on the following evening. Considering that this could be their last appearance in Glasgow and that all six volumes of their twelve inches are quickly becoming rarities, this is something to catch before it disappears into the ether forever. Support comes from a DJ set by Cottam, the best selling artist on Rubadub Records last year and someone whose sets combine techno, hip-hop and house to devastating effect. The line up is completed by local boy and Number vital cog Jackmaster. [Chris Duncan] 11pm-3am, £10
Les Petit Pilous
DJ Derek turns seventy next year, yet despite – or some might say because of – his superior years he continues to “rock de ‘ouse” better than any other white guy in reggae. Undeniably there is a certain amount of novelty in the combination of his adept Jamaican patois emceeing and conservative attire: he will be found rocking cardigans or waistcoat and tie with the pride and propriety of a man who is unashamed of his several years spent in accountancy. But his highly involved and respected status as a member of Bristol’s Jamaican music scene is not to be ignored. He is literally an icon of the southern circuit, wiping the floor with booty-shakin’ dancehall, soul, funk, reggae, rocksteady and much more. His almost total absence from online media may explain why it’s taken so long to get him to make his Edinburgh debut; for years, his rep has hung almost solely on the verbal grapevine. Support from 93 Feet East’s King Toby makes this unmissable. [Rosie McLean] 11pm-3am, £5
Moodymann Subculture, sub club, 20 Mar
SNAFU, 19 mar
LPP’s Wake Up is a volcano foisting the soundtrack of its own eruption’s impending carnage. Whether or not the poor folks living within the scolding lava’s vicinity will choose to run or simply stuff all available muffs into their ears is a moot issue. At least there was a warning, which is what I give you now. The French duo Le Petit Pilous, although a relatively unvarnished Boys Noise Records addition, have harboured the paroxysmic gadgetry richly employed by their stable-mates to turn youthful club audiences the world over into frothing, glow-stick fondu. Like Boys Noise and The Bloody Beetroots before them this appearance will have earth shattering consequences to anyone brave enough to deploy to Snafu’s floor. Make no bones about it, there’s nothing musically to preserve here. Simply the pressure release of 300-odd souls entombed in one gravely hot electronic basement. [Jaco Justice]
This month sees Kenny Dixon Jr, aka Moodymann, appear as part of Smirnoff’s So… series of Sub Club and Slam’s co-promoted events. Since launching the KDJ label with his own Moody Traxx EP in 1994, the enigmatic Detroit producer has reinterpreted his love of soul, funk and jazz within the house genre, releasing such classics as Black Mahogoni and I Can’t Kick This Feeling When It Hits, while compilations Silent Introduction, Forevernevermore and Black Mahagoni have included material ranging from the slow and moody to the up-beat and energetic. Despite being outspoken on the need for house and techno to retain a distinctly black imprint, KDJ’s remained interview shy, save for a single 2007 radio exchange with Gilles Peterson. As a DJ he’s more knowledgeable-selector than purist-mixer, keen for audiences to focus on the records he plays rather than him, in the process creating the kind of vibe that’s ideally suited to the Sub. [Colin Chapman]
11pm-3am, £10
10pm - 3am, £12
www.myspace.com/lespetitspilous
www.soslamsub.com
March 2010
THE SKINNY 51
Clubs
previews
Glasgow Comedy Tue 02 Mar Red Raw (With Patrick Rolink and Antony Murray) The Stand, 20:30–22:31, £2 (£1)
New acts, new material from old acts; a classic lucky dip of comedy.
Wed 03 Mar Wicked Wenches (With Ava Vidal, AL Kennedy and Angie McEvoy. Hosted by Susan Calman.) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£3)
Thu 04 Mar The Thursday Show (With Roger Monkhouse, Ava Vidal, Antony Murray and Alan Sharp. Hosted by Raymond Mearns.) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £8 (£7/£4)
Doors open 7:30. Hot food available.
Fri 05 Mar The Friday Show (With Roger Monkhouse, Ava Vidal, Antony Murray and Alex Maple. Hosted by Raymond Mearns.) The Stand, 21:00–22:34, £10 (£9/£5)
Friday night special with a changing rota of performers.
Sat 06 Mar The Saturday Show (With Roger Monkhouse, Ava Vidal, Antony Murray and Alex Maple. Hosted by Raymond Mearns.) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £13
Saturday special with varying top line-up.
Sun 07 Mar Glasgow Kids Comedy Club The Stand, 15:00–16:00, £3
Fun for the kiddies. Recommended for ages 8-12, no under 5s.
Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service (With John Gillick, Jeff O’Boyle, Jason Arnstein and Gus Lymburn. Hosted by Michael Redmond) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£4/£1)
Sunday night comedy hosted by Michael Redmond.
Mon 08 Mar Improv Wars
The Stand, 20:30–22:07, £4 (£2)
Brand new fast paced improv show featuring the nation’s top comics.
Tue 09 Mar Red Raw (Hosted by Susan Calman) The Stand, 20:30–22:31, £2 (£1)
New acts, new material from old acts; a classic lucky dip of comedy.
Wed 10 Mar Calie Comedy
The Flying Duck, 19:00–00:00, £2
Stand-up and cheap booze.
Thu 11 Mar The Skinny Presents...The Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show @ Sloans
Sloans, 13:00–14:00, £3/£8 inc Soup and Sandwich
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
The Skinny presents... Stand Up @Sloans Sloans, 20:30–22:00, £7/£5
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Fri 12 Mar The Skinny Presents...The Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show @ Sloans
Sloans, 13:00–14:00, £3/£8 inc Soup and Sandwich
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Typical Woman (Sarah Millican)
The Stand, 19:45–20:45, £10/£8
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Sat 13 Mar The Skinny Presents...The Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show @ Sloans
Sloans, 13:00–14:00, £3/£8 inc Soup and Sandwich
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Glasgow Kids Comedy Club The Stand, 15:00–16:00, £4.00
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Sun 14 Mar The Skinny Presents...The Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show @ Sloans
Sloans, 13:00–14:00, £3/£8 inc Soup and Sandwich
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Glasgow Kids Comedy Club The Stand, 15:00–16:00, £3
Fun for the kiddies. Recommended for ages 8-12, no under 5s.
The Skinny presents... Stand Up @Sloans Sloans, 20:30–22:00, £7/£5
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Mon 15 Mar If You Prefer a Milder Comedian, Please Ask for One (Stewart Lee)
Citizens Theatre, 20:00–22:00, £15.00
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Tue 16 Mar Alex Horne: Wordwatching The Stand, 19:30–20:30, £10/£8
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Andrew Lawrence The Stand, 21:30–23:00, £8/£7
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Wed 17 Mar The Slab Boys
Ramshorn Theatre, 19:30–20:30, £6/£4
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
St Patrick’s Day Comedy Special The Stand, 20:30–22:00, £10.00
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Thu 18 Mar The Skinny Presents...The Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show @ Sloans
Sloans, 13:00–14:00, £3/£8 inc Soup and Sandwich
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
The Skinny presents... Stand Up @Sloans Sloans, 20:30–22:00, £7/£5
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Fri 19 Mar The Skinny Presents...The Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show @ Sloans
Sloans, 13:00–14:00, £3/£8 inc Soup and Sandwich
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Glasgow Kids Comedy Club The Stand, 15:00–16:00, £4.00
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
edinburgh Comedy Sun 21 Mar The Skinny Presents...The Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show @ Sloans
Sloans, 13:00–14:00, £3/£8 inc Soup and Sandwich
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
The Skinny presents... Stand Up @Sloans Sloans, 20:30–22:00, £7/£5
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Mon 22 Mar Tom Wrigglesworth?s Open Return Letter to Richard Branson The Stand, 19:30–20:30, £10/£8
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Tue 23 Mar The Top 50 Greatest Scots of All Time Ever (Vladimir McTavish) The Stand, 19:30–20:30, £8/£7
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Wed 24 Mar Louis Ramey
The Stand, 21:30–23:00, £8/£7
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Thu 25 Mar The Skinny Presents...The Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show @ Sloans
Sloans, 13:00–14:00, £3/£8 inc Soup and Sandwich
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
The Skinny presents... Stand Up @Sloans Sloans, 20:30–22:00, £7/£5
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Fri 26 Mar The Skinny Presents...The Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show @ Sloans
Sloans, 13:00–14:00, £3/£8 inc Soup and Sandwich
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Glasgow Kids Comedy Club The Stand, 15:00–16:00, £4.00
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Sat 27 Mar The Skinny Presents...The Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show @ Sloans
Sloans, 13:00–14:00, £3/£8 inc Soup and Sandwich
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Glasgow Kids Comedy Club The Stand, 15:00–16:00, £4.00
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Sun 28 Mar The Skinny Presents...The Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show @ Sloans
Sloans, 13:00–14:00, £3/£8 inc Soup and Sandwich
Robin Ince Vs. The Moral Majority (Robin Ince)
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
The Skinny presents... Stand Up @Sloans
The Stand, 19:45–20:45, £10.00
Sat 20 Mar The Skinny Presents...The Big Lunchtime Comedy Chat Show @ Sloans
Sloans, 13:00–14:00, £3/£8 inc Soup and Sandwich
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
52 THE SKINNY March 2010
Sloans, 20:30–22:00, £7/£5
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Mon 29 Mar Rapier Wit (Jimmy Carr)
Clyde Auditorium, 20:00–22:00, £22.50
Part of the Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival.
Tue 02 Mar Wicked Wenches (With Ava Vidal, AL Kennedy and Angie McEvoy. Hosted by Susan Calman.) The Stand, 20:30–22:28, £6 (£5/£3)
Comedy Pow Wow
The Illicit Still, 20:30–22:30, Free
Sketches, stand-up and comedy songs.
Thu 04 Mar
Fri 12 Mar The Friday Show (With Sean Collins, Steve Day, Jim Park and Michael Downey)
Absolute Beginners
Friday night special with a changing rota of performers.
Red Raw (Hosted by Siân Bevan)
The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£9/£5)
The Improverts
Bedlam Theatre, 22:30–23:30, £4 (£3.50)
An hour of imporvised games, based entirely on audience suggestions.
Sat 13 Mar
Love and Death (The Forest Drama)
Stephen Lynch
Entirely new writing sporadically punctuated by a shadow play of oscar wilds prose poem The Nightingale and the Rose
New York singer/songwriter.
The Forest Café, 19:00–20:30, free
The Thursday Show (With Tom Stade, John Gillick, and Angie McEvoy. Hosted by Bruce Devlin) The Stand, 21:00–23:01, £8 (£7/£4)
Doors open 7:30. Hot food available.
Fri 05 Mar
HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:30, £18.50
The Saturday Show (With Sean Collins, Steve Day, Jim Park and Michael Downey) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £13
Saturday special with varying top line-up.
Sun 14 Mar Richard Herring - Hitler Moustache
The Friday Show (With Tom Stade, John Gillick, Angie McEvoy and Adnan Ahmed. Hosted by Bruce Devlin)
The Stand, 20:30–22:21, £10
Friday night special with a changing rota of performers.
Beehive Inn, 20:00–22:37, £2 (£1)
The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£9/£5)
The Improverts
Bedlam Theatre, 22:30–23:30, £4 (£3.50)
An hour of imporvised games, based entirely on audience suggestions.
Sat 06 Mar The Saturday Show (With Tom Stade, John Gillick, Angie McEvoy and Adnan Ahmed. Hosted by Bruce Devlin) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £13
Saturday special with varying top line-up.
Sun 07 Mar Whose Lunch Is It Anyway?
The Stand, 12:30–15:00, Free
Improvised comedy led by audience suggestions, with Stu and Garry.
The Sunday Night LaughIn (With Gary Little, Elaine Malcolmson, Martin Bearne, Daniel Webster and Susanna Jeffrey. Hosted by Scott Agnew) The Stand, 20:30–22:33, £5 (£4/£1)
Round off your weekend with a night of laughs.
Mon 08 Mar Absolute Beginners
Beehive Inn, 20:00–23:00, £2 (£1)
Lineup of new comic talent.
Red Raw (Hosted by JoJo Sutherland.)
The Stand, 20:30–22:48, £2 (£1)
New acts, new material from old acts; a classic lucky dip of comedy.
Tue 09 Mar Gilded Balloon Comedy Circuit
The Voodoo Rooms, 20:00–01:00, £14
Gilded Balloon comedy tour.
Benefit in aid of Fairbridge in Scotland The Stand, 20:30–22:16, £5
Charity working with disadvantaged young people. www.fairbridge.org.uk
Thu 11 Mar
Mon 15 Mar Absolute Beginners Lineup of new comic talent.
Absolute Beginners
Beehive Inn, 20:00–23:00, £2 (£1)
Lineup of new comic talent.
Red Raw (Hosted by Jeff O’Boyle)
The Stand, 20:30–22:48, £2 (£1)
New acts, new material from old acts; a classic lucky dip of comedy.
Tue 16 Mar
Beehive Inn, 20:00–22:37, £2 (£1)
Lineup of new comic talent.
The Stand, 20:30–22:48, £2 (£1)
New acts, new material from old acts; a classic lucky dip of comedy.
Tue 23 Mar Benefit in Aid of Edinburgh People’s Festival - Laugh? I Nearly Voted. The Stand, 20:30–22:29, £7 (£4)
Five comics unveil their own ‘manifesto’s of mirth’
Wed 24 Mar Dan Antopolski : Silent But Deadly The Stand, 20:30–22:31, £10 (£8)
Thu 25 Mar The Thursday Show (With Louis Ramey, Wil Hodgson, and Martin Bearne. Hosted by Joe Heenan) The Stand, 21:00–23:01, £8 (£7/£4)
Doors open 7:30. Hot food available.
Fri 26 Mar
Dan Atkinson: Shouting at Radios
The Friday Show (With Louis Ramey, Wil Hodgson, and Damian Kingsley. Hosted by Joe Heenan)
Comedy Pow Wow
The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£9/£5)
The Stand, 20:30–22:24, £8 (£7)
The Illicit Still, 20:30–22:30, Free
Sketches, stand-up and comedy songs.
Wed 17 Mar Pappy’s : 200 Sketches in an Hour
The Stand, 20:30–22:25, £10 (£8)
Thu 18 Mar The Thursday Show (With Tony Law, Eleanor Tiernan, Martin Hill and Michael Adams. Hosted by Susan Calman) The Stand, 21:00–23:01, £8 (£7/£4)
Doors open 7:30. Hot food available.
Fri 19 Mar The Friday Show (With Tony Law, Eleanor Tiernan, Martin Hill and Michael Adams. Hosted by Susan Morrison) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£9/£5)
Friday night special with a changing rota of performers.
The Improverts
Bedlam Theatre, 22:30–23:30, £4 (£3.50)
An hour of imporvised games, based entirely on audience suggestions.
Sat 20 Mar The Saturday Show (With Tony Law, Eleanor Tiernan, Martin Hill and Michael Adams. Hosted by Susan Morrison) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £13
Saturday special with varying top line-up.
The Thursday Show (With Sean Collins, Steve Day, Jim Park and Mark Davies)
John Bishop
Doors open 7:30. Hot food available.
Solo show.
The Stand, 21:00–23:01, £8 (£7/£4)
Mon 22 Mar
Sun 21 Mar The Stand, 20:30–22:27, £10 (£8)
Friday night special with a changing rota of performers.
The Improverts Bedlam Theatre, 22:30–23:30, £4 (£3.50)
An hour of imporvised games, based entirely on audience suggestions.
Sat 27 Mar The Saturday Show (With Louis Ramey, Wil Hodgson, and Damian Kingsley. Hosted by Joe Heenan) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £13
Saturday special with varying top line-up.
Sun 28 Mar The Sunday Night LaughIn (Paul Currie, Rob Kane, Daniel Webster and Lucy Oldham. Hosted by Rebecca Donohue) The Stand, 20:30–22:33, £5 (£4/£1)
Round off your weekend with a night of laughs.
Mon 29 Mar Absolute Beginners Beehive Inn, 20:00–22:37, £2 (£1)
Lineup of new comic talent.
Red Raw (With Paul Currie) The Stand, 20:30–22:48, £2 (£1)
New acts, new material from old acts; a classic lucky dip of comedy.
Glasgow music Tue 02 Mar Shy Child
ABC, 19:00–22:00, £7.50
New York duo.
Stereophonics SECC, 19:30–22:30, £30
Welsh indie-rockers.
Scott Nicol
Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2
Prolific singer/songwriter.
Kathryn Williams, Astrid Williamson King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £15
Dose of acoustic folk-pop.
Record Label Competition Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £5
Bands battle it out.
Glasgow Slow Club (Star Studded 78) Bar Bloc, 20:00–00:00, Free
Punters bring their own playlist.
Tuesday Music Club
The Butterfly & The Pig, 20:30–12:00, Free
Open mic night.
The Baby Janes
13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
Alternative noise.
Wed 03 Mar Dead City Radio (Finniston) Brel, 19:00–22:00, £4
Weird pop melodies.
The Complete Stone Roses
Elvis Presley In Concert
Obituary
Tribute gig in aid of Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy.
Tribute special.
Death metal.
The Garage, 19:30–23:00, £12
Dave Dominey
Best Coast, Club Smith, Schnapps
Funked-up bass and electro.
EP launch.
Soulful pop and grubby indie.
Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2
Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £5
Captain’s Rest, 19:30–22:30, £6
The Trade, The Hickies, Andrew Bacon
Lisa Mitchell. The Boy Who Trapped The Sun (Quickbeam)
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Trio of new music.
Acoustic indie-folk.
The X Factor Live
Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £5
King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6.50
Mute Defeat (Ramon Ruiz)
Thunder in Paradise Present
Progressive punk-rock.
Top indie-rock showcase.
Box, 20:00–23:00, Free
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £5
No Fxd Abode
Dexys Bootleg Runners
EP launch.
Tribute act.
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £tbc
Musicbox
The Universal, 20:00–00:00, £3
Arty evening of music and visuals.
Picore, Super Adventure Club, United Fruit 13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
Experimental pop-rock.
Fri 05 Mar Vader
Ivory Blacks, 18:30–22:30, £tbc
Death metal. Beware.
It Bites (Aynsley Lister) ABC, 19:00–22:00, £17.50
Progressive pop-rock. In ABC 2.
The Skids (The Law, Bruce and Jamie Watson)
Acoustic indie-folk.
Classic punk.
ABC, 19:00–22:00, £25
Brendan Benson (Heartless Bastards)
Altnation Live: Sylosis
American singer/songwriter.
Nick Harper
The Phenomenal Handclap Band
QMU, 19:00–22:30, £12.50
ABC, 19:00–22:00, £16
The Banter Thiefs (Dead Seal Souls, Neon Hero, The Dots)
Mumford & Sons ABC, 19:00–22:00, £tbc
SECC, 20:00–22:30, £33.50
Classic Grand, 19:00–22:30, £10
Metal thrash.
The Ferry, 20:00–00:00, £5
Halt Bar Hijack
The Halt Bar, 20:00–00:00, Free
Local bands takeover.
Seditionaries
13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
New bands night.
Sun 07 Mar Manic Romance, Martins Room, Fight For A Day Ivory Blacks, 18:30–22:30, £tbc
SECC, 19:30–22:30, £tbc
Country-rock legends. In Clyde Auditorium. SECC, 19:30–22:30, £28.50
The official tour. In Hall 4.
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £tbc
Fundraiser gig for Haiti.
Tuesday Music Club
The Butterfly & The Pig, 20:30–12:00, Free
Open mic night.
Daniel Stevenson
13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
Metallic rock.
Wed 10 Mar Annihilation, Fallen Eternity Dark and deadly metal.
Gathering Whispers Present: Maple Leaves, Erinn Williams, Sharon Martin Brel, 19:00–22:30, £4
Ivory Blacks, 18:30–22:30, £tbc
A Day To Remember ABC, 19:00–22:00, £tbc
Hardcore punk-pop.
Academy Live (The Gap Year Riot, Impulse 11, Sienna, Floods)
Folk-pop and acoustic electro.
ABC, 19:00–22:00, £5
Eaststrikewest, Shutter, Ocean Fracture
Editors (Cold Cave)
New bands showcase. In ABC 2.
Indie-rock action.
69 Eyes, Mandragora Scream King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10.50
Metallic goth rock.
The Alchonauts, The Lie Detectors, The Cellophanes 13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
Punky pop.
Glaswegian alternative four-piece.
Captain’s Rest, 19:30–22:30, £5
ABC, 19:00–22:00, £5
Alternative garage and folk-rock.
Thrashy and bashy sounds.
Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £5
Barrowlands, 19:00–23:00, £16.50
Ryan Quigley Big Band with Justin Currie
The Bluetones lead singer goes solo.
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc
Rock-out powerpop.
Local Natives, Peggy Sue
Trio of new bands.
Alternative indie-pop and folk.
Blood Red Shoes, Underground Railroad
Karnivool
King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £8
Mono Jazz
Weekly jazz residency.
New bands showcase.
The Snipes, Morales, Razorblade Smile
Connie Lush, Blues Shouter
Punk-rock showcase.
Butterfly Fridays
Mono, 20:00–23:00, Free
Box, 20:00–23:00, Free
The Ferry, 20:00–00:00, £10.50
Box, 20:00–23:00, Free
Acoustic blues.
Revelations (Starstudded 78, Shambles Miller, General, Port Cullas)
The Butterfly & The Pig, 20:00–03:00, Free
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £3 Indie-pop and rock showcase.
Honkytonk
Trader Joe’s, 20:30–00:00, Free
Weekly acoustic night.
Openmiking
The Halt Bar, 20:30–00:00, Free
Weekly open mic.
Team Brick, Tattie Toes, Ug!, Field Mouse 13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
Alternative and melodic pop.
Vinyl Night
The Butterfly & The Pig, 21:00–12:00, Free
Hip-hop, funk and R’n’B.
Thu 04 Mar
Resident bands and live DJs.
Corpses, The Colour Pink Is Gay, More Than A Joke 13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
Thrash rock and metal.
Sat 06 Mar Don’t Flop
The Flying Duck, 14:00–18:00, £tbc
Scottish hip-hop battle.
Marco Cafolla Quartet Brel, 15:00–18:00, Free
Jazz funk.
Passion Pit (Ellie Goulding, Little Death) ABC, 19:00–22:00, £tbc
Electro-pop.
Lost In Oxygen
O2 Academy, 19:00–22:30, £6
JumpersKnee (LA Soundtrack, Call Me Ishmael)
Guitar rock.
Electro indie-rock.
Barrowlands, 19:00–23:00, £6
ABC, 19:00–22:00, £5
Mick Hargan and The Proposition Brel, 19:00–22:00, £7
Glaswegian singer/songwriter.
Danny Connors and The Ladders Classic Grand, 19:00–22:30, £6
Rhythmic four-piece.
Katherine Jenkins SECC, 19:30–22:30, £tbc
Classical pop.
Melliflous, The Hot Lips, Invidia, Sarcastic Affection, Fireproof Match New bands showcase.
Nik Kershaw
Òran Mór, 19:30–22:00, £16.50
Singer/songwriter plays solo acoustic.
Northern Harmony Adelaide’s, 19:30–22:00, £9 (£6)
Traditional vocal harmonies.
Copy Haho
Captain’s Rest, 19:30–22:30, £5
Cranked-up beats.
John Knox Sex Club
Lions.Chase.Tigers, Penguins Kill Polar Bears, Times Over
Riotous folk five-piece.
Trio of indie-pop.
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc
Captain’s Rest, 19:30–22:30, £8
Variety Suite
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £3
Packed bill of rock.
Sun Yurodny
Cafe Cossachok, 21:00–23:00, £6
Vibrant Dublin instrumentalists.
The Dangerfields, The Murderburgers, Eddy and the T-Bolts 13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
Punky pop and rock.
Bloc+Jam
Bar Bloc, 21:00–01:00, Free
Open mic night.
Butterfly Strategy
The Butterfly & The Pig, 21:00–12:00, Free
Live acoustic tunes.
Mon 08 Mar Fun Lovin Criminals (The Chemists) ABC, 19:00–22:00, £17.50
Bluesy rock.
The X Factor Live SECC, 19:30–22:30, £28.50
The official tour. In Hall 4.
White Hills, Pontiak, Prayer Rug
Captain’s Rest, 19:30–22:30, £7
Alternative psych-rock.
Michael Simons
Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2
Folk and blues fingerstyle guitar.
Killa Kela (Bigg Taj, Stanley Odd) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £8
King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £8
Punk medley.
Define Pop Showcase Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £tbc
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc
Up-and-coming bands.
Lev and Friends
Cafe Cossachok, 21:00–23:00, £6
Relaxed jazz.
Metallic rock.
The Strands, Secret Circuits, Tobias, Jer McDade
Bloc+Jam
Bar Bloc, 21:00–01:00, Free
Open mic night.
New bands showcase.
Butterfly Strategy
These Monsters, Jackie Treehorn, Bronto Skylift
Live acoustic tunes.
Mono Jazz
Mono, 20:00–23:00, Free
Weekly jazz residency.
Jana Piri (Frances and Her Trampoline) Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £5
Bar Bloc, 20:00–23:00, Free
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £8
Mon 15 Mar
Monthly ska special.
Honkytonk
Bagpipe rock’n’roll. Oh yes.
The Ferry, 20:00–00:00, £15
Weekly acoustic night.
Butterfly Fridays
Openmiking
Resident bands and live DJs.
The Halt Bar, 20:30–00:00, Free
The Catalysts, Glider
Martin Metcalfe, El Dog, Fiona Crawford
Psych-grunge and indie.
13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
Ambient rock and pop.
Vinyl Night
The Butterfly & The Pig, 21:00–12:00, Free
Hip-hop, funk and R’n’B.
Thu 11 Mar Alex Gardner ABC, 19:00–22:00, £10
Folk-rock.
Wild Palms
Captain’s Rest, 19:30–22:30, £5
Alternative beats.
The Butterfly & The Pig, 20:00–03:00, Free
Weekly open mic.
You Me At Six: Aftershow Post-gig DJ set.
The Skababs
The Red Hot Chilli Pipers
Trader Joe’s, 20:30–00:00, Free
The Butterfly & The Pig, 21:00–12:00, Free
ABC, 23:00–03:00, £3
Progressive rock and punk.
New York singer/songwriter.
Yaman
Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2
Indian classical music.
General Fiasco, Black Box Revelation
13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6
Alternative rock and garage blues.
Sat 13 Mar
Freestyle
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, Free
Ian Carleton’s Public Information
Mix of freestyle genres.
Brel, 15:00–18:00, Free
Tue 16 Mar
Jazz classics and originals.
Echofela (The Cairos, Johnny and The Giros)
Bad Lieutenant
Acoustic pop-rock.
New Order/Joy Division crossover.
The Garage, 19:00–22:30, £17.50
ABC, 19:00–22:00, £5
Citizens, Jackie Onassis, Guns of Parlophone, Xavier and The Bastard
P.E., Threat Signal, Attila
Fortune Of Sorrow, Contact Lost, Jix, Maggie Killed Me
Death metal and rock.
Experimental rock and punk.
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc
Colours, The Carrick, The Sleepwalkers, Hello Hello
James Lindsay
Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, £tbc
Dave Matthews Band SECC, 19:30–22:30, £33.50
Acoustic rock.
Tight indie-pop.
Captain’s Rest, 19:30–22:30, £6
The Jaks, Potential Strangers, Skinny Villans, The Pinups Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc
Lucy Wainwright Roche
Ones to watch. Or listen to.
Daughter of Loudon Wainwright and Suzzy Roche.
Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2
Brel, 19:00–22:00, £6
Electro-indie and pop.
Alternative tunes.
Bar Bloc, 20:00–23:00, Free
Freestyle
Tue 09 Mar
King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £7
Detour 5
Django Django
Mix of freestyle genres.
Two Door Cinema Club, Citadels (Two Stripe)
Box, 20:00–23:00, Free
Pumped up indie.
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, Free
Alternative rock, hip-hop and folk.
Retribution Gospel Choir
Johnny Barr, Lost in Audio, Always Read The Label
Nespresco, The Code, Joe Viterbo, Otaku, Columbia
Indie-pop types.
Mono, 20:00–23:00, £tbc
Trumpeter Ryan Quigley gives it large.
The Kissaway Trail, Kurran and the Wolfnotes, Tripwires No Tribe (Truth Be Told, Millyseck, Who’s Edna, Pishy Tissue)
Mars Red Sky, Julian Pras, Alba Lua
Metal rock.
Harmonic rock trio.
Indie-rock and bluesy folk.
New bands showcase.
Trivium
Top Ten Tracks line-up.
Bar Bloc, 20:00–23:00, Free
Feeding Egon, Thula Borah, Polar Haze, Curly’s Heores
Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, £tbc
Acoustic Scottish loveliness.
Mondegreen
The Brute Chrous, White Heath
Break Glass Emergency, Hates Hates Us
Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £1
King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £9
O2 Academy, 19:00–22:30, £tbc
Selective Service (Val Verde, St James Thomas)
Mono, 20:00–23:00, £6
King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £7.50
ABC, 19:00–22:00, £12.50
You Me at Six (We The Kings, Forever The Sickest Kids)
Fri 12 Mar
Burnt Island, Aidan Moffat (Second Hand Marching Band)
Jazz classics and modern standards.
Underoath (We Are The Ocean, Blackhole) Rock racket.
Pop-punk showcase.
Decorum
Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2
Hardcore punk-rock.
The Kinks live on.
Lonesome Tonight (Paul Francis Thorpe, Kansas City Dancers)
Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £6
Ivory Blacks, 18:30–22:30, £tbc
The Ferry, 20:00–00:00, £12.50
Platform, 19:30–22:00, £10
Live Jazz
The Ferry, 12:00–17:00, Free
Inner Logic
Kast Off Kinks
Ten Tracks In Stereo (Punch and The Apostles, The One Ensemble Two)
Mark Morris (Pose Victorious, The Soviets, Dave Adams)
A Side Soul
Classic and modern soul.
Rock and indie mix.
Rocky psych-pop.
Elvis tribute night. All hail...
Rollor, Grozny, Hey Enemy, Black International, Fatalists
Sun 14 Mar
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £3
Acoustic experimentalist.
Òran Mór, 19:00–23:00, £13
Local bands takeover.
New bands showcase.
The Works, Devil Theory, Turn It Sideways, Jonny Reb
Experimental indie-rock showcase.
Metallic rock.
The Halt Bar, 20:00–00:00, Free
13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
Box, 20:00–23:00, Free
Captain’s Rest, 19:30–22:30, £5
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc
Halt Bar Hijack
Free new music showcase. Request tickets from www.themill-live.com
Captain’s Rest, 19:30–22:30, £7
Classic Grand, 19:00–22:30, £10
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £5
Òran Mór, 20:00–22:30, Free
O2 Academy, 19:00–22:30, £20
Indie-rock.
Electro-house.
The Mill (Julia and the Doogans, Be A Familiar)
Classic blues rock.
Blue Panda Present
King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £12
Get Loose Present
Acoustic guitarist.
Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2
Audio Bullys
New bands showcase.
Too Much Too Young (Indiom Inc)
Maples Leaves, Erinn Williams (Sharon Martin) Melodic songwriters.
Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £5
Andy Miller
Pop, punk and rock.
Brel, 19:00–22:00, £tbc
Bad Bad Men, Iona Bain and The Art Deco, Randolph Leap, Barnets Sea
Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, £tbc
New bands showcase.
Barrowlands, 19:00–23:00, £6
Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £3
New bands showcase.
Jazz on bass.
The Invisible
The Automatic (White Belt Yellow Tag, To Catch A Thief)
Captain’s Rest, 19:30–22:30, £6
Hypnotic London trio.
Symbolics, Alan Panther, Suspire
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc
Alternative rock and indie-pop.
King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £9
Thrashy indie-rock.
Record Label Competition Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £5
Bands battle it out.
Emma Gillespie
The School ( The Social Services)
Glasgow Slow Club (The Barren Seas)
Varied singer/songwriter.
Cardiff girl-pop.
Punters bring their own playlist.
The Flying Duck, 19:30–23:00, £6
Bar Bloc, 20:00–00:00, Free
March 2010
THE SKINNY 53
Glasgow music Michael Simons
Folk fae Fife
Stillmarillion
Folk and blues fingerstyle guitar.
Music from Scotland and beyond.
Classic rock.
Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2
Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2
Johnny and the Giros Pivo Pivo, 20:00–22:30, £5
New bands double bill.
Acoustic Session/Open Mic Òran Mór, 19:30–22:30, Free
Open mic, hosted by Ross Clark.
New bands showcase.
Minor Arcana
Record Label Competition Final
Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2
Acoustic set with guests.
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £5
New Young Pony Club, Is Tropical
The winners get a single deal.
Popa Chubby
The Ferry, 20:00–00:00, £12.50
Rock and blues.
French Connection Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £tbc
Fri 26 Mar
French and Scottish bands collide.
The Butterfly & The Pig, 20:30–12:00, Free
Open mic night.
Babybird
King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £11
Melodic pop.
Miaoux Miaoux, Firebrand Boy
Mabel Love, Nations Capital, Nine Deaths of the Ninja
Electro-pop types.
Alternative indie showcase.
13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
Wed 17 Mar National Review of Live Art (Old lags and New Stars of Live Art) The Arches, 11:00–01:00, £15
Box, 20:00–23:00, Free
Pensioner
Bar Bloc, 20:00–23:00, Free
Indie-rock.
A Glasgow Kiss QMU, 19:00–22:00, £5
Youth enterprise album launch.
The Common Empire ABC, 19:00–22:00, £6
Indie-pop with ska twists.
Whole Lotta Led ABC, 19:00–22:00, £12
Tribute act.
Withered Hand
Bismark, What The Blood Revealed
Alternative folk fairytales.
Experimental techno and elctro-pop.
Mono, 20:00–23:00, £5
Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, £tbc
The Courteners (Goldhawks)
The Paradox
Stiff Little Fingers
Live bands night.
Hip-hop and metal mash.
Barrowlands, 19:00–23:00, £16 Popular annual concert.
Live Jazz
Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2
Jazz classics and modern standards.
James McCartney (Andy Lucas and the Crimps) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £7
Funky electro.
Mono Jazz
Mono, 20:00–23:00, Free
13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
Fri 19 Mar Shake Rattle & Roll
Platform, 13:30–15:00, £3.50 (£2.50)
Percussion whiz-kids shake up your idea of classical music.
Epico, Blue Wood, Still, Skyway Adventure Ivory Blacks, 18:30–22:30, £tbc
Metal and rock.
Weekly jazz residency.
The Smiths Indeed
The Joshua Tree
ABC, 19:00–22:00, £10
Tribute act.
U2 tribute.
The Fire and I
Blue Panda Present
The Flying Duck, 19:00–22:30, £5
Fundraiser gig.
Fundraiser gig for Haiti.
Already Naked, The Colour Injection, Sideway, Dirty Projects, Switch Effect
Box, 20:00–23:00, Free
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £tbc
Honkytonk
Trader Joe’s, 20:30–00:00, Free
Weekly acoustic night.
Openmiking
The Halt Bar, 20:30–00:00, Free
Weekly open mic.
Acoustic Tribute Night 13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
Live music singalong.
Vinyl Night
The Butterfly & The Pig, 21:00–12:00, Free
Hip-hop, funk and R’n’B.
Thu 18 Mar One Good Reason, Greenorange, Now Build A Submarine, Pete Westwater Ivory Blacks, 18:30–22:30, £tbc
Barrowlands, 19:00–23:00, £6
New bands showcase.
32 Miles to Breakfast, The Subordinates, Red Scarlet, Saraswathi The Ferry, 19:00–00:00, £5
Rock and pop showcase.
Gift Of Gab
Captain’s Rest, 19:30–22:30, £tbc
Progressive hip-hop.
Manel
Classic Grand, 19:30–22:30, £5 (£3)
Catalan band.
Emma Pollock, Josh Pyke King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10
Mellow pop and indie-folk.
Times New Viking
Sigfreid and Roid Rahe, Dip Dap, Burnout 27, Roscoe Vacant
Odd, hyper pop.
New bands showcase.
Pop-rock and punk.
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc
Hip-Hop Meets Jazz (The Marco Cafolla Trio, Factory Babies, Alex Nice) The Flying Duck, 19:30–00:00, £5
Box, 20:00–23:00, Free
Butterfly Fridays
The Butterfly & The Pig, 20:00–03:00, Free
Resident bands and live DJs.
Mixed-up band genres.
Talons, Shutter
Cake Free Bakesale
Punk and experimental.
Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2
Music hosted by Jonny Terrell.
13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
Sat 20 Mar
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc
Paul Mills’ Mind Excursion Bar Bloc, 20:00–23:00, Free
All things funky.
The Computers, Outcry Collective (The Parting, Out Of Samsara) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6
Hardcore punk and rock.
The Hidden Cameras Stereo, 20:00–23:00, £12
Indie-pop.
Halt Bar Hijack
The Halt Bar, 20:00–00:00, Free
Local bands takeover.
The Rat Pack is Back The Ferry, 20:00–00:00, £22.50
Swing showtunes.
Schnapps, Jackie Onasis 13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
Indie, goth and grunge.
Sun 21 Mar What’s The Damage, One Day Remains, Final Silence
Rock and pop
Flyleaf
King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £9
Rock with a capital ‘R’.
Them Beatles (Johns Weans, The Dunderheids) Box, 20:00–23:00, Free
Beatles tribute.
Nude Pilots
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £tbc
Cayto, Second Skin, Titus Gein
Boston Manor
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc
The Halt Bar, 20:00–00:00, Free
Sun 28 Mar The Besnard Lakes (Wolf People, Olympic Swimmers) Captain’s Rest, 19:30–22:30, £8
Montreal ambient pop collective.
House of Rock (Mother Midnight)
Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £5
Captain’s Rest, 19:30–22:30, £5
Event launch.
The Krimson
King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10
Metal noise.
Frock and Cock Present
Jazz, new wave and electro-rock.
Alternative types.
Loud, screaming tunes.
Emery, Moneen, Deaf Havana
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc
Alternative rock.
Selection of alternative bands.
Wing and a Prayer
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £5
Ich, Joey Terrifying
Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2
Singers influenced by the blues.
The Slow Club
Punk showcase.
Archie Bronson Outfit
The Flying Duck, 20:00–00:00, Free
Sunday chill-out tunes.
Stereo, 19:30–23:30, £5
Bar Bloc, 20:00–23:00, Free
Retro rockabilly and garage.
Mono Jazz
King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10
London three-piece.
Lev and Nigel
Weekly jazz residency.
As The Crow Flies
Methods Of Dance (Jamie Thomson)
Jazz guitar and violin.
Indie rock’n’roll madness.
Mono, 20:00–23:00, Free
Cafe Cossachok, 21:00–23:00, £6
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £5
Bar Bloc, 20:00–23:00, Free
Underground beats.
La La Vasquez, Golden Grrrls, Girls Names
Honkytonk
Motown At Mono
Sunny pop mix.
Weekly acoustic night.
13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
Trader Joe’s, 20:30–00:00, Free
Mono, 20:00–23:00, Free
Motown and soul.
Bloc+Jam
Openmiking
The Rollin’ Clones
Open mic night.
Bar Bloc, 21:00–01:00, Free
The Halt Bar, 20:30–00:00, Free
The Ferry, 20:00–00:00, £12.50
Weekly open mic.
Tribute act.
Butterfly Strategy
Borthwicks
Butterfly Fridays
Live acoustic tunes.
13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
The Butterfly & The Pig, 20:00–03:00, Free
Acoustic metallic indie.
Resident bands and live DJs.
Vinyl Night
the Latecomers
Hip-hop, funk and R’n’B.
Acoustic pop.
The Butterfly & The Pig, 21:00–12:00, Free
PIN UP NIGHTS
Thu 25 Mar
The Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £5
The World Unseen, The Clyde Ivory Blacks, 18:30–22:30, £tbc
Alternative rock and beats.
Lauries Bar, 20:15–23:00, Free
Indie spectacular.
Sat 27 Mar
Jakil, Tempercalm
Matthew Herd Quintet
Experimental pop-rock.
Tenor sax, plus drums and bass.
O2 Academy, 19:00–22:30, £6
Brel, 15:00–18:00, Free
The Butterfly & The Pig, 21:00–12:00, Free
Mon 29 Mar Robots In Disguise ABC, 19:00–22:00, £10
Electro pop-punk.
Yaman
Tchai-Ovna, 20:00–22:00, £2
Indian classical music.
Battle of Wolf 359, MeAndGoliath, Resurrectionists 13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
An array of punk.
Dan Le Sac Vs. Scroobius Pip Classic Grand, 19:00–22:30, £tbc
Pop-lit, now with added beats.
Nine Inch Nails Night Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £tbc
NIN special.
Georgie Gajjic
Cafe Cossachok, 21:00–23:00, £6
Accordian melodies.
THE BEST IN LIVE EMERGING MUSIC
Chris T-T
13th Note, 21:00–23:30, £tbc
Indie-folk.
Bloc+Jam
Bar Bloc, 21:00–01:00, Free
Open mic night.
Butterfly Strategy
FOR FREE TICKETS VISIT themill-live.com
The Butterfly & The Pig, 21:00–12:00, Free
Live acoustic tunes.
Mon 22 Mar
Dias Ensemble
Trio of new bands.
South American rhythms.
Classics of yesteryear.
54 THE SKINNY March 2010
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc
Experimental metal fusion.
The Four Tops, The Temptations
Brel, 15:00–18:00, Free
The Viragoes
Ivory Blacks, 18:30–22:30, £tbc
The Regiment, Codeen, Liam Ferns
Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £5
Metal bands showcase.
Alternative indie.
Up-and-coming bands.
PodCart
Barrowlands, 19:00–23:00, £6
O2 Academy, 19:00–22:30, £16
Jazz pop singer.
Classic rock and metal.
La Luna Del Cacciatore, Annihilation, Truth Be Told, Break The Skyline, Lost Persona
Psych-metal and hardcore.
Ducksoup
Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, £tbc
X Factor indie folkster.
Ivory Blacks, 19:00–22:30, £tbc
Marlena Shaw
ABC, 19:00–22:00, £12
Classic Grand, 19:00–22:30, £12.75
Nachymystium, The Psyke Project
Folk-pop loveliness.
Panic Cell, Town Called Hell
Progressive alternative.
Local bands takeover.
Indie rock’n’roll showcase.
The Flying Duck, 19:30–23:00, £4
The Flying Duck, 19:15–23:00, £5
Diana Vickers
Wed 24 Mar
Paloma Faith (La Shark)
The Ferry, 20:00–00:00, £18.50
Her Name Is Calla (Eagelowl)
Halt Bar Hijack
Boycotts, Johnny Reb, Mickey 9s
Experimental soul-funk.
Mini festival, with bands, live graffiti, DJs and short film showcase.
Rock ‘n’ roll.
Turin Brakes
O2 Academy, 19:00–22:30, £12.50
The Tollhouse Studios, 19:00–00:00, £6
Open mic night.
What’s The Noise Present
Classic Grand, 19:00–22:30, £18
Bluesy folk.
Livewire AC/DC
Annual jamboree for performance related mayhem
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £tbc
Classic Grand, 19:00–22:30, £tbc
Tuesday Music Club
The Butterfly & The Pig, 20:30–12:00, Free
Tuesday Music Club
Millsyeck, The Dots, Craig Davidson, Simon Patchett Box, 20:00–23:00, Free
Alternative electro.
THURSDAY 25TH MARCH 2010
One Crative Scotland
Hardcore punk and rock.
Electro-house.
King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £11.50
THE MILL IS AN 18+ VENUE. DRINK SENSIBLY
Free new music showcase. Request tickets from www.themill-live.com Bar Bloc, 20:00–23:00, Free
ABC, 19:00–22:00, £10
SEE GIG LISTINGS
Peggy Sue
Fights and Fires, Ugly Baby
Giggs
GLASGOW ÒRAN MÓR, TOP OF BYRES RD
The Mill (Song Of Return, Midnight Lions) Òran Mór, 20:00–22:30, Free
Tue 23 Mar
ABC, 19:00–22:00, £8
SECC, 19:30–22:30, £38
THE MILL IS AN 18+ VENUE. DRINK SENSIBLY
Edinburgh music Tue 02 Mar Angie Stone (Dwele)
HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:30, £23.50
Soulful singer/songwriter.
Leith Folk Club (Archie Fisher) The Village, 19:30–22:45, £8
Gentle Scottish folk.
Autonomous, The High Lines, Highlight
Fri 05 Mar Rebels: Beating The Drum For Africa
Usher Hall, 11:00–13:30, Free
Awareness-raising dance and music.
JAM HOUSE EXPERIENCE (The Flavours, Steve Craven)
The Jam House, 18:00–03:00, Free before 8pm, £5 after
Party anthems, old and new.
Indie-pop and rock.
A Fight You Can’t Win, Hagana, Ugly Baby
Midgar, Miasma
Trio of bands from The Mine.
The Ark, 19:30–01:00, £tbc
Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £4
Henry’s Cellar Bar, 20:00–23:45, £5 (£4)
Melodic rock.
Copy Haho
Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5
Disco-pop beats.
Fundraiser Party
The Jazz Bar, 20:15–23:00, £4
Live music in aid of Retrospect magazine.
Wed 03 Mar Newton Faulkner (Charlie Winston)
HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:30, £17.50
Heatsick (Blue Sabbath Black Fiji, Windordamonsbeast, Lamplighter) Roxy Arthouse, 19:00–23:00, £5
Interesting, experimental music.
Summer In Raincoats, Seven Hills, Sandettie Light Vessel Automatic
Make Sparks (The Strands, Cast Of The Capital) Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £tbc
Indie-pop.
Richmond Fontaine, Alana Levandoski
Cabaret Voltaire, 19:00–22:00, £13
Americana singer/songwriter.
The View
The Bongo Club, 19:00–22:00, £15
Dundee indie scamps.
Music, Speech and Dance Festival Festival concert closer.
Esperi
Roxy Arthouse, 19:00–23:00, £5
Magical acoustic folkiness.
Glassface, Jaded Playboy Mighty mix of punk and rock.
Maiden Scotland, Size Queen, Sleeping Martyr The Ark, 19:30–01:00, £tbc
Folk-rock and metal.
White Noise (Dead Boy Robotics)
Funk showcase.
Volts AC/DC
Unrelenting metal.
New music showcase night.
Rock tribute.
Premiere Quintet
The Steals, The Albion (Rolled Up 20’s)
Hand-picked five-piece.
Electric Circus, 19:00–00:00, £3
Jools Holland and Band The Jam House, 19:00–01:00, £40
Jazz and blues legend.
Edinburgh Folk Club (Ken Campbell’s Ideal Band)
The Pleasance, 20:00–22:30, £8 (£7) or £5 members
Folk sessions in the Cabaret Bar.
Starseed, Firetone (50 Calibre Smile, Slow Motion Replay) Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £4
Melodic alternative rock.
Napier Live
The Voodoo Rooms, 20:00–01:00, £tbc
Napier University showcase.
Unpeeled
The Jazz Bar, 20:15–23:00, £3
Showcase of four new acts.
Henry’s Cellar Bar, 19:30–22:30, £4
The Ark, 19:30–01:00, £tbc
Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £4
Party-starting indie-rock.
Leon Rosselson, Dick Gaughan, Chick Lyall
Counting House, 20:00–00:00, £15 (£6)
Gig in aid of Haiti.
Live Bandeoke
Electric Circus, 20:00–03:00, Free
House band karaoke and DJs.
Scottish National Jazz Orchestra (John Scofield) Queen’s Hall, 20:30–22:30, £12-£18
Jazz guitarist.
BALKANARAMA
Studio 24, 21:30–03:00, £7 before 10.30pm, £9 after
Gypsy and Balkan fun.
Volume Dealer
New Urban Frontier, Red2Red
Metal and rock.
Hip-hop and ska-tinged reggae.
Studio 24, 22:00–03:00, Free
Thu 04 Mar Shooting Stansfield
Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £tbc
EP launch.
Henry’s Cellar Bar, 23:00–03:00, £4
This Is Music (Tallah Disco, Bargain Harold) Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3
Gig/club crossover.
Sat 06 Mar
SCO: Child Prodigy to Mature Genius
Afternoon Jazz
Young Mozart to anicent Beethoven.
Medley of bands and singers.
Queen’s Hall, 19:30–22:30, £8.50-£26
The Jazz Bar, 15:00–18:00, Free
The Mill (Stanley Odd, S Kay)
Cosmic Ceilidh Band
Cabaret Voltaire, 19:30–22:30, Free
Free new music showcase. Request tickets from www.themill-live.com
Audio Companion, Sherman The Ark, 19:30–01:00, £tbc
Acoustic electro and pop.
The Alchonauts, Burnout 27 (The Plimptons)
Roxy Arthouse, 18:00–23:00, £10 (£6.50)
Fundraiser ceilidh. In the Roxy Hall.
JAM HOUSE EXPERIENCE (The Flavours, Steve Craven)
The Jam House, 18:00–03:00, Free before 8pm, £5.50 after
Party anthems, old and new.
Backlash, The Sound Of Perdition, Static Fall
The Jazz Bar, 20:15–23:00, £4 (£3)
Yuill Scott, The Haight Carters Bar, 21:30–23:30, Free
Rock and pop.
Earl Grey And The Loose Leaves, The Scunners Henry’s Cellar Bar, 23:00–03:00, £4
Gentle blues.
Sun 07 Mar Edinburgh Bands Toghether Queen’s Hall, 18:30–22:30, £10-£15
Music fundraiser for Haiti.
Killa Kela (Bigg Taj, MC Profisee)
Electric Circus, 19:00–22:30, £8
Beatboxing supremo.
Leeron, Alarms
The Ark, 19:30–01:00, £tbc
Experimental niceness.
CRANACHAN
Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, Free
Classic rock covers.
Maria Speight
The Jazz Bar, 20:15–23:00, £4 (£3)
Jazz and gospel loveliness.
Mon 08 Mar Your Neighbour The Liar (Penguins Kill Polar Bears, The Barents Sea) Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £tbc
Alternative tuneage.
Blood Red Shoes
Electric Circus, 19:00–22:30, £8
Punk and rock.
London six-piece.
Indie-rock single launch.
Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £4
THE MILL EDINBURGH • 4TH MARCH • 18TH MARCH THE MILL GLASGOW • 11TH MARCH • 25TH MARCH SEE GIG LISTINGS
Live bands and DJs after.
The Invisible
Wee Red Bar, 19:00–03:00, £4
Turn up and do your thing. Loudly.
The Kinks live on.
Tue 09 Mar Grizzly Bear
Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:30, £17.50
Acoustic indie four-piece.
Leith Folk Club (Ailie Robertson) The Village, 19:30–22:45, £6
Inventive young harp player.
Wed 10 Mar
The Pleasance, 20:00–22:30, £8 (£7) or £5 members
Folk sessions in the Cabaret Bar.
Edgar Presents
Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £4 Rock and metal showcase.
The Ark, 19:30–01:00, £tbc
Mahler’s sixth symphony live.
Experiemental indie and punk-rock.
Townhouse, Augustalia, Neoviolet, The Laymanites The Ark, 19:30–01:00, £tbc
CRANACHAN
Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, Free
Classic rock covers.
New bands showcase.
Debbie Davis
Jackie Treehorn, These Monsters
The Jazz Bar, 20:15–23:00, £4 (£3)
Soul and jazz vocalist.
Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £5
Technical, progressive rock.
Mon 15 Mar
Rachel Z Trio
Electric Circus, 20:00–03:00, Free
Edinburgh Folk Club
Miasma, The Otherside, Fireside Aliens, Moya
Usher Hall, 19:30–22:30, £10-£32
New music showcase night.
Electric Circus, 19:00–00:00, £3
Son of Paul McCartney.
Indie post-rock.
RSNO: Deneve
White Noise (Michael MacLennan, Lee Patterson)
Cabaret Voltaire, 19:00–22:00, £7
Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £6
The Caves, 19:15–21:45, £12
The Jazz Bar, 20:00–23:00, £12 (£10)
HIM
New York pianist and band.
HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:30, £20
Alternative rock.
Live Bandeoke
Open Mic Night
House band karaoke and DJs.
Whistlebinkies, 21:30–02:30, Free
Turn up and do your thing. Loudly.
Sat 13 Mar Fitzroy Soul, Earl Grey Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)
Tue 16 Mar Skindred (Panic Cell, Forever Never)
Soulful Indie-blues.
Volume Dealer
Gun (Virgin Marys, The Black Lights, Anavris)
Metal and rock.
Alternative rock.
Frank Turner (Chuck Ragan)
The Ritalin Kids
Countrified folk-punk.
Studio 24, 22:00–03:00, Free
Thu 11 Mar Karine Polwart and Friends Roxy Arthouse, 18:00–23:00, £12 (£8)
Fundraiser for Edinburgh Green Party. Studio 24, 19:00–22:00, £27.50
Sacre Noir, Ashmatic Astronaut, Forward Play The Ark, 19:30–01:00, £tbc
Electro showcase.
Terrifying Ordeal (Lewis Gibson, The Midas Touch, Paul Birtill)
Words and music, with poet Paul Birtill and bands.
Downfall, Arcane Corps (Kemantian)
Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £4
Groovy metalcore.
Graeme Stephen Sextet The Jazz Bar, 20:15–23:00, £6 (£5)
Folk, jazz and classical.
Studio 24, 19:00–22:00, £14
Alternative punk.
Studio 24, 19:00–22:00, £14
HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:30, £12
Cabaret Voltaire, 19:00–22:00, £tbc
Scottish four-piece.
Mumford and Sons
Paul Vickers and The Leg
Acoustic indie-folk.
Electric Circus, 19:00–22:30, £8
Album launch.
African Extravaganza (Rise Kagona, Diwan, Baobab Gateway, La Boum, DJ Jafar) Roxy Arthouse, 19:00–23:00, £8 (£7)
Music, stories and poetry in aid of Heart Beat.
Lipsync for a Lullaby Roxy Arthouse, 19:00–23:00, £5
Soul Foundation
The Voodoo Rooms, 19:30–01:00, Free
Classic soul and motown.
Hearts and Balls (The John Beattie Band, The Prov Johnstone Tribute Band) The Jam House, 19:30–03:00, £20-£60
The Village, 19:30–22:45, £6
Australian fiddle and piano duo.
Kolumbia, Wild Ride The Ark, 19:30–01:00, £tbc
Rock ‘n’ roll.
Justin Grounds
Cabaret Voltaire, 19:00–22:00, £5
Electro-acoustic instrumentalist.
Pensioner, Bronto Skylift, Degrassi
Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £tbc
Trio of new bands.
Post-Six Nations party.
Dan Berglund’s Tonbrucket Jazz/rock bassist.
Leith Folk Club (Catherine Fraser)
Wed 17 Mar
Strings and post-rock.
Queen’s Hall, 20:00–22:30, £12-£15
Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:30, £tbc
Crab Tea Eclectic
Roxy Arthouse, 19:00–23:00, £5
Degree show fundraiser.
Balls-out rock.
White Noise (The Fusiliers, Alasdair Young, The Four Lands)
Dana Walker
Rachel Z Trio
New music showcase night.
Metallic pop.
New York pianist and band.
Fri 12 Mar Studio 24, 18:00–22:00, £6
Alex Gardner
Cabaret Voltaire, 19:00–22:00, £10
Lovely, soulful pop.
Punch and the Apostles (Wounded Knee) Roxy Arthouse, 19:00–23:00, £5
Anarchic thrash. Brilliant.
THE MILL IS AN 18+ VENUE. DRINK SENSIBLY
James McCartney
Kast Off Kinks
Whistlebinkies, 21:30–02:30, Free
Henry’s Cellar Bar, 19:30–01:00, £6.50
UPCOMING GIGS
THE MILL IS AN 18+ VENUE. DRINK SENSIBLY
Allo Darlin’, The School, Django Django
Open Mic Night
Indie and electro.
Dirty Modern Hero Studio 24, 19:00–22:00, £tbc
Daughter of Loudon Wainwright and Suzzy Roche.
Berlin-based quartet.
Queen’s Hall, 19:45–22:30, £10-£19
Swooning indie.
The Jazz Bar, 20:15–23:00, £5 (£4)
The Voodoo Rooms, 20:00–01:00, £7
Delphic
Simon Roth’s Mayday Project
Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £4
Lucy Wainwright Roche
Kuss Quartet
Electro, pop and rock mix.
Pop-punk overload.
THURSDAY 4TH MARCH 2010
Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £4
Syndri, ABC Schmee (The Sun Explodes)
Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £4
SEE GIG LISTINGS
Henry’s Cellar Bar, 19:30–23:00, £4
Town Called Hell, Hitcher (Dog Tired)
Alternative acoustic.
EDINBURGH CABARET VOLTAIRE, 36 BLAIR STREET
Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:30, £8 (£4)
Lycanthrope
Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £4
The Jazz Bar, 20:00–23:00, £12 (£10)
Bang Bang Club (Omegale, The Regent, Simonotron, Jetboy) Electric Circus, 23:00–03:00, £5
Two rooms of musical contrast.
Sun 14 Mar
Electric Circus, 19:00–00:00, £3
Southern Remedy The Ark, 19:30–01:00, £tbc
Acoustic indie blues.
Edinburgh Folk Club (Brendan Henry Trio)
The Pleasance, 20:00–22:30, £8 (£7) or £5 members
Folk sessions in the Cabaret Bar.
We Luv Musik
Four Tet
Los Mondo Bongo, Sad Society
New and established acts.
Experimental electro.
Joe Strummer tribute.
The Voodoo Rooms, 19:00–01:00, £5
The Bongo Club, 19:00–22:00, £12
Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £10
March 2010
THE SKINNY 55
EDINBURGH MUSIC VOLUME DEALER
THE BEAT
Metal and rock.
Reggae-tinged pop.
STUDIO 24, 22:00–03:00, FREE
bar / live music / club / private karaoke rooms
HEARD IT THROUGH THE BASSLINE (MOUNT KIMBIE)
GRIND SIGHT OPEN EYE
Electro special guest.
SCO: OSBOURNE PLAYS MOZART
THE CAVES, 23:00–03:00, £4-£6
WHITE NOISE MARCH LIvE guESTS INCLuDE:
dead boy robotics, retro champs michael maclennan, lee patterson, smack van, randan discotheque, electric ghosts & more tba
07 MARCH killa kela, bigg taJ & proFisee
THU 18 MAR DOLLY MIXTURES
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 17:00–00:00, FREE BEFORE 8.30PM, £3 AFTER
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £5
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 19:30–22:30, FREE
THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4.50 BEFORE MIDNIGHT, £7 AFTER
THE ARK, 19:30–01:00, £TBC
Country and bluegrass jam.
JEWEL AND ESK SHOWCASE THE JAZZ BAR, 20:00–23:00, £4 (£3)
Varied college showcase.
FRI 19 MAR EGYPTIAN HIP HOP (BWANI JUNCTION)
Glam techno. Mad Hatter theme!
SUN 21 MAR
RANDAN DISCOTHEQUE ROXY ARTHOUSE, 19:00–23:00, £5
Lo-fi electro-folk.
ANGELIC UPSTARTS
CITRUS CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £10 IN ADVANCE, £13 ON DOOR
Iconic 70s punk.
THE ANGELIC UPSTARTS (CRASHED OUT, GIN GOBLINS) CITRUS CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £13
QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30–22:30, £10-£22
Scottish baroque ensemble.
JW’S BLUESBURNER
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–01:00, FREE
Album launch night.
THE RABBLE, THE BEGRUDGERS (THE TERRORS) BANNERMAN’S, 20:00–23:00, £5
Vitriolic old-school punk.
NAPIER SHOWCASE
THE JAZZ BAR, 20:15–23:00, £4 (£3)
College vocalists showcase.
MON 22 MAR
Southern thrash.
LIVE BANDEOKE
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 20:00–03:00, FREE
House band karaoke and DJs.
THE DOUGLAS FIRS (HELHESTEN) ROXY ARTHOUSE, 19:00–23:00, £5
Music with art/poetry mag Scree.
SCO: SCHUMANN ROMANTIC SPRING
QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30–22:30, £8.50-£26
Classical concert.
SHORT BUS WINDOW LICKERS, THE THREATS, DADDY NO! HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:30–23:45, £5
Funky punk.
GENEROUS THING
THE ARK, 19:30–01:00, £TBC
Indie powerpop.
LOWER THAN ATLANTIS, JUNE (VISPERAS)
BANNERMAN’S, 20:00–23:00, £4
Melodic rock.
VERSUS
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:00–01:00, £TBC
JONI KEEN
THE JAZZ BAR, 20:15–23:00, £4 (£3)
FRI 26 MAR NORTH ATLANTIC OSCILLATION SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £TBC
Album launch.
JOSH ROUSE
HMV PICTURE HOUSE, 19:00–22:30, £16.50
American folk.
FIGHTS AND FIRES, WILDTYPE, UGLY BABY
HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 19:00–23:00, £5
Punk and rock showcase.
WISE BLOOD INDUSTRIES (THE SHUTDOWN, ADAM STAFFORD, THE KAYS LAVELLE, BURNT ISLAND, JAMIE STURROCK)
RICHARD COBB, SCOTTIE HOUNSON
KEAVE, LOST IN SPACE
Alan Bissett performing sections of The Moira Monologues.
BANNERMAN’S, 20:00–23:00, £4
THE ARK, 19:30–01:00, £TBC
STANLEY ODD
GREAT JUNCTION STUDIO PRESENT
Acoustic action.
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:00–01:00, £TBC
Hip-hop and electro.
OPEN MIC NIGHT
WHISTLEBINKIES, 21:30–02:30, FREE
Turn up and do your thing. Loudly.
TUE 23 MAR Minimalist pop.
BANNERMAN’S, 20:00–23:00, £4
Alternative tunes.
ROXY ARTHOUSE, 19:00–23:00, £5
RED2RED
MATANUSKA
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £TBC
QUEEN’S HALL, 19:00–22:30, £18.50
70s punk legends.
Ska night special.
NUDE PILOTS
Album launch.
ST MATTHEW PASSION
YOUTHMOVIES (ADAM GNADE)
THE ARK, 19:30–01:00, £TBC
Post-punk and indie-rock.
Christine Brewer sings Strauss.
USHER HALL, 19:30–22:30, £10-£26
Brooding musical noir.
Acoustic folk-pop biggie.
WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, FREE
Bands duel live on-stage.
TINDERSTICKS
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 19:00–22:00, £TBC
THU 25 MAR BLACK INTERNATIONAL, UNITED FRUIT, THE FATALISTS
SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
Experimental poptasticness.
TURIN BRAKES
08444 77 1000 : www.ticketweb.co.uk ripping records : tickets Scotland
CONFUSION IS SEX
THE CITY RISES, SNIDE RHYTHMS WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, FREE
NORTH BRIDGE
CARTERS BAR, 21:30–23:30, FREE
OLD DOLLAR BILL, SHORE LIGHT
Live jam session.
SOUTH BRIDGE
New bands from Scotland and beyond. Tuneful folk.
Experimental rock and pop.
WAVERLEY BRIDGE
LIMBO (WITHERED HAND)
Free new music showcase. Request tickets from www.themill-live.com
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £6
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £6
THE COURTENERS (GOLDHAWKS) HMV PICTURE HOUSE, 19:00–22:30, £16
Alternative indie.
LEITH FOLK CLUB (SONNY CONDELL)
THE VILLAGE, 19:30–22:45, £8
Breezy jazz and rhythm guitar.
MIRA OPALINSKA QUARTET
ANDY KNOX, BRING BACK THE PLANES, JOHNNY DEACON
Original Polish jazz.
Alternative rock.
BANNERMAN’S, 20:00–23:00, £4
Up-and-coming talent.
LAPTOP LOUNGE
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:00–01:00, FREE
Contemporary electro.
POPA CHUBBY
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:00–01:00, £13
Rock and blues.
LIVE BANDEOKE
ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 20:00–03:00, FREE
House band karaoke and DJs.
THIS IS MUSIC (TALLAH DISCO, BARGAIN HAROLD)
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £3 (MEMBERS FREE)
Renowned indie and electro.
SAT 27 MAR GLAMOUR OF THE KILL
THE JAZZ BAR, 20:15–23:00, £4 (£3)
THE ARK, 19:30–01:00, £TBC
Acoustic folk and pop.
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 19:00–22:00, £7.50
JIVE CANDY
I.C.H, JOEY TERRIFYING, DICK DANGEROUS AND THE LOVEBASTARDS, BILLY LIAR
KOCHKA (100 METRE CLUB)
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:30–01:00, £5
Funky, danceable grooves.
THIS IS MUSIC (TALLAH DISCO, BARGAIN HAROLD)
SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £3 (MEMBERS FREE)
Renowned indie and electro.
SAT 20 MAR EASTER MADNESS (BEFORE THE WAR, NAE NEED, SUPERCHARGER, ELECTRO CIRCUIT, THE DIRECTORS) STUDIO 24, 18:30–22:00, £6
Battle of the bands.
CHRIS T-T
HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 20:00–23:45, £5
Punk showcase.
WED 24 MAR WHITE NOISE (SMACK VAN) ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–00:00, £3
New music showcase night.
EDINBURGH FOLK CLUB (DANA ROBINSON, SUSAN ROBINSON) THE PLEASANCE, 20:00–22:30, £8 (£7) OR £5 MEMBERS
Big and bashy rock.
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £TBC
Alternative tunes.
THE SMYTHS (ELKIN) STUDIO 24, 19:00–22:00, £8
Alternative indie.
TRAMPOLINE PRESENTS WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5
New bands showcase.
CASINO QUEEN, DRIVE, FALLEN ANGEL THE ARK, 19:30–02:00, £TBC
Blues and metallic rock.
Folk sessions in the Cabaret Bar.
MARCH THE BLUEFLAMES
EDINBURGH UNIVERSITY JAZZ ORCHESTRA
Rockin’ blues plus DJs.
THE SPIDERS WEB, 20:30–23:00, £10
THE JAZZ BAR, 20:00–23:00, £4 (£3)
MARCH THE BLUEFLAMES Live band, plus Tojo on the decks post-set.
theelectriccircus.biz
FUZZY LOGIC PRESENTS
FRANCES AND HER TRAMPOLINE (GREEN MAN RUNNING)
36-39 Market Street, edinburgh eh1 1dF 0131 226 4224
Trio of live bands.
Electro indie rock.
50s fun with showgirls a-go-go.
THE MIXUPS
VOLUME DEALER
MCF RECORDS NIGHT
Eclectic noise-makers.
Metal and rock.
Live rock and hip-hop.
HIGH STREET/ROYAL MILE
OPEN: TuE/wEd/saT 7-laTE, Thu/fri 5-laTE
56 THE SKINNY MARCH 2010
BANNERMAN’S, 20:00–23:00, £4
WOUNDED KNEE
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 21:00–01:00, £5
MARKET STREET CO CK BU RN ST RE ET
Classic rock types.
THE MILL (THE GOTHENBURG ADDRESS, THE ELEMENTS)
JAMMIN’ AT VOODOO
WAVERLEY STATION
THE ARK, 19:30–01:00, £TBC
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:30–01:00, £TBC
Hardcore metal.
PRINCES STREET
JUNIOR PRIEST, STATUS OLD
Experimental London ensemble.
HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 20:00–23:45, £5
EvERY DAY - siX addict 2 hours frEE between 6pm - 8pm - ec007 EvERY WED - students frEE for 2 hours (bring nus cards) - ec010 EvERY THuRS - ladies frEE for 2 hours - ec006 Call 226 4224, quote the code and start having fun!!! (Offers valid until 31.03.10)
Classical piano.
Basque punk.
HEIGHTS, THE PARTY PROGRAM, GHOSTS OF ELYSIUM, AS AUTUMN FALLS
Book our karaoke rooms FOR FREE!
QUEEN’S HALL, 19:30–22:30, £8.50-£26
LA SHARK (WHITE HEATH, SELECTIVE SERVICES)
Punk and psychedelia.
Private Karaoke Rooms
Experimental noise-makers.
FLYSHIT, DRIVE BY AUDIO (MURDERTOWN)
BANNERMAN’S, 20:00–23:00, £4
acoustic ladyland & White heath
ROXY ARTHOUSE, 19:00–23:00, £5
Live Beatles tribute, The Blackbirds, plus tea, cake and vintage stalls.
THE LIE DETECTORS, FACE THE SUN (ACID FASCISTS)
03 APRIL
HMV PICTURE HOUSE, 19:00–22:30, £15
ECqtr2.indd 1
SNEAKY PETE’S, 19:00–22:00, £6
Alternative folk geezer.
WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£3)
CABARET VOLTAIRE, 19:00–22:00, £5
24/2/10 10:19:09
17-piece jazz ensemble.
BANNERMAN’S, 20:00–23:00, £4
STUDIO 24, 22:00–03:00, FREE
THE SPIDERS WEB, 20:30–00:00, £8
VEGAS!
THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:30–02:00, £5
HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £TBC
Glasgow Clubs Tue 02 Mar Byblos Tuesday
Byblos, 22:30–03:00, Free before midnight, £3 after
Chart and R’n’B.
Pressure (Laurent Garnier, Slam, Master H, Sunday Circus) O2 Academy, 22:00–03:00, £18
Roof-raising house.
Ballbreaker/Vice
Sun 07 Mar
The Shed, 22:00–03:00, Free before 11pm, £5 after
Hip-hop, house and electro.
Elevator
Bamboo, 22:00–03:00, £2 before 11pm, £5 (£4) after
The Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)
Sabado
Hip-hop, pop and funk.
Damnation
Dance, R’n’B and chart.
Killer Kitsch
Metal, punk and emo.
Tetris
Bamboo, 22:30–03:00, Free before 11pm, £5 (£3) after
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)
Electro, 80s and trashy disco.
Wed 03 Mar TONGUE IN CHEEK
Bamboo, 22:00–03:00, £2 before 11pm, £5 (£4) after
Indie and electro-pop.
Octopussy 4th Birthday The Arches, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)
Student fun, with bouncy castle.
Twisted
Byblos, 22:30–03:00, Free before midnight, £3 after
Indie, chart, R’n’B... and facepainting!
Watchamacallit
Rock, metal and indie party.
Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)
Symbiosis
Soundhaus, 22:30–03:00, £5
Drum ‘n’ bass party.
Byblos, 22:30–03:00, Free before 11pm, £8 after
Cathouse Sundays (Mythic) The Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)
Requests night.
Guilty
Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £tbc
Arches Re-Opening (2 Many DJs, Danny Rampling, Jon Mancini, Giovanni Ferri)
Alternative Sunday party.
Big names for the grand re-opening.
Shedkandi
The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £20-£25
Blink Presents Reset Robot (Mofo, Nino, Jamie) Club 69, 23:00–03:00, £8
Reset Robots Scottish debut for Blink’s 1st Birthday.
Depthcharge (Monty)
The Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £5 before midnight, £7 after
Optimo
Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)
Eclectic house, techno and party.
Bazodee
The Halt Bar, 20:00–02:00, Free
Reggae and dancehall.
Twisted
Byblos, 22:30–03:00, Free before midnight, £3 after
House and chill-out, plus street performers.
BonBon (Kage, Cammie T, Ally Reid)
Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, Free
House and techno.
Cloak & Dagger
The Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)
Electro, techno and fidget.
Eureka
Bamboo, 23:00–03:00, Free
Dance, indie and hip-hop.
IDJ
The Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2
Punter iPod playlists.
Misbehavin’ (Dolly Daydream, Drucifer) The Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2
Electro, alternative and dirty pop.
Skint/Vengeance (Billy, Colin, Q-ball)
The Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2
Emo, pop-punk and metal.
Soul Glo
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3
Funk and rhythm ‘n’ blues.
Cheap&Nasty (Matthewonemoretune)
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £2
Funk, techno and hip-hop.
Fri 05 Mar Pass The Peas (Andy Taylor) Bar Bloc, 20:00–23:00, Free
Rock and R’n’B.
Psychedelic Ballroom MacSorley’s, 20:30–00:00, Free
Psychedelic tunes and light projections.
Argonaut Sounds Reggae System
Hetherington Research Club, 22:00–02:00, Free before 11pm, £3 after
Special club night.
Mighty Numbers session.
Old Skool
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6
Funk, soul and disco.
Riot Radio
Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, £5
Raid (Mickey 9s, All The Queens Bovine)
La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)
Live bands and DJs.
Tue 09 Mar Byblos Tuesday
Byblos, 22:30–03:00, Free before midnight, £3 after
Chart and R’n’B.
Bamboo, 22:30–03:00, Free before 11pm, £5 (£3) after
Killer Kitsch
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)
Electro, 80s and trashy disco.
Wed 10 Mar
The Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £6 (£3 members)
TONGUE IN CHEEK
Butterfly Saturdays
Indie and electro-pop.
Rock, metal and emo. Under 18s.
Octopussy
Beatitude
Twisted
Brunswick Hotel, 22:00–02:00, £tbc
Clubbing special.
Homegrown
Bamboo, 22:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
Indie, dance and soul.
Shed Saturday
The Shed, 22:00–03:00, Free before 11pm, £6 (£4) after
Pop classics and hip-hop.
Absolution
The Arches, 22:30–03:00, £6
Celebrating 15 years of creativity.
Fusion
Soundhaus, 23:00–03:00, £10
Hard dance and tech-house.
Liquid Funk
Slabs of Tabernacle (DJ Xed)
Urban night.
Indie, 60s, soul and rock.
Music For Pleasure
The Rock Shop
Electro, soul and funk.
Rock, indie and metal.
Bamboo, 22:00–03:00, £2 before 11pm, £5 after
Maggie May’s, 23:30–03:00, Free before midnight, £5 (£3) after
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3
New wave, beats and pop.
Sat 13 Mar Voodoo
The Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £6 (£3 members)
Rock, metal and emo. Under 18s.
Butterfly Saturdays
The Butterfly & The Pig, 21:00–03:00, Free
Resident band and live DJs.
Infexious
The Ferry, 21:00–03:00, £15
Hard tech-trance.
Byblos, 22:30–03:00, Free before midnight, £3 after
Chart and R’n’B.
The Rock Shop
Maggie May’s, 23:30–03:00, Free before midnight, £5 (£3) after
Rock, indie and metal.
Tetris
Bamboo, 22:30–03:00, Free before 11pm, £5 (£3) after
Hip-hop, pop and funk.
Wrong Island (Teamy, Dirty Larry)
Killer Kitsch
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3
Electro, 80s and trashy disco.
Techno beats and electro.
Wed 17 Mar
Sun 14 Mar Three Card Trick
St Patrick’s Day
Bar Bloc, 19:00–21:00, Free
Maggie May’s, 19:00–22:30, Free
Pure rock.
Folk with Washington Irving.
Disco Badger
St Patrick’s Day
Hip-hop, house and electro.
Indie, rock and punk. Plus, win a holiday to Dublin.
Bamboo, 22:00–03:00, £2 before 11pm, £5 (£4) after
The Garage, 21:00–03:00, £tbc
Eureka
Bamboo, 23:00–03:00, Free
Dance, indie and hip-hop. The Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2
Skint/Vengeance (Billy, Colin, Q-ball)
The Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2
Emo, pop-punk and metal.
Soul Glo
Teenage Lust
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free before 11.30pm, £3 after
Kino Fist
Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £6 before midnight, £10 after
Nu-metal.
Crash
Pandemic (Noj, Mark)
Weekly electro funk.
Tue 16 Mar Byblos Tuesday
The Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2
Subculture
Byblos, 22:00–03:00, £3 before 12.30pm, £6 (£3) after
Garage, punk and psychobilly.
The Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £3 before midnight, £5 after
Live music and DJs.
Counterfiet (Mups, Mythic)
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3
Elevator
Subculture
La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)
House and chill-out, plus street performers.
Electro special guest.
Weekly electro funk.
The Cave
Disco, electro and house.
Twisted
Rock, funk and jazz.
Pop, dance and hippity-hop.
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
The Halt Bar, 20:00–02:00, Free
La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £5
Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £6 before midnight, £10 after
Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, £5
Raid
La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, Free
Bazodee
Brunswick Hotel, 22:00–02:00, £tbc
The Shed, 22:00–03:00, Free before 11pm, £5 after
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6
Burn
Thu 11 Mar
Punter iPod playlists.
Dirty electro.
90s hits. In the kitchen bar.
Mon 15 Mar
Mount Heartattack (Pro Vinylist Karim, Lono, Cutter’s Choice, Lebowski)
Punk and funk.
Funky disco and soul.
The Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£5)
Funk, soul, disco and rock.
The Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £4
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3
IDJ
Orderly Disorder
Indie-pop spectacular.
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3
Watchamacallit
Nu Skool
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6
Common People
House and R’n’B.
Indie, chart, R’n’B... and facepainting!
Byblos, 22:30–03:00, Free before midnight, £3 after
Subcity is 15
Half My Heart Beats
The Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2
Sin City
Soundhaus, 23:00–03:00, £10
Metal, punk and emo.
Shedkandi
Byblos, 22:30–03:00, Free before midnight, £3 after
Cathouse Saturdays
Classic rock and punk. Regular DJs.
Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)
Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)
Student fun, with bouncy castle.
Reggae and dancehall.
The Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)
Soundsystem collective.
Optimo
The Arches, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)
Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)
Pop punk, metal and rock.
Damnation
Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £tbc
Bamboo, 22:00–03:00, £2 before 11pm, £5 (£4) after
The Butterfly & The Pig, 21:00–03:00, Free
Resident band and live DJs.
Rock, metal and indie party.
Funky disco and soul.
Hip-hop, pop and funk.
Voodoo
Classic rock and punk. Regular DJs.
The Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)
Indie rock’n’roll.
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
Damaged Goods (David Barborossa)
Sat 06 Mar
Ballbreaker/Vice
Drum Clinic
Guilty
Eclectic house, techno and party.
Cathouse Saturdays
Nu Skool
Mon 08 Mar
Tetris
Two floors of punk, pop and disco.
Pop punk, metal and rock.
Riot Radio
Indie rock’n’roll.
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3
Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)
Electro, soul and funk.
The Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)
Byblos, 22:30–03:00, Free before 11pm, £8 after
Alternative Sunday party.
Absolution
Funk, soul and disco.
Disco, electro and house.
Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £10
Pop classics and hip-hop.
Funk, soul, disco and rock.
Soundhaus, 23:00–03:00, £5
Thu 04 Mar
Bamboo, 22:00–03:00, £2 before 11pm, £5 after
The Shed, 22:00–03:00, Free before 11pm, £6 (£4) after
Disco, electro and hip-hop Haiti fundraiser.
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3
Electrolick
Numbers (Kode 9, Martyn, Floating Point)
Music For Pleasure
Sabado
Dance, R’n’B and chart.
Shed Saturday
Old Skool
The Mumble Club Alternative hip-hop.
Urban night.
Special night.
Sin City
House and R’n’B.
Burn
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £2
Byblos, 22:00–03:00, £3 before 12.30pm, £6 (£3) after
Brunswick Hotel, 22:00–02:00, £tbc
The Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2
Underground and tech-house.
Electro and synth pop.
Pop, dance and hippity-hop.
Solardisco
The Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £3 before midnight, £5 after
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3
Punk and funk.
Crash
Disco Badger
Funk and rhythm ‘n’ blues.
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–02:00, £2
Mutant disco.
Fri 12 Mar Synth
Brunswick Hotel, 22:00–02:00, £5/£4
Disco, dub and house.
Colours 15th Birthday (David Guetta) The Arches, 22:00–03:00, £24
House and techno.
March 2010
THE SKINNY 57
Edinburgh clubs
Glasgow Clubs TONGUE IN CHEEK
Tue 02 Mar
Octopussy
Butterfly Saturdays
Indie and electro-pop.
Death Disco (Bloody Beetroots, Don Rimini, Hey Today!, Annie, Eqyptian Hip Hop)
Student fun, with bouncy castle.
The Butterfly & The Pig, 21:00–03:00, Free
Circus Arcade
Octopussy
Dirty electro and rock.
Byblos, 22:30–03:00, Free before midnight, £3 after
Resident band and live DJs.
Pop quiz and musical bingo fun.
Bamboo, 22:00–03:00, £2 before 11pm, £5 (£4) after
The Arches, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)
The Arches, 22:00–03:00, £tbc
The Arches, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)
Twisted
Student fun, with bouncy castle.
Homegrown
Twisted
Indie, dance and soul.
Watchamacallit
Shed Saturday
Punk and funk.
Byblos, 22:30–03:00, Free before midnight, £3 after
Indie, chart, R’n’B... and facepainting!
St Patrick’s Day Party The Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £3
Bamboo, 22:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
The Shed, 22:00–03:00, Free before 11pm, £6 (£4) after
Pop classics and hip-hop.
Irish rock. Plus prizes.
Absolution
Watchamacallit
Pop punk, metal and rock.
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3
Punk and funk.
Thu 18 Mar Bazodee
The Halt Bar, 20:00–02:00, Free
Reggae and dancehall.
Twisted
Byblos, 22:30–03:00, Free before midnight, £3 after
House and chill-out, plus street performers.
Eureka
Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)
Cathouse Saturdays
The Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)
Classic rock and punk. Regular DJs.
Rectify
Soundhaus, 22:30–03:00, £12
Techno and tech-house.
Broadcast Beach
The Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £3 before midnight, £5 after
Music for music lovers.
Mungo’s Hi-Fi (Kenny Knots)
Glasgow School of Art, 23:00–03:00, £5 in advance, £8 on door
Weekly electro funk.
Soul Glo
Stereo, 23:00–03:00, £3
Funk and rhythm ‘n’ blues.
Bottle Rocket
Cheap&Nasty (Matthewonemoretune)
Indie dancing club.
Bar Bloc, 20:00–23:00, Free
Rock and R’n’B.
Crash
The Shed, 22:00–03:00, Free before 11pm, £5 after
Pop, dance and hippity-hop.
Elevator
Byblos, 22:00–03:00, £3 before 12.30pm, £6 (£3) after
Urban night.
Music For Pleasure
Bamboo, 22:00–03:00, £2 before 11pm, £5 after
Electro, soul and funk.
Ballbreaker/Vice
The Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)
Rock, metal and indie party.
Damnation
Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)
Metal, punk and emo.
Equalised (Tom Franks) Stereo, 23:00–03:00, £5
Leeds guest DJ.
Hispanic Panic!
Stereo, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)
Latin American beats, in aid if Haiti.
Unite
Irregular clubbing
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3
The Rock Shop
Maggie May’s, 23:30–03:00, Free before midnight, £5 (£3) after
Rock, indie and metal.
Sun 21 Mar Disco Badger
Dance, R’n’B and chart.
Cathouse Sundays (Mythic) The Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)
Requests night.
Guilty
Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £tbc
Alternative Sunday party.
Optimo
Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)
Eclectic house, techno and party.
Shedkandi
The Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2
House and R’n’B.
Sin City
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3
Funk, soul, disco and rock.
Mon 22 Mar The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
Old Skool
Raid
Funk, soul and disco.
Live music and DJs.
Alternative club night.
Riot Radio
Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, £5
Indie rock’n’roll.
Upside Down
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3
Top beats.
Sat 20 Mar Voodoo
The Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £6 (£3 members)
Rock, metal and emo. Under 18s.
Eruption
Pivo Pivo, 20:00–23:45, £5
Monthly feast of garage rock.
Butterfly Saturdays
The Butterfly & The Pig, 21:00–03:00, Free
Resident band and live DJs.
Bazodee
The Halt Bar, 20:00–02:00, Free
Reggae and dancehall.
Twisted
Byblos, 22:30–03:00, Free before midnight, £3 after
House and chill-out, plus street performers.
Pop classics and hip-hop.
Absolution Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)
Pop punk, metal and rock.
Cathouse Saturdays The Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5) Classic rock and punk. Regular DJs.
Monkey Business Soundhaus, 22:30–03:00, £8
Techno and underground dance.
Cryotec (Effigy, Tailz)
Inside Out (Mayhem 1)
Idustrial goth and EBM.
House, techno and trance.
Bamboo, 23:00–03:00, Free
IDJ
The Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2
La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)
Tue 23 Mar Byblos Tuesday
Nu Skool
Skint/Vengeance (Billy, Colin, Q-ball)
Funky disco and soul.
The Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2
Emo, pop-punk and metal.
Soul Glo
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3
Funk and rhythm ‘n’ blues.
Fri 26 Mar
Sub Club, 20:00–03:00, £8
Black Tent (Errors, Pauly) Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 21:00–03:00, Free before 11.30pm, £3 after
Danceable tunes.
Crash
The Shed, 22:00–03:00, Free before 11pm, £5 after
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)
Electro, 80s and trashy disco.
Wed 24 Mar Dead Famous
The Admiral, 19:30–00:00, £4
Come dressed as a dead celebrity.
TONGUE IN CHEEK
Bamboo, 22:00–03:00, £2 before 11pm, £5 (£4) after
Indie and electro-pop.
58 THE SKINNY March 2010
The Hot Club (Rafla, Nobodaddy) Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3
Garage, punk and psych.
The Rock Shop Maggie May’s, 23:30–03:00, Free before midnight, £5 (£3) after
Rock, indie and metal.
Sun 28 Mar The Slow Club The Flying Duck, 20:00–00:00, Free
Elevator Urban night.
Hip-hop, house and electro.
Bamboo, 22:00–03:00, £2 before 11pm, £5 (£4) after
Music For Pleasure
Sabado
Electro, soul and funk.
Byblos, 22:30–03:00, Free before 11pm, £8 after
The Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)
Rock, metal and indie party.
Damnation
Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)
Metal, punk and emo.
Old Skool
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6
Dance, R’n’B and chart.
Cathouse Sundays (Mythic) The Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)
Requests night.
Guilty Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £tbc
Alternative Sunday party.
Funk, soul and disco.
Optimo
Return To Mono (Andrew Weatherall, Ivan Smagghe)
Eclectic house, techno and party.
Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £14
Club special from Slam.
Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, £5
Indie rock’n’roll.
The Arches, 23:00–05:00, £tbc
Minimal house and techno.
Sat 27 Mar Voodoo
The Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £6 (£3 members)
Rock, metal and emo. Under 18s.
Thankyou Frankley
Hetherington Research Club, 21:00–02:00, £4
2nd birthday, with bands, DJs and guests.
Antics
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free
Alternative anthems.
Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)
Shedkandi The Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2
House and R’n’B.
Sin City
Burn The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)
Disco, electro and house.
Raid La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)
Live music and DJs.
Potterrow, 21:00–03:00, £3 before midnight, £4 after
The GRV, 22:00–03:00, £tbc
Modern Lovers
DJ set from Caroline McKay of Glasvegas.
Swirling guitars and beats.
Va Va Voom (Cataclysmic, Cherryfox, DJ Cat)
The Jazz Bar, 23:30–03:00, £2 (£1)
Wed 03 Mar Axis
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Electro, techno and dub.
Bangers and Mash
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11.00pm, £3 after
Chart, electro and cheese.
We Are Electric
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £2 after
Funky electro. Resident DJs and friends.
We Is Eclectic @ Speakeasy
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £2 after
Sister club to We Are Electric.
Thu 04 Mar Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Dub Kaoss
Citrus Club, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £3 after
Drum ‘n’ bass and dubstep.
JungleDub
The Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free
Dub, dubstep and jungle.
Octopussy
HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Chart, indie and electro.
Sick Note
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free
Indie and electro.
Fri 05 Mar Gumbofunk (Jiminez, Astroboy)
The Voodoo Rooms, 21:00–01:00, Free
Funk, afro and latin grooves.
Disobedience @ Speakeasy
Cabaret Voltaire, 22:30–03:00, £7
Barcelona DJ Coyu guests.
Planet Earth
Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, Free before 11pm, £5 after
Retro from 1970 to 1999.
Maz and Kaz: Rockin’ Blues
The Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £5
Reggae, dancehall and ska.
Misfits
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11.30pm, £4 after
Twisted disco.
Tokyoblu (John Hutchinson, Iain Gibson, Niall, Denis McKervey)
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £8 (£5)
Vintage Violence (Andy, Anastazia)
Mon 29 Mar
The Big Cheese
Tuesday Heartbreak
Funk, soul, disco and rock.
Yesteryear cult classics.
Funky-edged soul.
Indie and post-punk.
Garage, gospel and funk.
The Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)
Soul Spectrum
The Voodoo Rooms, 21:00–01:00, Free
Cheesey tunes, all night long.
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3
Slide It In (Nicola Walker)
City Café, 20:00–01:00, Free House classics and unforgettable anthems.
Indie Tuesday
Funk and hip-hop grooves.
Disco Badger
Ballbreaker/Vice
Bass and breaks. Rotating DJs.
Subculture
Sunday chill-out tunes.
Bamboo, 22:00–03:00, £2 before 11pm, £5 after
Cabaret Voltaire, 22:30–03:00, Free
Hip-hop, urban and techno.
Pop, dance and hippity-hop.
Byblos, 22:00–03:00, £3 before 12.30pm, £6 (£3) after
Split
Dapper Dan’s (DFault, Picassio)
Weekly electro funk.
Pressure (Jeff Mills, Dave Clarke, Edit Select, Boom Monk Ben)
Killer Kitsch
Soundhaus, 23:00–03:00, £8
Dubstep, techno and jungle.
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £2
Tetris
Hip-hop, pop and funk.
Specialitee (DJ Q)
The Pump Club
Riot Radio
Bamboo, 22:30–03:00, Free before 11pm, £5 (£3) after
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6
Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £6 before midnight, £10 after
Byblos, 22:30–03:00, Free before midnight, £3 after
Chart and R’n’B.
Retro tunes all night.
Punter iPod playlists.
Electro-pop fun.
Byblos, 22:30–03:00, Free before 11pm, £8 after
Disco, electro and house.
Ivory Blacks, 23:00–03:00, £tbc
Classics past and present.
Sabado
Electro gay night.
Raw Vibez
State Bar, 19:00–00:00, Free
Hip-hop, house and electro.
Burn
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6
Molotov Disco
How’s Your Party? (Tayo, Hannah Holland, Boom Monk Ben)
Bamboo, 22:00–03:00, £2 before 11pm, £5 (£4) after
Lock Up Your Daughters
The Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)
Thu 25 Mar
The Shed, 22:00–03:00, Free before 11pm, £6 (£4) after
Subculture
The Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2
Pass The Peas
Shed Saturday
The Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £3 before midnight, £5 after
Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £6 before midnight, £10 after
Fri 19 Mar
Techno ‘n’ that.
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3
Modern Lovers
Skint/Vengeance (Billy, Colin, Q-ball)
Funk, techno and hip-hop.
Indie, dance and soul.
Dance, indie and hip-hop.
Funky disco and soul.
Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £2
Bamboo, 22:00–03:00, £7 (£5)
Dirty Noise
Eureka
Nu Skool
The Shed, 23:00–03:00, £2
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3
Homegrown
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6
IDJ
Emo, pop-punk and metal.
Hardcore rave-up.
The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £tbc
Reggae, dub and dancehall.
Punter iPod playlists.
The Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £3
The Ferry, 21:00–03:00, £15
The Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £2
Bamboo, 23:00–03:00, Free
Dance, indie and hip-hop.
Indie, chart, R’n’B... and facepainting!
Hardcore Heaven
Electric Circus, 19:00–00:00, Free
Audio Pawn (Graeme Mclean, Davey Dutton)
Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £4
Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £5 before 11pm, £6 after
Burlesque and retro tunes.
Beep Beep Yeah @ Speakeasy (Be-Bop A-Tallah, Kate and the Gang, Jumpin’ Jack)
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £3
Retro tunes all night.
Bubblegum
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11.30pm, £4 after
Chart and retro disco.
Fake
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)
Breaks and electro.
Fuel
Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11:30pm, £6 (£4) after
Rock and metal. Downstairs club.
The Egg
Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £1 before 11.30pm, £3 after
Wee Red club favourite.
The Go-Go (Tall Paul, Big Guss)
Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11:30pm, £6 (£4) after
60s retro. Upstairs club.
Ultragroove (Todd Terje, The Blessings, Gareth Sommerville)
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £5 before midnight, £8 after
250th Ultragroove party.
Volume! (EL-B, Neil Landstrumm)
The Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £8
Special guests night.
Saturday Nite Fish Fry (Washington Street, D’Viking)
The Jazz Bar, 23:30–03:00, £5 (£3)
Funk and soul blast.
Sun 07 Mar Box Wars Weekend
The Big Red Door, 19:00–01:00, £donation
Battle day.
Coalition
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Breaks, dubstep and drum ‘n’ bass.
Killer Kitsch
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free
Current and classic dance.
Mumbo Jumbo
The Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 before midnight, £7 (£6) after
Funk, soul and house.
Sections
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free
Alternative rock and pop-punk.
Mon 08 Mar Mixed Up
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free
Hip-hop, chart and R’n’B.
Garage, punk and girl bands.
Nu Fire
Skunkfunk (The Soul Foundation)
Hip-hop, dubstep and breaks.
The Jazz Bar, 23:30–03:00, £5 (£3)
Eight-piece funky-soul, plus DJs.
Sat 06 Mar Box Wars Weekend
The Big Red Door, 12:00–22:00, £donation
Construction of a fantasy castle followed by BYOB banquet.
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Trade Union
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £2 after
Eclectic mix.
Tue 09 Mar Circus Arcade
Electric Circus, 19:00–00:00, Free
Pop quiz and musical bingo fun.
Split
Cabaret Voltaire, 22:30–03:00, Free
Bass and breaks. Rotating DJs.
Antics
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free
Alternative anthems.
Indie Tuesday
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Indie and post-punk.
Sat 13 Mar The Big Cheese
Potterrow, 21:00–03:00, £3 before midnight, £4 after
Cheesey tunes, all night long.
Tease Age
Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, Free before 11pm, £6 after
Indie, rock and soul.
Tuesday Heartbreak
Alternative @ Speakeasy
Swirling guitars and beats.
House, electro and dub.
The Jazz Bar, 23:30–03:00, £2 (£1)
Wed 10 Mar Axis
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Electro, techno and dub.
Bangers and Mash
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £5
Ascension
Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11:30pm, £6 (£4) after
Industrial electro. Upstairs club.
Bang Bang Club (Omegale, The Regent, Simonotron, Jetboy)
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11.00pm, £3 after
Electric Circus, 23:00–03:00, £5
We Are Electric
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11.30pm, £4 after
Chart, electro and cheese.
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £2 after
Funky electro. Resident DJs and friends.
We Is Eclectic @ Speakeasy
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £2 after
Two rooms of musical contrast.
Bubblegum
Chart and retro disco.
Four Corners (Simon Hodge, Johnny Cashback, Astroboy, Wee-G)
The Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £3 before midnight, £5 after
Funk, jazz and reggae.
Sister club to We Are Electric.
Musika (Joris Voorn)
Soul Society
Scottish appearance for Joris Voorn.
The Jazz Bar, 23:30–03:00, £2 (£1)
Funk and blues.
Thu 11 Mar Animal Hospital
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Techno special.
Dub Kaoss
Citrus Club, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £3 after
Drum ‘n’ bass and dubstep.
JungleDub
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £10
Stepback (Wolfjazz, Keyte)
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free
Indie and electro.
Fri 12 Mar Az-Tech Birthday (Maelstrom)
The Caves, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£6)
Celebrating three years of breaks.
Planet Earth
Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, Free before 11pm, £5 after
Retro from 1970 to 1999.
Cosmic
Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Psych-trance and live percussion.
Furburger (Funki Diva, Dejaybird, Boytoy) GHQ, 23:00–03:00, £tbc
Wee Red club favourite.
The Mission
Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11:30pm, £6 (£4) after
The Jazz Bar, 23:30–03:00, £5 (£3)
Driving drums and funk.
Sun 14 Mar Big ‘N’ Bashy (Jammer, DJ Magic)
The Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £8
Jungle, dub and grime.
Dubstep Community massive one-off.
Misfits
Killer Kitsch
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free
Current and classic dance.
Sections
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free
Alternative rock and pop-punk.
Mon 15 Mar Mixed Up
Hip-hop, chart and R’n’B.
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Hip-hop, dubstep and breaks.
Trade Union
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £2 after
Eclectic mix.
Tue 16 Mar
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11.30pm, £4 after
Circus Arcade
Terror (Andy Council)
Split
Twisted disco.
The Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £1.99
Jungle, hip-hop and live graffiti.
This Is Music: Detour Podcast Launch (Tallah Disco, Bargain Harold)
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)
Renowned indie and electro.
Electric Circus, 19:00–00:00, Free
Pop quiz and musical bingo fun. Cabaret Voltaire, 22:30–03:00, Free
Bass and breaks. Rotating DJs.
Antics
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free
Alternative anthems.
Indie Tuesday
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Skunkfunk (The Dirty Martinis)
Indie and post-punk.
Funky soul and pop.
Swirling guitars and beats.
The Jazz Bar, 23:30–03:00, £5 (£3)
Funky electro. Resident DJs and friends.
We Is Eclectic @ Speakeasy
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £2 after
Sister club to We Are Electric.
Soul Society
The Jazz Bar, 23:30–03:00, £2 (£1)
Funk and blues.
Thu 18 Mar Dub Kaoss
Citrus Club, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £3 after
Tuesday Heartbreak
The Jazz Bar, 23:30–03:00, £2 (£1)
Confusion is Sex
The Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £4.50 before midnight, £7 after
Glam techno. Mad Hatter theme!
Fuel
Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11:30pm, £6 (£4) after
Rock and metal.
The Egg (Chris, Paul)
Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £1 before 11.30pm, £3 after
Wee Red club favourite.
Wasabi Disco
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)
Disco fiend David Barbarossa guests.
Wire (Jackie McKeown) Electric Circus, 23:00–03:00, £6
Cult indie, punk and electro.
Saturday Nite Fish Fry (Joe Acheson, Astroboy) The Jazz Bar, 23:30–03:00, £5 (£3)
Cinematic synth, piano and bass.
Sun 21 Mar Coalition
JungleDub
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free Breaks, dubstep and drum ‘n’ bass.
Dub, dubstep and jungle.
Headspin (DJ Format)
Octopussy
Funky hip-hop.
Drum ‘n’ bass and dubstep.
The Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free
HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Chart, indie and electro.
Sick Note
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free
Indie and electro.
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Fri 19 Mar Chicken Wire Blues Bar (Muddy Garters, Big Guss, Jed Potts and the Hillman Hunters) Studio 24, 20:00–00:00, £3
Live blues. Downstairs club.
Planet Earth
Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, Free before 11pm, £5 after
Retro from 1970 to 1999.
The Green Door (Hoodoo the Voodoo, Sad Excuse, Bip-Bop-A-Lula)
Studio 24, 22:30–03:00, Free before 11pm, £4 after
Compakt (Hans Bouffmyhre)
Nu Fire
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £9
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £2 after
Breaks, dubstep and drum ‘n’ bass.
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Heavy Gossip (Craig Smith, Nick Yuill) Innuendub (Taz Buckfaster, Big Toe’s Hi-Fi)
We Are Electric
Coalition
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free
Deep house and disco.
Chart, electro and cheese.
Rock ‘n’ roll, 60s and psychobilly. Upstairs club.
Cheeky lesbian club night.
Medina, 23:00–03:00, £5
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11.00pm, £3 after
Hip-hop, soul and indie-electro.
Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £1 before 11.30pm, £3 after
Saturday Nite Fish Fry (Paul Mills, D’Viking)
Sick Note
Bangers and Mash
The Egg
Octopussy
Chart, indie and electro.
Electro, techno and dub.
Sneaky Beats
Classic rock and metal. Downstairs club.
HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Tech, Baltimore and ghetto-tech.
The Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free
Dub, dubstep and jungle.
Wed 17 Mar Axis
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £4 before midnight, £6 after
Sophisticated techno.
Maps (Jenny Fur, Catriona)
Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)
Indie-pop dance club .
Misfits
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11.30pm, £4 after
Twisted disco.
Riddim Tuffa Sound The GRV, 23:00–03:00, £4/£6
Regge, dub and jungle.
SouLoco @ Speakeasy (Kirk Douglas, Ewan Smith, Chris Graham, Jamie MacKenzie)
The Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £8
Killer Kitsch
The Big Cheese
Potterrow, 21:00–03:00, £3 before midnight, £4 after
Alternative rock and pop-punk.
Mon 22 Mar Mixed Up
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free
Hip-hop, chart and R’n’B.
Nu Fire
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Hip-hop, dubstep and breaks.
Trade Union
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £2 after
Eclectic mix.
Tue 23 Mar Circus Arcade
Electric Circus, 19:00–00:00, Free
Pop quiz and musical bingo fun.
Through The Keyhole
The Voodoo Rooms, 20:00–01:00, £tbc
Burlesque variety show.
Split
Cabaret Voltaire, 22:30–03:00, Free
Bass and breaks. Rotating DJs.
Antics
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free
Alternative anthems.
Indie Tuesday
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Indie and post-punk.
Tuesday Heartbreak
The Jazz Bar, 23:30–03:00, £2 (£1)
Swirling guitars and beats.
Wed 24 Mar Axis
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Electro, techno and dub.
Bangers and Mash Chart, electro and cheese.
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £2 after
Funky electro. Resident DJs and friends.
We Is Eclectic @ Speakeasy
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £2 after
Sister club to We Are Electric.
Soul Society
Tease Age
Funk and blues.
Indie, rock and soul.
Bubblegum
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11.30pm, £4 after
Chart and retro disco.
Ride (Lauren, Chekkie)
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Hip-hop and electro.
Sick Note
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free
Indie and electro.
The Jazz Bar, 23:30–03:00, £2 (£1)
Thu 25 Mar Dub Kaoss
Citrus Club, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £3 after
Drum ‘n’ bass and dubstep.
The Jazz Bar, 23:30–03:00, £5 (£3)
Sun 28 Mar Coalition
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Breaks, dubstep and drum ‘n’ bass.
Killer Kitsch
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free
Current and classic dance.
Sections
Fri 26 Mar
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free
Alternative rock and pop-punk.
Autobahn
The Strathmore, 20:00–01:00, Free
Kraut rock and electro.
Mon 29 Mar
One Drop: Skinnyman (NorthernXposure, Robtheft, Robigan, C-Biscuit)
Mixed Up
Reggae and dub, with special guest Skinnyman.
Hip-hop, dubstep and breaks.
Studio 24, 22:30–03:00, £6
Planet Earth
Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, Free before 11pm, £5 after
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free
Hip-hop, chart and R’n’B.
Nu Fire
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free
Trade Union
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £2 after
Eclectic mix.
Retro from 1970 to 1999.
I-Tal Faya Sound @ Speakeasy (Mama Marjas)
Misfits
Cheesey tunes, all night long.
Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, Free before 11pm, £6 after
Chart, indie and electro.
Italian vocalist guests.
Skunkfunk (The Number Nine)
Sat 20 Mar
HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)
Sections
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free
Saturday Nite Fish Fry (The Union, Astroboy) Punchy trumpet and bass beats.
Octopussy
Current and classic dance.
We Are Electric
Rocky funk grooves.
Dub, dubstep and jungle.
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4 ladies)
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11.00pm, £3 after
The Jazz Bar, 23:30–03:00, £5 (£3)
The Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £4 after
Deep and tech-house.
JungleDub
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11.30pm, £4 after
Twisted disco.
Modern Lovers (Andy Lewis)
The GRV, 23:00–03:00, £4 before midnight, £6 after
Indie pop and big name guest DJs.
Sugarbeat (Hostage)
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £10
Hip-hop and funk guest DJ.
Skunkfunk (Uberjuice) The Jazz Bar, 23:30–03:00, £5 (£3)
spring10 4 January – 26 March
Danceable funk-pop six-piece.
Sat 27 Mar The Big Cheese
Potterrow, 21:00–03:00, £3 before midnight, £4 after
Cheesey tunes, all night long.
The Underground (Wullie Buchan, Dave Martin)
Studio 24, 22:00–03:00, Free before 11:30pm, £6 (£4) after
Punk-rock.
Tease Age
spring into action
Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, Free before 11pm, £6 after
Indie, rock and soul.
Bubblegum
The Hive, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11.30pm, £4 after
Chart and retro disco.
Dare! @ Speakeasy (Jon Pleased Wimmin)
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £5
Electro-dance in all its finery.
Devil Disco (Giles Walker, Nevada Base)
The Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £3 before midnight, £5 after
Rap, soul and boogie.
Karnival (Mike Pinkerton, Matt Edwards, The Oxygen Junkies)
Cabaret Voltaire, 23:00–03:00, £5 before midnight, £7 after
Residents and friends night.
Magic Nostalgic
Electric Circus, 23:00–03:00, £6 Eclectic tunes chosen by ‘the wheel’.
courses, workshops and drop-in classes for everyone
Playdate
Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)
Wild house.
The Egg
Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £1 before 11.30pm, £3 after
dancebase.co.uk
Wee Red club favourite.
The Mission
Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, Free before 11:30pm, £6 (£4) after
Scottish Charity No. SC025512
Classic rock and metal. Downstairs club.
March 2010
THE SKINNY 59
aberdeen music Wed 03 Mar
Sat 06 Mar
Beth Nielsen Chapman
Saturday Live
American countryesque singer.
Traditional live session.
Music Hall, 19:30–22:30, £21.50
Ex-Lovers
The Warehouse, 19:30–22:30, £tbc
Super pop.
Thu 04 Mar Copy Haho
The Tunnels, 19:30–22:30, £5
Pumped-up beats.
Mudhoney
Korova, 22:00–02:00, £1
Alternative disco.
DIRTY HEARTS CLUB Snafu, 23:00–02:00, £3
Indie, electro and disco.
Fri 05 Mar
The Lemon Tree, 12:30–15:00, Free
Emeli Sande
The Lemon Tree, 19:30–22:30, £10
Rising electro-soul star.
Minaars, Eskimo Bride, Marionettes Café Drummonds, 19:30–22:30, £5
New bands showcase.
Towers of London
The Tunnels, 19:30–22:30, £tbc
Belfast punk icons.
Weekly folk and blues session.
Choral special.
Graeme Stephen Septet
Woodend Barn, 20:00–22:00, £10 (£8/£5)
An eclectic evening of music featuring some of the most creative and in demand musicians on the UK folk and jazz scene.
Sun 07 Mar Belhaven Sunday Jazz
The Lemon Tree, 12:00–14:00, Free
Jazz, obviously.
Around The World In Music Music Hall, 15:00–17:30, £5-£10
Charity concert.
The Lemon Tree, 19:30–22:30, £13
Richmond Fontaine (Alana Levandoski)
The Tunnels, 19:30–22:30, £10 (+BF) advance £12 door
Americana country-rock.
Mon 08 Mar Open Mic
MUSA, 20:00–01:00, Free
Rock up and do your thing.
Thu 11 Mar
The Lemon Tree, 13:00–15:00, Free
Sat 13 Mar
Thu 18 Mar
The Lemon Tree, 12:00–14:00, Free
Jazz, obviously.
Mon 22 Mar Open Mic
MUSA, 20:00–01:00, Free
Rock up and do your thing.
Alasdair Roberts (Kiila)
Traditional live session.
Lovely indie-folk singer/songwriter.
Editors
Lost City Lights
Three Blind Wolves
The Lemon Tree, 12:30–15:00, Free
The Tunnels, 19:30–22:30, £8
Thu 25 Mar
Music Hall, 19:00–22:30, £tbc
Café Drummonds, 19:30–22:30, £3
Snafu, 20:00–23:00, £5
Alternative indie-rock.
Melodramatic pop-rock.
New mini-album tour.
Paul Lamb and the King Snakes
Newfangled Folk
Mudhoney
Blues harmonica and guitar ensemble.
Mudhoney
The Lemon Tree, 19:30–22:30, £12.50
James Grant
Woodend Barn, 20:00–22:00, £12 (£10/£5)
Ex-Love and Money frontman, James Grant plays material from all his solo albums, and a smattering of old favourites.
Sun 14 Mar Belhaven Sunday Jazz
The Lemon Tree, 12:00–14:00, Free
Jazz, obviously.
Alex Gardner
Snafu, 19:00–22:30, £10
Acoustic pop.
The Lemon Tree, 20:00–22:30, £5
Emerging songwriters showcase. Korova, 22:00–02:00, £1
Alternative disco.
DIRTY HEARTS CLUB Snafu, 23:00–02:00, £3
Indie, electro and disco.
Fri 19 Mar Friday Live
The Lemon Tree, 13:00–15:00, Free
Alternative rock.
One of Ireland’s greatest songwriters: upbeat, optimistic compositions, sensitive love songs and laid-back banter.
Mudhoney
Open Mic
Alternative disco.
Rock up and do your thing.
Mon 15 Mar MUSA, 20:00–01:00, Free
Snafu, 23:00–02:00, £3
Indie, electro and disco.
Fri 26 Mar Friday Live
The Lemon Tree, 13:00–15:00, Free
Weekly folk and blues session.
York-based metalcore.
Music Hall, 19:30–22:30, £9.50-£20
Ska-tinged pop.
The Warehouse, 19:00–22:30, £12
DIRTY HEARTS CLUB
BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra
Indie-pop niceness.
Kieran Goss Trio
Alternative disco.
Glamour Of The Kill
Orchestral performance.
The Tunnels, 19:30–22:30, £5
Korova, 22:00–02:00, £1
Weekly folk and blues session.
The School (Allo Darlin’, Deportees, Flora Cook)
Gun (The Virginmarys, Rise)
Korova, 22:00–02:00, £1
Music Hall, 19:30–22:30, £12
Sun 21 Mar Belhaven Sunday Jazz
Saturday Live
Cocky rock.
Woodend Barn, 20:00–22:00, £12 (£10/£5)
The Lemon Tree, 19:30–22:30, £15
New bands showcase.
Café Drummonds, 19:30–22:30, £tbc
Acoustic folk-pop.
Indie electro-funk.
Fri 12 Mar
Tue 16 Mar Stiff Little Fingers
University of Aberdeen Choral Society
Weekly folk and blues session.
The Warehouse, 19:00–22:30, £12
Indie, electro and disco.
Friday Live
Benny Gallagher
Reverand and The Makers (Kashmr Red, Five Fifteen)
Snafu, 23:00–02:00, £3
Kashmir Red, Ghosts of Progress, 4dayweekend
Friday Live
The Lemon Tree, 13:00–15:00, Free
DIRTY HEARTS CLUB
The Beat
The Warehouse, 19:30–22:30, £15
Sat 20 Mar
The Tunnels, 19:00–22:30, £tbc
Red Priest presents ‘Johann I’m Only Dancing’ Woodend Barn, 19:45–21:30, £10 (£2)
Genius of the baroque era, Johann Sebastian Bach, performs with Red Priest’s legendary blend of creativity, wit and virtuosity.
Sat 27 Mar Saturday Live
The Lemon Tree, 12:30–15:00, Free
Traditional live session.
A Genuine Freakshow (Right Hand Left, Headlight, The Form) The Tunnels, 19:00–22:30, £5
Pop-infused rock.
THANK YOU FOR THE MUSIC Music Hall, 19:30–22:30, £19.50
Abba meets The Bee Gees.
Ivan Drever Band
Woodend Barn, 20:00–22:00, £12 (£10/£5)
Veteran Orcadian singer/songwriter returns with a new collection of songs, a perfectly weighted blend of acoustic/electric folk-rock.
Tigers On Vaseline
Café Drummonds, 21:00–02:00, £4
Tribute to David Bowie.
Sun 28 Mar Belhaven Sunday Jazz
The Lemon Tree, 12:00–14:00, Free
Jazz, obviously.
Treacherous Orchestra
Woodend Barn, 19:30–21:30, £16 (£14/£5)
Acoustic thirteen piece Treacherous Orchestra. Featuring pipes, fiddles, whistles, guitars, accordion, drums, banjo, and bass.
Jethro Tull
Music Hall, 19:30–22:30, £24.50-£27.50
British rock legends.
Mon 29 Mar
Saturday Live
Ryan Quigley Band, Justine Currie
Open Mic
The Lemon Tree, 20:00–22:30, £15
MUSA, 20:00–01:00, Free
Traditional live session.
Full-on jazz trumpet.
Rock up and do your thing.
The Lemon Tree, 12:30–15:00, Free
Aberdeen clubs Tue 02 Mar Kazsm (Critic, Dubkat) Origin, 23:00–02:00, £3
Liquid drum ‘n’ bass.
Wed 03 Mar Frat House
The Rig, 22:00–02:00, £tbc
Frat party shenanigans.
Suck It Up
Korova, 22:00–02:00, Free
Chart, R’n’B and loveable pop.
DJ Competition
Origin, 23:00–02:00, Free
DJs battles it out.
Electrique Boutique Snafu, 23:00–02:00, £3
Electro and house. Rotating DJs.
Thu 04 Mar Takeover
The Rig, 22:00–02:00, Free
Requests night.
Filty Rich
Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £3 before 11pm, £5 after
R’n’B to funky house.
MIXTAPE (Ivan Smagghe, Tim Paris) Snafu, 23:00–03:00, £8
Electro-heavy night.
Polar Bear Club (Wolf Pack Riot, Ross Calder, JJ Bull) The Tunnels, 23:00–03:00, £3
Indie and electro bands and DJs.
Sat 06 Mar R&R
The Rig, 21:00–03:00, Free before 11.30pm, £5 (£3) after
Chart, house and 90s.
Ultimate Saturday Night Out
Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £5
Party, funk and dance.
THE DEEP END (Funky Transport, Fuad, Dex & Kev Reid)
Snafu, 23:00–03:00, £3 before midnight, £6 after
Underground house party presents a new array of residents in assistance to the FT.
Mon 08 Mar
Blow Up (Krazzy Martin)
Black Tooth (Iname, Red Is Cover, Min Diesel)
Electro night.
Alternative rock and pop.
Origin, 23:00–02:00, Free
Snafu, 21:00–02:00, £3
DIRTY HEARTS CLUB
Rocks Off
Indie, electro and disco.
Rock classics.
Snafu, 23:00–02:00, £3
Fri 05 Mar Rude
The Rig, 22:00–02:00, £tbc
Funky house and dance.
Rock Night
Korova, 22:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £2 after
The Rig, 21:00–02:00, Free
Vodka Island
Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £4
Chart, R’n’B and party.
Funky Milk
Origin, 23:00–02:00, £5
Electro beats.
Tue 09 Mar
Rock anthems ahoy.
Sugar Ape (Gusgus)
Vanity
Breaks and beats.
Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £4/£5
New music.
Origin, 23:00–02:00, £3
Wed 10 Mar
Dubstep Special (Tez, Critic)
Frat House
Er, dubstep.
Frat party shenanigans.
Origin, 23:00–03:00, £5
The Rig, 22:00–02:00, £tbc
60 THE SKINNY March 2010
Thu 18 Mar
Mon 22 Mar
Suck It Up
Everything Else Sucks
Chart, R’n’B and loveable pop.
Electro monthly.
Takeover
Rocks Off
Ultimate Saturday Night Out
Requests night.
Rock classics.
Korova, 22:00–02:00, Free
Electrique Boutique Snafu, 23:00–02:00, £3
Electro and house. Rotating DJs.
Modulate
Origin, 23:00–02:00, Free
Dubstep, electro and bass.
Thu 11 Mar Takeover
The Rig, 22:00–02:00, Free
Requests night.
Filty Rich
Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £3 before 11pm, £5 after
R’n’B to funky house.
Blow Up (Tez, Giles Walker)
Origin, 23:00–02:00, Free
Electro night.
DIRTY HEARTS CLUB Snafu, 23:00–02:00, £3
Indie, electro and disco.
Fri 12 Mar Rude
The Rig, 22:00–02:00, £tbc
Funky house and dance.
Rock Night
Korova, 22:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £2 after
Rock anthems ahoy.
Vanity
Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £4/£5
New music.
MIXTAPE
Snafu, 23:00–03:00, £8
Electro-heavy night.
Modulate (Finnie, Johnny Beirne) Origin, 23:00–03:00, £5
Dubstep, techno and electro.
Sat 13 Mar R&R
The Rig, 21:00–03:00, Free before 11.30pm, £5 (£3) after
Chart, house and 90s.
Origin, 22:00–03:00, £3
Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £5
Party, funk and dance.
THE DEEP END
Snafu, 23:00–03:00, £3 before midnight, £6 after
Underground house and party.
Mon 15 Mar Rocks Off
The Rig, 21:00–02:00, Free
Rock classics.
Vodka Island
Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £4
Chart, R’n’B and party.
Black Tooth
Snafu, 23:00–02:00, £3
Alternative rock and pop.
Funky Milk
Origin, 23:00–02:00, £5
Electro beats.
Tue 16 Mar Big Bad Zero (Tez) Origin, 23:00–02:00, £3
Dubstep, fidget and bass.
Wed 17 Mar Frat House
The Rig, 22:00–02:00, £tbc
Frat party shenanigans.
Suck It Up
Korova, 22:00–02:00, Free
Chart, R’n’B and loveable pop.
The Rig, 22:00–02:00, Free
Filty Rich
Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £3 before 11pm, £5 after
R’n’B to funky house.
Blow Up (Giles Walker) Origin, 23:00–02:00, Free
Electro night.
DIRTY HEARTS CLUB Snafu, 23:00–02:00, £3
Indie, electro and disco.
Fri 19 Mar Rude
The Rig, 22:00–02:00, £tbc
Funky house and dance.
Rock Night
Korova, 22:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £2 after
Rock anthems ahoy.
Vanity
Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £4/£5
New music.
MIXTAPE (Les Petits Pilous, Mini Klaus)
Snafu, 23:00–03:00, £10 in advance, £12 on door
Electro-heavy night.
Sat 20 Mar R&R
The Rig, 21:00–03:00, Free before 11.30pm, £5 (£3) after
Chart, house and 90s.
The Rig, 21:00–02:00, Free
Vodka Island
Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £4
Chart, R’n’B and party.
Black Tooth
Snafu, 23:00–02:00, £3
Alternative rock and pop.
Funky Milk
Origin, 23:00–02:00, £5
Electro beats.
Tue 23 Mar Booya (Dubkat, Gusgus) Origin, 23:00–02:00, £3
Special guests.
Wed 24 Mar Frat House
The Rig, 22:00–02:00, £tbc
Frat party shenanigans.
Suck It Up
Korova, 22:00–02:00, Free
Chart, R’n’B and loveable pop.
Electrique Boutique Snafu, 23:00–02:00, £3
Electro and house. Rotating DJs.
Modulate
Origin, 23:00–02:00, Free
Dubstep, electro and bass.
Thu 25 Mar Takeover
The Rig, 22:00–02:00, Free
St Patrick’s Day
Acid Thunder (Tomb Crew)
Requests night.
Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £3 before 11pm, £5 after
Filty Rich
Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £tbc
Origin, 22:00–03:00, £6
Chart, hip-hop and Irish jigs.
Fidget and dubstep.
Electrique Boutique (Kaplank Kapow, Talcolm X, EEZMA, Krazzy Martin)
Ultimate Saturday Night Out
Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £5
Blow Up (Krazzy Martin)
Electro and house. Rotating DJs.
THE DEEP END
Electro night.
Snafu, 23:00–02:00, £3
Modulate
Origin, 23:00–02:00, Free
Dubstep, electro and bass.
Party, funk and dance.
Snafu, 23:00–03:00, £3 before midnight, £6 after
Underground house and party.
R’n’B to funky house.
Origin, 23:00–02:00, Free
DIRTY HEARTS CLUB Snafu, 23:00–02:00, £3
Indie, electro and disco.
dundee music Tue 02 Mar Reverand and The Makers
Dundee University Union, 19:00–22:30, £12
Indie-funk.
Thu 04 Mar Open Mic
The Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, Free
Open mic session.
Fri 05 Mar Under The Influence, Bombscare
The Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £6
Rock and punk.
Sat 06 Mar Afternoon Blues
Dexter’s Lounge Bar, 12:30–03:00, Free
Mon 08 Mar Woman Welfare Charity The Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £5
Makeovers, fashion and acoustic music.
Tue 09 Mar Grungy punk.
Alternative indie-rock.
Thu 11 Mar The Editors
Rock and pop niceness.
Snappin Turtles, Tigers on Vaseline
The Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £tbc
Ambient pop and acoustic rock.
Sun 07 Mar Red Is Cover, Indica, Hennisi
Dexter’s Lounge Bar, 19:00–22:30, £3
Alternative rock and pop.
Fri 19 Mar Eh!
Dexter’s Lounge Bar, 19:30–22:30, £tbc
Open Mic
EP launch night.
Alternative rock.
The Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, Free
Open mic session.
Fri 12 Mar Lovely ambient pop.
Dexter’s Lounge Bar, 20:00–23:00, £tbc
The Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £tbc
Fat Sam’s, 19:30–22:30, £20
The Joy Formidable
Make Sparks, Lions. Chase.Tigers, The Void
New bands showcase.
The Twist, The Brackets
The Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £tbc
The Heathens Thrashy metal.
Dexter’s Lounge Bar, 20:00–22:30, £tbc
Blood Red Shoes
Weekly lunchtime blues.
Dexter’s Lounge Bar, 19:30–22:30, £tbc
Thu 18 Mar Dana Walker, To Kill Achilles, Mind Set A Threat, AWOL
Fat Sam’s, 19:30–22:30, £6
Lefty and Friends, Fintry Love Child, Sid Innes, The Ginger Jesus The Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £tbc
New bands showcase.
Transmission
Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4
Indie, hardcore and electro.
Sat 13 Mar Afternoon Blues
Dexter’s Lounge Bar, 12:30–03:00, Free
Dexter’s Lounge Bar, 20:00–23:00, £5
New mini-album tour.
Thu 25 Mar Open Mic The Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, Free
Open mic session.
Fri 26 Mar The Doors Alive
Ceildih and live music.
Tribute abnd.
The Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £tbc
Sat 20 Mar Afternoon Blues
Dexter’s Lounge Bar, 12:30–03:00, Free
Weekly lunchtime blues.
Sun 21 Mar The Beat
The Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £15
Ska-pop beats.
Mon 22 Mar
Alex Gardner Nicey nice folk rock.
New bands showcase.
The Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £10
Three Blind Wolves
21st Catherine Wilson Ceilidh
The Rabble, The Terrors, Maxwell’s Dead, The Eddies, The Masacretes
Weekly lunchtime blues.
Wed 24 Mar
The Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £tbc
The Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £12
Sat 27 Mar Afternoon Blues Dexter’s Lounge Bar, 12:30–03:00, Free
Weekly lunchtime blues.
Live’n’Loud (Buck Rogers, Berry Tweed and The Chasers) Dexter’s Lounge Bar, 19:30–22:30, £5
Mod, indie and soul.
Ear Candy The Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £tbc
Electro-pop.
dundee clubs Fri 26 Mar Rude The Rig, 22:00–02:00, £tbc
Funky house and dance.
Rock Night Korova, 22:00–03:00, Free before midnight, £2 after
Rock anthems ahoy.
Vanity Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £4/£5
New music.
MIXTAPE (Cagedbaby) Snafu, 23:00–03:00, £7
Electro with new resident DJ.
Sat 27 Mar R&R The Rig, 21:00–03:00, Free before
Wed 03 Mar Check The Rabbit
The Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £3.50
Dubstep night.
Thu 04 Mar PLASTIC SOUL (Desperate Dan)
The Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £3.50
Soul, hip-hop and reggae.
Octopussy
Fat Sam’s, 23:00–03:00, £tbc
Fun with ball pool and bouncy castle.
Fri 05 Mar HEADWAY
The Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £tbc
11.30pm, £5 (£3) after
Techno and house.
Chart, house and 90s.
Renegades
Ultimate Saturday Night Out
Hip-hop, metal and electro.
Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £5
Party, funk and dance.
THE DEEP END Snafu, 23:00–03:00, £3 before midnight, £6 after
Underground house and party.
Mon 29 Mar Rocks Off The Rig, 21:00–02:00, Free
Rock classics.
Vodka Island Tiger Tiger, 22:00–03:00, £4
Chart, R’n’B and party.
Black Tooth Snafu, 23:00–02:00, £3
Alternative rock and pop.
Funky Milk Origin, 23:00–02:00, £5
Electro beats.
Kage, 23:00–03:00, £tbc
Sat 06 Mar
Thu 11 Mar PLASTIC SOUL
The Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £3.50
Soul, hip-hop and reggae.
Sun 21 Mar Asylum Kage, 23:00–03:00, £5
Metal, punk and indie.
Octopussy
Fat Sam’s, 23:00–03:00, £tbc
Fun with ball pool and bouncy castle.
Sun 14 Mar Quantic (Desperate Dan, Dlove)
The Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £5
Funk, reggae and hip-hop.
Asylum
Kage, 23:00–03:00, £5
Metal, punk and indie.
Mon 15 Mar Manic Mondays
Fat Sam’s, 22:30–02:30, £tbc
Chart, hip-hop and dancehall.
Thu 18 Mar
Mon 22 Mar Manic Mondays Fat Sam’s, 22:30–02:30, £tbc
Chart, hip-hop and dancehall.
Thu 25 Mar PLASTIC SOUL The Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £3.50
Soul, hip-hop and reggae.
Octopussy Fat Sam’s, 23:00–03:00, £tbc
Fun with ball pool and bouncy castle.
Neon Nights (Louis La Roche)
Check The Rabbit (Mount Kimbie)
The Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £4 before 11.30pm, £6 after
The Beartrap
Electro special.
Dubstep night.
Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4
The Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £tbc
Sun 07 Mar Asylum
Kage, 23:00–03:00, £5
Metal, punk and indie.
Mon 08 Mar Manic Mondays
Fat Sam’s, 22:30–02:30, £tbc
Chart, hip-hop and dancehall.
Wed 10 Mar Blufrog Homegrown
The Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £3.50
Dubstep night.
Octopussy
Fat Sam’s, 23:00–03:00, £tbc
Fun with ball pool and bouncy castle.
Fri 19 Mar Entropy
Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4
All types of punk.
Sat 20 Mar
Fri 26 Mar
Indie-punk, plus underground bands.
Sat 27 Mar Asylum Kage, 23:00–03:00, £5
Metal, punk and indie.
Mon 29 Mar
PLASTIC SOUL (Gift Of Gab, Blackalicious, Ruckus Roboticus )
Manic Mondays
Hip-hop beats.
Chart, hip-hop and dancehall.
The Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £8
Fat Sam’s, 22:30–02:30, £tbc
March 2010
THE SKINNY 61
art listings aberdeen
Aberdeen art
Frances Walker - Place Observed in Solitude
Various times, 02 Mar—28 Mar, not 8th, 15th, 22nd, FREE
Foyer Double Darning
11:00AM, 02 Mar—20 Mar, FREE
Deconstruction and transformation of found textiles plus symbolic patchwork cushions by two north east graduates.
Provost Skene’s A City’s Pride : Hall Russel Ship Builders 1864 - 1992 10:00AM, 02 Mar—03 Mar, free
This exhibition looks at the ships, the shipyard and the men and women who made Hall RussellÕs famous.
The Lemon Tree 10 Architects
10:00AM, 02 Mar—14 Mar, FREE
Architects and artists unite.
dundee
Cooper Gallery Public Image
Various times, 02 Mar—06 Mar, Free
New collaborative exhibit.
Generator projects DROMOS
12:00PM, Multiple dates, Free
Sculpture and performance artists Bedwyr Williams and Derek Sutherland perform using dry smoke and recorded riot sounds.
Edinburgh Analogue We Live and Learn
Various times, 02 Mar—20 Mar, FREE
Multi-disciplined designer with a client list including Nike, MTV, Sony, Channel4, and IBM showcases stunning visuals aided by the launch of a new book.www.anthonyburrill.com
Bourne Fine Art Sculpture from painting
Various times, 05 Mar—27 Mar, not 7th, 14th, 21st, Free
Multi award-winning Scottish painter John McLean exhibits at the gallery for the fourth time.
Collective Documentalist
12:00PM, 02 Mar—28 Mar, not 8th, 15th, 22nd, Free
An international group show across all Collective’s gallery spaces with work that explores blurred boundaries between fiction and reality through drawing, sculpture and film.
Dean Gallery ‘Painter’ and The Studio 10:00AM, 02 Mar, free
With a traditional background in painting, McCarthy made his name with performance art, lashing out against traditional artistic ideas. His famous and irreverent video Painter (1995) satirises the formula of the artist as lonely genius in his studio.
Running Time : Artist Films in Scotland: 1960 to Now
Printmakers alpha beta
10:00AM, 02 Mar—06 Mar, FREE
Magne Furuholmen is songwriter and keyboardist in the synthpop/-rock band a-ha, the Norwegian group formed in 1982, and throughout this time he has run a parallel career as a visual artist.
Embassy Gallery You Turn Me On And On And On
12:00PM, 04 Mar—14 Mar, not 8th, 9th, 10th, Free
Propositions towards infinite art.
Fruitmarket Toby Paterson
Various times, 02 Mar—28 Mar, FREE
Paintings, reliefs and constructions utilising post-war architecture to explore the relationship between abstraction and reality. Former Beck’s Futures winner Paterson showcases over a decades worth of absorbing work.
Inverleith House Victoria Morton
10:00AM, 14 Mar—28 Mar, not 15th, 22nd, Free
New paintings by the Glasgow artist, alongside new short films by AnneMarie Copestake downstairs.
Nat gall complex The Printmaker’s Art 10:00AM, 02 Mar—28 Mar, Free
A selection of prints by a variety of European masters from the past 500 years.
Stills Elín Jakosdóttir
11:00AM, 02 Mar—14 Mar, Free
FILM works
The Forest Café The Happy Hookers
07:00PM, Tue 2nd, Tue 9th, Tue 16th, Free
Free weekly knitting group.
The Henderson Bliss - Charlie Anderson 10:00AM, 02 Mar—20 Mar, not 7th, 8th, 14th, 15th, FREE
New works from street-styled, popart inpsired local artist.
The Jazz Bar Dr Sketchy: Down The Rabbit Hole 01:00PM, 06 Mar, £7 (£6)
Alice in Wonderland themed session, to celebrate the release of Tim Burton’s new film.
The Drill Hall A Sense of Self
theatre listings Glasgow CCA The Bag Of Tricks Show
12:00PM, 02 Mar—13 Mar, not 8th, Free
Showing in the Intermedia gallery, featuring work by Patrik Aarnivaara, Marianne Hurum, Jose-Luis Martinat and Stina Wirfelt.
MarketGallery Kevin Reid & Rachel MacLean
12:00PM, 02 Mar—13 Mar, not 7th, 8th, Free
Studio Projects 20 and 21 are video-based specials to coincide with the Glasgow Film Festival.
RecoatGallery Good Wives and Warriors: Fun Occult
12:00PM, 02 Mar—28 Mar, not 8th, 15th, 22nd, Free
Former Skinny Showcasers who have recently been featured in Taschen’s Illustration Now Volume 3, and have produced work for Adidas, Swatch and MTV. .
SWG3
12:00PM, 13 Mar—27 Mar, not 14th, 15th, 16th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, Free
Group show curated by Alex Pollard.
Photoworks Steffi Klenz: Nummianus
Various times, 02 Mar—28 Mar, not 8th, 15th, 22nd, Free
The photographic series “Nummianus” explores ideas of displacement - the sequential photographs show boarded up, terraced houses in the Greater Manchester area.
WoodlandsTerrace Martin Creed: ‘Things’ 12:00PM, Multiple dates, Free
‘Things’ promises to make use of the architectural features found within the Victorian building. Creed’s first solo show in Scotland presents a unique opportunity to see a range of works produced over the last decade.
TheFlyingDuck All The Young Nudes
08:00PM, Tue 2nd, Tue 9th, Tue 16th, Tue 23rd, £4
Drawing class with a backdrop of DJ beats and a bar to the side.
The Slow Club
08:00PM, 28 Mar, Free
ThePipeFactory The Old Pipe Factory
11:00AM, 02 Mar—07 Mar, Free
Student-curated show of 7 artists’ work in painting, film, photography and sculpture.
Tramway
Varied life drawing class. Relaxed environment.
In her first solo exhibition in Scotland, Paulina Olowska will further explore the themes of her curatorial project at Camden Arts Centre, 2009, which explores issues of ambiguity around picture making and portraiture.
a unique selection of film and video works made in Scotland over the past fifty years. The first ever exhibition dedicated exclusively to artist films in Scotland, it includes more than 100 films by over 60 artists.
62 THE SKINNY March 2010
Random Accomplice and Tron Theatre Present: Promises, Promises 07:30PM, 25 Mar, £9 (£7/£5)
Inspired by true events, this is a gripping one woman show revolving around the cynical character of Maggie Brodie.
dundee
Caird Hall
Swan Lake
10:00AM, 02 Mar—14 Mar, not 8th, free
10:00AM, 02 Mar—28 Mar, not 8th, 15th, 22nd, free
WashingtonGarcia My Black Hole
12:00PM, 04 Mar—12 Mar, not 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, Free
Dark, performance-based video installation.
Sleeping Beauty
07:30PM, 03 Mar, from £17.50
Old school ballet classic
Swan Lake
07:30PM, 04 Mar, from £10.50
The best ballet ever?
The Nutcracker
07:30PM, 05 Mar—06 Mar, from £10.50
The famous fantasy ballet
For The Love of Mrs Brown
07:30PM, 10 Mar—12 Mar, from £19.50
Comedy
Whistle Down The Wind
07:30PM, 15 Mar—20 Mar, from £19.50
Dreamboats and Petticoats
07:30PM, 22 Mar—27 Mar, from £17
Various times, 09 Mar—11 Mar, not 10th, £20–from £16.50
1950s rock’n’roll musical
Russian style classical ballet
Dreamboats and Petticoats
Dundee Rep Equus
Equus
Paulina Olowska
Cutting-edge international and UK electronic music and video artists perform live in the venue and into the venue via the net
Woodend Barn
Little Magazine
Life Drawing
08:00PM, 26 Mar, Free
Action action and humour.
Featuring work by Rachel Adams and Ian Giles
Campbell’s first major exhibition, his film looks back over the life of John DeLorean and the car plant he set up in Belfast.
Laptop Lounge
07:30PM, 15 Mar—20 Mar, from 14.50
Man loves horse. Man blinds horse. Advertising and religion cited as accomplices.
12:00PM, 13 Mar—27 Mar, not 14th, 15th, 16th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, Free
Work produced byÊWomen in Focus in Edinburgh on the theme, ÔA Sense of SelfÕ.
10:00AM, 11 Mar, free
The 39 Steps
07:30PM, 02 Mar—20 Mar, not 7th, 8th, 14th, 15th, from £9
Duncan Campbell
Voodoo Rooms
His Majesty’s
Blind Alchemy
10:00AM, 08 Mar—20 Mar, not 14th, Free
Various times, Tue 9th, Sun 21st, Tue 23rd, Sun 28th, £4–£7/£10
aberdeen
07:30PM, 02 Mar—20 Mar, not 7th, 8th, 14th, 15th, from £5
Edinburgh Bedlam Theatre The Business of Murder 02:30PM, 17 Mar, £4
The Forest Café Love and Death 07:00PM, 04 Mar, free
Entirely new writing sporadically punctuated by a shadow play of oscar wilds prose poem The Nightingale and the Rose
The Drill Hall The Siege of Leith 07:00PM, 21 Mar, Free
Citadel Arts Group presents a performed reading of The Siege of Leith.
Clutter Keeps Company 07:30PM, 22 Mar, £10/£5
Stay up late! Annoy the baby-sitter! See the shows!
The Pleasance The Cunning Little Vixen 07:30PM, 02 Mar—03 Mar, £14
07:30PM, 22 Mar—27 Mar, from £19.50
Rock’n’roll era musical
King’s Theatre Dinner Ladies
Intimate Opera
The Tron The City
07:30PM, 02 Mar—06 Mar, from £14
07:45PM, 02 Mar—06 Mar, £8.50
Stage version of TV comedy
Three characters struggle with modern life.
Hormonal Housewives
07:30PM, 02 Mar—06 Mar, from £21
Mid-life crisis: careers, sex, and HMT
Empty 07:30PM, 16 Mar—17 Mar, £10.50
Hormonal Housewives
07:30PM, 02 Mar—06 Mar, from £11
A young man has a free house. What will happen?
Porridge
Mr Write
07:30PM, 09 Mar—13 Mar, from £14
Old lags and their fun times in the nick.
The Producers
07:30PM, 09 Mar—13 Mar, from £11
07:45PM, 16 Mar—20 Mar, £8.50
A play made on the spot
The Miracle Man 07:30PM, 18 Mar—20 Mar, £10.50
Brunton Theatre One Up One Down 07:30PM, 06 Mar, £10.50
Feminist dance from witty company.
Church Hill Ruddigore
07:30PM, 09 Mar—13 Mar, £9
Gilbert and Sullivan fun
EFT Wuthering Heights
07:30PM, 11 Mar—13 Mar, £11.50 £19.00
A creative collaboration between composer Claude-Michel Schönberg and NBT Artistic Director David Nixon, the production is inspired by Emily Bronte’s remarkable novel of 1847.
Wuthering Heights
07:30PM, 11 Mar—13 Mar, from £11.50
Cathy goes ballet.
The Hobbit
Various times, 23 Mar—28 Mar, from £16.50
Playhouse Giselle
07:30PM, 02 Mar, from £10.50
Love and betrayal and forgiveness
Utopia Limited
07:30PM, 16 Mar—20 Mar, from £11
Edinburgh Gilbert and Sullivan Society
Singin’ In The Rain
07:30PM, 23 Mar—27 Mar, from £11
Sex and chastity
Traverse The Government Inspector 07:30PM, 09 Mar—11 Mar, £13
Roxy Arthouse
Gogol farce
The Homecoming
Les Amoureux
07:30PM, 03 Mar—04 Mar, £4 (£3)
07:30PM, 12 Mar, £16
One of Harold Pinter’s most explosive and disturbing plays.
Angela Carter inspired gothic dance
Royal Lyceum Beauty Queen of Leenane 07:45PM, 02 Mar—13 Mar, not 7th, 8th, from £12
Mother and daughter conflict and comedy
Storytelling Centre LADY EVELYN: Tales from Highland Perthshire S 02:00PM, 06 Mar, £5
The Bongo Club Beating Berlusconi
Pierrot Lunaire 07:30PM, 13 Mar, £16
Schoenberg’s hybrid expressionist romance
Eurydice 07:30PM, 17 Mar—20 Mar, from £13
Exploration of loss and myth
Three Sisters 07:30PM, 24 Mar—27 Mar, from £13
Small town longings
Usher Hall Rebels - Beating the Drum for Africa
08:00PM, 03 Mar—04 Mar, £12 (£10)
07:00PM, 05 Mar, Free
One man’s attempt to rediscover his belief in himself and others.
Thoughts on Africa through dance and music.
PRIZES!
COMPETITIONS WEALTH BEYOND MEASURE
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BUNDLE!
A bundle? Why yes. That means an Xbox 360 Elite console (120GB hard drive), a wireless entertainment pack including Pure and Lego Batman games, as well as two, yes two, additional games, BioShock2 and Assassin's Creed II! All courtesy of those lovely folk at Edinburgh International Science Festival and Wolfson Microelectronics. From 3-17 April there are over 220 Science Festival events happening all across Edinburgh. And it isn’t just for kids! From debate and discussion to screenings and comedy, there’s something for everyone to enjoy. To celebrate the launch of the programme for 2010 we’ve teamed up with the Science Festival and one of their major sponsors – Wolfson Microelectronics plc to bring you this exclusive competition. Edinburgh-based Wolfson provides high performance audio and ultra-low power chips for some of the world’s highest profile consumer electronic products, including Apple iPhone 3G, Sony PSP and Xbox 360. Wolfson are in the business of the future and to support business growth Wolfson are always looking to recruit graduates across their business areas. Take a look at the Wolfson graduate website for more information. www.wolfsongrads.com
To enter just answer this question :
What are the dates of this year’s Science Festival? VISIT THESKINNY.CO.UK/COMPETITIONS BEFORE 31 MARCH FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!
WIN AN 8GB IPOD TOUCH
AND LOGITECH EARPHONES Cancom are one of the UK’s premium retailers of Apple products. You’ll find them in Edinburgh, Brighton, Guildford, and a posh part of London. As far as we know, this means that they don’t sell fake iPods made of lead and mercury in alleys, market stalls and other such places, which is good. Cancom have teamed up with The Skinny to offer readers the chance to win a gen-up, brand new 8GB iPod Touch, which you can also buy at Cancom’s website (www.cancomuk.com) or in store for £140. Your iPod will also come with a pair of noise isolating Logitech Ultimate Ears 220 MetroFi earphones, worth £38.95, also available to buy at Cancom.
To enter just answer this question : Cancom have stores in Edinburgh, Brighton, Guildford, and which area of London?
WWW.WOLFSONMICRO.COM
VISIT THESKINNY.CO.UK/COMPETITIONS BEFORE 31 MARCH FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN!
Terms and Conditions: Visit theskinny.co.uk/terms for details.
Terms and Conditions: Visit theskinny.co.uk/terms for details.
WWW.SCIENCEFESTIVAL.CO.UK
WIN TICKETS TO SEE
FUCK BUTTONS
Fuck Buttons, the Bristolian duo whose name we have no interest in hiding with asterisks, visit The Arches on Saturday 24 April to showcase their singular brand of “vivid futurist noise” and “space conquering” electronica (according to our five-star review of Tarot Sport in October last year) to what will be a very full house. We have six pairs of tickets to offer Skinny readers for a gig that, frankly, you have no business missing. Tickets are also available via The Arches website at www.thearches.co.uk, and you can check out more details of the band at www.myspace.com/ fuckbuttons.
To enter just answer this question :
What is the name of Fuck Buttons' 2008 debut album? VISIT THESKINNY.CO.UK/COMPETITIONS BEFORE 31 MARCH FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN! Terms and Conditions: Visit theskinny.co.uk/terms for details. Entrants must be 16 years of age or over. Tickets are nontransferable and will be at the box office on the night. Winners will require id to collect them.
THANKS TO:
WIN UFFIE
GOODIES
Anyone with even a passing interest in French house music will be familiar with Ed Banger Record's enfant terrible, Uffie. A series of singles and EPs (most notably Pop The Glock) have seen her establish a fervent fanbase, all of whom would kill and maim for what we’re giving away: we have five copies of her latest 12”, MCs Can Kiss, to offer to Skinny readers, courtesy of Ed Banger Records. We also have five pairs of tickets for Uffie’s forthcoming Death Disco slot to give away, as part of Annie Mac Presents... on Saturday 17 April, for her first Scottish tour date in four years. A Pop The Glock picture disk will also wing its way to each of our five winners.
To enter just answer this question :
On which 2007 Ed Banger album can you find the Uffieassisted The Party? VISIT THESKINNY.CO.UK/COMPETITIONS BEFORE 31 MARCH FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN! Terms and Conditions: Visit theskinny.co.uk/terms for details. Entrants must be 18 years of age or over.
MARCH 2010
THE SKINNY 63
SLAM & THE SUB CLUB HOOK UP WITH THE SMIRNOFF CO. TO PRESENT AN UNPRECEDENTED SERIES OF EVENTS, BRINGING TOGETHER SOME OF GLASGOW’S BEST PROMOTERS, FOUR FANTASTIC VENUES, THE CREAM OF THE CITYS DJ TALENT AND SOME EXCEPTIONAL ELECTRONIC MUSIC ARTISTS FROM AROUND THE GLOBE. FROM THE OPENING BASH AT THE SPECTACULAR WINTER GARDENS ON JANUARY 23RD, THROUGH EIGHT UNIQUE CLUB NIGHTS AT THE SUB CLUB, THE ARCHES AND THE O2 ACADEMY TO THE FINAL PARTY AT THE ARCHES ON APRIL 2ND, THE SO... SERIES PROMISES MANY MAGICAL MOMENTS FOR THOSE LUCKY ENOUGH TO ‘BE THERE’.
www.soslamsub.com www.facebook.com/smirnoffGB
FRI MAR 5 PRESSURE O2 ACADEMY LAURENT GARNIER LIVE SLAM Master H & Sunday Circus 11pm to 3am
SAT MAR 13 SUBCULTURE 2000 AND ONE DEETRON Harri & Domenic 11pm to 4am
SAT MAR 20 SUBCULTURE MOODYMANN Harri & Domenic 10pm to 3am
FRI MAR 26 PRESSURE AT THE ARCHES JEFF MILLS & DAVE CLARKE Gary Beck.Sei A Edit Select.Harvey McKay HYP? Tayo.Hannah Holland Boom Monk Ben 11pm to 5am
FRI MAR 26 RETURN TO MONO SUB CLUB ANDREW WEATHERALL & IVAN SMAGGHE 11pm to 3am
FRI APRIL 2 THE ARCHES SVEN VATH The Sound Of The 10th Season World Tour Slam Harri & Domenic Sensu live.Telford 10pm to 3am The SMIRNOFF words and associated logos are trade marks. © The Smirnoff Co.2009