The Skinny April 2012

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Issue 79 April 2012

CITY OF CULTURE– GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF VISUAL ART RETURNS ART– RSA NEW CONTEMPORARIES BOOKS– IRVINE WELSH ON SKAGBOYS CLUBS– SUB CLUB’S 25TH BIRTHDAY ORBITAL FILM– WHIT STILLMAN AKI KAURISMÄKI MUSIC– FEIST KILLING JOKE HUMAN DON’T BE ANGRY RUSSIAN CIRCLES VS PELICAN RECORD STORE DAY MARTIN JOHN HENRY SEAMUS FOGARTY MIAOUX MIAOUX JACK WHITE TECH– EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE FESTIVAL THEATRE– BEHAVIOUR 2012

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

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Last year only 56% of people in rented accommodation were registered to vote Make sure you are registered.

Visit shelter.org.uk/registertovote for more information.

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

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Issue 79, April 2012 © Radge Media Ltd.

Editorial

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

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

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.

SAT 19TH MAY

02 ACADEMY GLASGOW

0131 668 2019 WWW.EDFRINGE.COM

AFTERSHOW REGGAE DJS UNTIL 2AM

WED 8TH / THU 9TH / FRI 10TH AUGUST

EDINBURGH QUEEN’S HALL

Show 7pm (8:30) Doors 6:30pm

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Thurs 5th April 01224 641 122 ABERDEEN MUSIC HALL

www.ticketmaster.co.uk www.regularmusic.com 0844 844 0444 or in person from Ticket Scotland:

Argyle Street Glasgow, Rose St Edinburgh & Ripping Records and all usual outlets 4

THE SKINNY APRIL 2012

P.34 KILLING JOKE

APRIL 2012

ROACHFORD

PERFORMING SONGS FROM HIS SOLO ALBUM

DOORS 7PM

P.12 HUMAN DON'T BE ANGRY

L

ens

O2 ABC Glasgow

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a REGULAR MUSIC & AEG Live presentation

ILLUSTRATION: KYLE SMART

JUST ANNOUNCED

GLASGOW 8TH APRIL

CONTENTS CHARLOTTE PRODGER, JEAN CLAUDE VAN DAMME , 2011

KEVIN McDERMOTT ORCHESTRA

0 2 A B C S U N D AY

E: sales@theskinny.co.uk All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part without the explicit permission of the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within this publication do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the printer or the publisher.

Printed by Mortons Print Limited, Horncastle ABC verified Jan – Dec 2011: 32,162

Rosamund ‘Good One’ West Dave Kerr Andrew Cattanach Keir Hind Neil Murchison Bernard O’Leary David McGinty Ana Hine Keir Roper-Caldbeck Alexandra Fiddes Jamie Dunn Peter Simpson Anna Docherty Anna Docherty Gareth K. Vile Alex Cole Paul Mitchell

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DF CONCERTS & EVENTS PRESENTS… DF CONCERTS & EVENTS PRESENTS… 6: Our editor offers a snapshot of the coming month in entertainment

while Robin Proper-Sheppard gets the Hero Worship treatment.

8: Beginning and ending on 25th birthday celebrations (Sub Club and Beltane respectively), Heads Up guides you gently through the month of April with exciting treats for every day of the calendar.

DF Concerts & Events by arrangement with X-ray

Bernard Sumner Stephen Morris Gillian Gilbert Phil Cunningham Tom Chapman

Features 10: Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art returns to the Weege, allowing Art editor Andrew to cease his winter cranking.

12: Malcolm Middleton hopes to lay accusations of miserabilism to rest with his new Human Don't Be Angry persona.

14: As Sub Club turns 25 with five whole weeks of celebrations, we talk to some of the people who've made it what it is over the years.

17: Russian Circles and Pelican tell us lies about Brian May. Just don't call them 'post-metal.'

18: Edinburgh International Science Festival brings out the comedy, film and food in science.

20: Jack White unveils his first album under his own name - with a little help from Mayor of Lambeth (!?)

21: Director Aki Kaurismäki introduces new film Le Havre, and tells us why he would never go digital.

22: After a 13 year absence from directing, Whit Stillman returns with Damsels in Distress 25: Fence Records' Seamus Fogarty discusses his debut album, God Damn You Mountain, over a pint. OK, many pints.

26: The Skinny & CCA Award winner from RSA New Contemporaries 2012, Romany Dear gives us an insight into her art practice.

28: Leslie Feist reminisces on her punk days while blurring temporal boundaries with her Modern Ancient music 30: Dance music titans Orbital make a not-unwelcome return to the fore with new album Wonky 32: Ahead of the release of Trainspotting prequel Skagboys, we asked Irvine Welsh to tell us all about it.

33: Underneath the Arches, Behaviour Festival continues to bring avant garde performance to Glasgow.

34: The venerable Jaz Coleman shares details of Killing Joke's new album, and why he's had it with Blighty.

LIFESTYLE 37: Travel: Wandering Skinny contributor Ally Broon continues to make us all seethe with jealousy at his endless journey by telling us all about kayaking at Milford Sound, New Zealand.

39: Deviance is very upset about a variety of things, including proposed changed to sex education in school and not being let into the dungeon at Torture Garden.

40: Showcase: Stephen Thorpe shows off his immaculate paintings ahead of a Skinnyorganised exhibition in Edinburgh's Whitespace this month.

42: fashion: Dundee-based designer Tolani Onajide of NKILI tells us about her silk shirts.

44: Food & DrinK: In celebration of spring's arrival, some advice on the farmer's market and foraging, and a guide to the pure lethal booze of Korea.

47: Music: New five star releases from Death Grips and Quakers give hip-hop an overdue boot in the arse.

54: ClubS: Featuring the inimitable DJ Stingray, Omar S and Aberdeen's The Big Beach Ball.

56: Film: Reviews including Le Havre, Damsels in Distress and The Divide.

57: DVD: Films to take home and keep this month include Mother and Child, Le Grand Illusion and Corman's World.

58: ART: Giving Dundee a look in after the drawsome Edinburgh / Glasgow artstravaganza up front, previews of Scott Myles at DCA, and The Shape at Generator.

59: Tech: Is annoyed at having to pay extra for bonus features that already existed when the game was released.

60: Theatre: A word to the wise on DLC. 61: Comedy: Eleanor Morton is pure LOLarious by the way.

62: COMPETITIONS: Win such delights as tickets to Stag and Dagger (including bonus swag fae bands) and Knockengorrach camping passes.

63: LIstings: A comprehensive list of absolutely everything going on this month, in chronological order.

71: Trembling Bells exhalts BBC4's re-screening of seminal TV drama The Singing Detective while Crystal Baws portends what Aries is likely to do with David Cameron's Thomas The Tank Engine face.

+ LIANNE LA HAVAS + RAE MORRIS Saturday O 5th UTMay D

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Edinburgh Usher Hall 08444 999 990 www.gigsinscotland.com www.ticketmaster.co.uk

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Follow gigsinscotland on twitter @gigscot

April 2012

THE SKINNY

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Editorial Spring is here, apparently, although here in The Skinny office we have mainly been observing it through a window as we slave away, putting together this charming issue for your reading pleasure. It looks sunny though, so that’s nice.

April is a particularly art-tastic month for Scotland this year, as Glasgow International returns with a spectacular array of visual art both local and international in a jam-packed programme of exhibitions and events unfurling across the Weege from 19 April. I’m excited, the Art editor’s excited – turn to p10 to find extended details of why you should be excited too.

In Edinburgh, RSA New Contemporaries continues on the Mound. You can read our thoughts on it, as well as an interview with artist Romany Dear, to whom we (in conjunction with CCA) decided to give a shiny prize, on p26. ALSO happening this month in the world of art – our prize winner from last year’s New Contemporaries, Stephen Thorpe, will present the fruits of his award, an exhibition of new paintings, in Edinburgh’s Whitespace from 28 Apr. It’s free, please come along. You can see an array of his beautiful paintings in the Showcase.

Outside the world of art, there is much to discover in this here issue. In Music, we speak to Malcolm Middleton about his new album under the new Human Don’t Be Angry guise – he’s trying to dinghy the miserabilist tag but concerned some of the song titles might impede his efforts. We dispatched one intrepid writer to both have a first listen of Jack White’s new solo album, Blunderbuss, and get pure pished with Seamus Fogerty. For separate articles, naturally.

We’ve also got a head to head between Russian Circles and Pelican, time with Feist as she looks forward to Record Store Day, and a harrowing track by track guide to the new Killing Joke album from Jaz Coleman – our Music ed was visibly traumatised by the experience of conducting the interview.

In Clubs, there is some refreshingly joyous news

as Sub Club celebrate their 25th birthday with a five week extravaganza – we talk to some of the key players from the club’s past, present and future to find out what makes it so great. In the world of Tech, Edinburgh International Science Festival is back with an inclusive, engaging programme of events bringing out the fun in science. There’s a film strand, a food strand, and a comedy strand.

Yes, a comedy strand. Read all about it on p18.

Film gets its knickers in a twist over two of this month’s releases – Damsels in Distress and Le Havre – by talking to their directors, Whit Stillman and Aki Kaurismaki respectively. In Books, we are very excited this month to be partnering a Book Slam event celebrating Irvine Welsh’s new novel Skagboys – in celebration we talk to the man himself about revisiting Renton, Begbie et al. And, like every month, much more happens besides.

o2 ABC, 12 Mar

by Kenny Mccoll

See more great photography at www.theskinny.co.uk And a gallery of the night at www.theskinny.co.uk/ music/gig_galleries

6

THE SKINNY April 2012

Robin Proper-Sheppard

Malcolm Middleton explains how The God Machine/ Sophia Collective frontman gave him comfort as he bubbled into his crisps

THIS MONTH’S COVER:

This month's cover image is Dazzler, by Pio Abad Dazzler, 2012, Digital Print on sandblast wall paper, Courtesy of the artist Pio Abad was born in Manila, Philippines in 1983 and lives and works in London. He received a BA in Painting and Printmaking at Glasgow School of Art in 2007 and is currently completing his Masters at the Royal Academy Schools. Recent exhibitions include Premiums at the Royal Academy of Art (2011), The Diaspora Project at the Edinburgh International Festival (2009), Bloomberg New Contemporaries (2008) and group presentations at the Royal Standard, Liverpool; Generator Projects, Dundee; and Intermedia Gallery at CCA Glasgow.

Forthcoming projects include the Royal Academy Schools Show in June 2012 and the London Open at the Whitechapel Art Gallery in July 2012.

The Duchy will be presenting the work of Pio Abad as part of Glasgow International.

Shot of the month

Killing Joke

HERO WORSHIP

My first encounter with Robin’s music was in 1992 when a friend lent me The God Machine’s Purity EP. It was like nothing else around at the time, even though guitar music was popular and grunge was about to kick the arse out of baggy, funk metal and shoegazing. Scathing and sharp metal guitars bursting seamlessly from beautiful picked acoustic and string sections, with Robin crooning and wailing exactly like we all want to but can’t.

I suppose we all have records and bands that mean so much to us at crucial times in our lives, for that The God Machine are very important to me. I quickly copied the EP to cassette and hogged my mate Ewan’s 12” until he had to come round my house and scrape it from the record player. I don’t know what it was about the songs – possibly that the loudness of blasting guitars can stop your brain churning over the same old shit, and then there’s also the comfort secured from the peaceful moments.

So I guess it was all about the contrast between hoping, and knowing there’s no hope.

Exactly what the teenage angst-ridden Malckymind required! I remember going through my first ever real break-up and crying all night alongside the first God Machine album Scenes From The Second Storey, Ken Kesey’s Demon Box and a six-pack of Wotsits. In my memory I was probably wearing a black polo-neck, but in reality it would’ve been a Ned’s Atomic Dustbin t-shirt.

Oh how times haven’t changed.

I didn’t really keep up with the music press at the time so it was a great day a few years later when I was bored and perusing Our Price Records in Falkirk, and landed clammy-handed upon the brilliant Zen whiteness of the second God Machine album One Last Laugh In A Place Of Dying. Perhaps the only time a band hasn’t let me down with their second album. It’s made with the same tools as SFTSS but delivers more – more loud, more quiet, more slow, more furious, more desperate, more beautiful. More or less.

Then that was that; bass player Jimmy Fernandez died suddenly from a brain tumour and The God

Machine disbanded. I’m embarrassed to admit that at this point I wrote to Fiction Records offering my services as a replacement bass player, but have still to hear a reply.

That wasn’t that though. A few years later Stuart Braithwaite asked if I’d heard Robin’s new band Sophia, knowing that we shared a love of TGM. I hadn’t, I had no idea about them.

Robin had kicked his distortion pedals aside and stripped away the contrasts of TGM and settled on the down side – the low, the comfort, the calm, the beauty and the sadness. It’s hard to say now how big an influence he’s been on everything I’ve been involved with musically – from the guitar playing and lyrics to the attitude. It’s probably also his fault that my songs evolved into self-deprecating moan-a-longs, as I constantly try to capture his essence but continually fail to deliver the poetry.

I think it was 1999 when I met Robin for the first time. Arab Strap were playing in Brussels and Robin came to see us because he was friends with Adele (Bethel). They say never meet your heroes, but Robin was great – a gentleman.

We’ve stayed friends ever since, done a bunch of gigs together, I’ve played in his band, he’s shouted to his friends about my albums, I wrote a song about him, he drank my schnapps and passed out in my hotel bed in Rome listening to Jackson C. Frank.

We’ve had many a conversation about the impending doom of happiness and how one day we’ll write songs complaining that there’s nothing to complain about. So at least there’s that to look forward to. But the best bit was last year when Robin sang REO Speedwagon’s Keep On Lovin’ You at my wedding. A long way from angsty tears and a six-pack of Wotsits! There are so many places to begin with Robin’s music (buy all of it!) but I’d say start with the song Purity.

Turn it up, grab the tissues (and some crisps).

Malcolm’s debut as Human Don’t Be Angry is available via Chemikal Underground on 16 Apr www.malcolmmiddleton.blogspot.com

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

OPINION

Important stuff we don’t have space for anywhere else Le Havre – better than marvel?

REEL TALK

Comic Marvels Two marvellous comedies are released in April: Aki Kaurismäki’s Le Havre (6 Apr) and Whit Stillman’s Damsels in Distress (27 Apr). Film was honoured to speak to both directors for this issue.

As tends to be the case with movie gems, you’ll have to seek these out as they won’t be playing many screens here in Scotland, but they’re definitely worth the effort.

Unavoidable over the next few weeks, however, is the less marvellous Marvel studios, which this month consolidates its musclebound assets – Iron Man, Thor, Captain America and Hulk – into one manageable event movie called Avengers Assemble. The reason the Marvel universe is so disappointing is that unlike, say, the Batman trilogy, Marvel has preferred the workmanlike graft of directors for hire (Jon Favreau, Kenneth Branagh, Joe Johnston) over cinematic visionaries. As a result the comic book giant has sacrificed spectacle and cohesion for malleable filmmakers who’ll crowbar any spurious old plot point or character into their films to help set up its forthcoming superhero

team-up extravaganza.

But the Marvel movies do have something going for then: the comedic chops of their leading men.

Particularly fun was Chris Hemsworth as Thor, whose performance in last year’s movie suggested Brian Blessed trapped in the body of Dolph Lundgren circa 1987. Also working in Avengers’ favour is the presence of Buffy creator Joss Whedon at the reigns, which means there’s a chance of some thrills to match the laughs.

But if you’re after guaranteed shits and giggles, look no further than Whedon’s other project released this month. It’s called The Cabin in the Woods (13 Apr; Whedon co-wrote and produced), it also stars Hemsworth, and, like the Marvel movies, it’s a comedy disguised as another genre – in this case horror. To reveal more would be cruel – like eating a doner kebab or attending a Glaswegian orgy, it’s better if you go in blind – other than to say that as horror comedies go, it’s right up there with Evil Dead II and Stuart Gordon’s gooey riot Re-Animator (which, coincidentally, is being screened at GFT 25-26 Apr by those beautiful cults Psychotronic Cinema).

Enjoy laughing your disembodied heads off this April.

SKINNY ON TOUR On her travels our publisher Sophie, who is currently learning to become a beekeeper, came across these two showing some passion for our publication. Can you guess where she izz?

Enter your guess below and you might win a bottle of wine courtesy of our expert friends at VINO WINES. Closing date: Mon 30 April Winners will be notified on the day of closing and will be required to respond within one week or the prize will be offered to another entrant. For full terms and conditions, go to www. theskinny.co.uk/terms and www. drinkaware.co.uk for the facts.

Over 18s only. This prize is not redeemable for cash and must be collected from one of the Vino Wines Edinburgh stores.

BOOKSLAM! On Friday 27 April Irvine Welsh s launches his new novel Skagboys (which revisit how s reveal and g pottin Trains from ters the charac Tory it all went so wrong for them all under an 80s Skinny. government), with an event partnered by The of author Bookslam is a monthly 'live literature‘ night takes readings, poetry, DJs and live music which event place in venues throughout London, and this be marks their first foray into Scotland. It will also Laureate the author’s only Scottish event. ‘The Poet oys of the chemical generation’ will read from Skagb Smith. The alongside his favourite Edinburgh DJ Craig Slam night will be hosted by stand-up poet, World McGonaChampion and armchair revolutionary Elvis al satire gle who brings razor-sharp comedy and politic there. Fri to the proceedings. Best get yersels down ght, £8 20 Apr, The Caves, Edinburgh, 8.30pm-midni in advance

Multi-venue festival Stag & Dagger returns with a healthy bill on 19 May, findi ng the cream of modern Scotland’s alternative rock and electronic contingent (as in The Phantom Band , Django Django, Discopolis and newcome rs Die Hard) holding their own with psych warlo cks White Denim and juggernaut rap crew Death Grips (showing off their adrenaline-charged new LP The Money Store – see our review on p50) amo ng many more.

To book, see www.pclpresents.c om; you can also win tickets and swag on P62. Pick up the next issue of The Skinny for a guide to one of Glasgow’s most eclectic mini-fests.

Stag & Dagger's lineup so far...

Anothers Blood Bear In Heaven Death Grips Die Hard Discopolis Django Django Elanor Friedberger Forest Swords The Heartbreaks Jonquil Milk Music

Niki and the Dove Passenger The Phantom Band Post War Years Random Impulse Ryan Keen Still Corners Still Flyin' To Kill A King White Denim Willy Mason Vitamins

death grips

Be an INsider with the Edinburgh International Festival: On Wed 2 May, celebrate the return of INsider at an exclusive party hosted by the Edinburgh International Festival in association with The Skinny. INsider is a special membership programme offering enthusiasts of theatre, opera, music and dance in their 20s and 30s a chance to peek behind the curtain of the Festival.

A year’s membership costs just £25 and will open up access to preview performances, discounts on performances, INvitations to VIP parties and behind the scenes opportunities.

Attendance at the party on Wednesday 2 May from 6 – 8pm at The Hub is free, but places are strictly limited and must be reserved in advance.

Last year INsider members enjoyed free backstage tours and talks with Stephen Earnhart, Director of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle; Tim Supple, Director of One Thousand and One Nights; and John Robb, EIF Head of Technical, of the set of Die Frau Ohne Schatten. Plus an exclusive outof-hours free tour of Hiroshi Sugimoto’s Lightning Field exhibition at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art with exhibition curator Simon Groom.

If you want your name email INsider@eif.co.uk by Monday 30 April.

Visit www.eif.co.uk/INsider now for more information.

Paws

n saahf with a So The Skinny’s headed daah beachside own UK’s the for e bucket and spad Great Escape SXSW in Brighton this June. The offering informatakes place between 10-12 May, music industry the of ers corn all to nars tive semi venues. We’ll 30 over take s band while over 300 n with the nctio conju in be hosting a showcase n, featuring Scottish Music Industry Associatio S , young sets from feral Fat Cat signees PAW and tion Junc ni Bwa ples disci buck afrobeat w. On the orchestral indie outfit Admiral Fallo chance to see whole, The Great Escape’s a rare over the red featu e we’v s band the of e a tonn cream in ice an with , place one last year in the s for a great yer mitt. Keep an eye on these page northern competition and a fuller look at our e. danc atten in ims pilgr Stephen Thorpe: The Poetics of Space.

Head down to Whitespace gallery from 28 Apr to see some of the the beautiful paint ings of 2011’s RSA New Contemporaries Skinn y Award winner.

Created from oil on canvas on expa nding foam, the works conjure surreal interiors and create the illusion of pillaged frescoes hack ed from some unknown wall. 28 Apr-10 May, Whit espace, 11 Gayfield Square, Edinburgh. Ope n daily 11am6pm, free.

Persevere: As a teaser for Leith Late, which will be returning on 28 Jun, local impressario Morvern Cunningham has organised an exhibition in the Old Ambulance Depot which will run from 21-28 Rumours abound as to the identity of the Apr. Featuring the Leith-based artists and Skinny guest performers for White Rabbit, Red Rabbit favourites Bernie Reid, Rabiya Choudhry and Liana Moran, Persevere’s opening on the 20th is sponsored might be at The Arches. Those who guess Scottish Hollywood stars may get a pleasant by another Skinny favourite, Thistly Cross cider. surprise...

This month the Filmhouse and the GFT help s commitment to new writing spread the word about the genius of Czech animator The Traverse’ WRITE HERE: takes a serious turn this month with Jiří Trnka (it’s pronounced ‘Yershy Trinka’), with work by Peter Arnott, Morna new ring featu retrospectives of his work. His particular medium with Gregory Pearson and Rob Drummond, talks was stop-motion, and he’s so influential – the Quay a and D C Sarm Rani la Ursu s, Harri e brothers and Jan Švankmajer are among his protégés Burke, Zinni os by Dem of iere Prem d Worl Jackson and the – that he’s known as the ‘Walt Disney of Eastern April 24 , Price Tim Europe’. Not a household name on these shores, Monday 16 – Tuesday 24 April hopefully these Trnka seasons will change that.

April 2012 THE SKINNY

7

WED 4 Apr

The I AM crew kick off our month with a biggie of a guest as part of Sub Club's 25th birthday celebrations (see listings for full details), for which they'll be welcoming percussive maestro Blawan into the fold, offering up a set of his signature stripped-back and uncompromising rhythms, which ne'er fail to get us dancing ourselves into a frothy-mouthed frenzy. Sub Club, Glasgow, 11pm, £5

The cutesy Sheffield duo of Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor, aka Slow Club, do what they do best: roam rather nicely between dainty, stripped-back laments and bumpy, more playful musical explorations of twee-folk, giving the genre a fair bit more oomph than most – props to 'em. King Tut's, Glasgow, 8pm, £10

Photo: Ross Fraser McLean

HEADS UP

We kick off the month with Sub Club's 25th Birthday Celebrations, and end with the 25th Beltane Fire Festival.

Pretty damn poetic, no?

Photo: Sol Nicol

Tue 3 Apr

Sun 8 Apr

Mon 9 Apr

DCA play host to the first major UK solo show for Dundee-born and educated artist Scott Myles, showcasing a selection of new works across the gallery space, including an expansive site-specific installation, new sculpture pieces, and a collection of prints made specially for the show in the DCA Print Studio. Full preview on p58. DCA, Dundee, until 10 Jun, Free

From the ashes of Joe Lean and The Jing Jang Jong, London quintet TOY emerge triumphant, seeming to jam the last fifty years of psychedelic guitar music into one hypnotic whole. Their new single, Left Myself Behind, is a wall of squall that is currently lodged deep in our brain – and you can download it for free at heavenlyrecordings.com. King Tuts, Glasgow, 8pm, £6

COMPILED BY: ANNA DOCHERTY

Fri 13 Apr

Sat 14 Apr

Sun 15 Apr

As part of their series of film screenings questioning what it means to be human, Edinburgh Science Festival pull out the ultimate half-human, half-robot supercop that is RoboCop for a special showing, with a post-screen talk with writer Justina Robson discussing the arising themes of resurrection and the unnatural.

Filmhouse, Edinburgh, 8.30pm, £7.50 (£5.50)

Our favourite pop-up tea lady, Queen of Tarts, hosts another weekend of indulgence, with a multi-course selection of treats being served up in a secret parlour location down't Leith. If the last menu's anything to go by, it'll be the best feed of our month (read: multi-courses of cake). Secret location, Edinburgh, 2pm, £20 (also Sun 15 Apr). More info at Facebook/QueenofTartsEdinburgh

Sweden’s foremost tech-metal architects, Meshuggah, take to Glasgow armed with their most recent LP, Koloss, which finds them on fine form, again pushing the perimeters of their lead-heavy groove and the cosmic heights they can drop it from.

Best enjoyed in a live setting, naturally. The Garage, Glasgow, 7pm, £15

thu 19 apr

Fri 20 Apr

Irish-born, GSA graduating, artist Tony Swain – best known for his paintings depicting complex private worlds painted over newspaper pages – presents a new body of work created specially for Fruitmarket Gallery, where fragments of the newspaper survive, transformed and transfigured by their inclusion in a new, painted world. Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh, until 1 Jul, Free

Glasgow International Festival kicks off official, taking over myriad venues both likely and obscure, with a highlight looking to be the new collaborative project between FOUND and Aidan Moffat, #UNRAVEL; a reactive sound installation through which the audience will attempt to unravel the truth about The Narrator (Moffat)'s life by playing records from his collection. SWG3, Glasgow, until 7 May, Free

Sat 28 Apr

Those kings and queens of modern folk, Trembling Bells, treat our earlugs to a special set in the grand surrounds of The Queen's Hall, playing, singing and duelling with Bonnie 'Prince' Billy to perform tracks from their new collaborative album, The Marble Downs. And, yes, we have spent an unhealthy amount of time breaking out the jigs to said album since a preview copy landed in our inbox. Queen's Hall, Edinburgh, 7pm, £18

David Shrigley brings his madcap anti-opera Edinburghway, joining forces with composer David Fennessy, and acclaimed director Nicholas Bone for Pass The Spoon, a mock TV cookery show where vegetable puppets mingle in a world where the cutlery have names, and there's a dung beetle puppet operated by a walking turd in cowboy boots, called, er, Shit. Traverse, Edinburgh 26-28 Apr, From £15 (£11)

Franz Ferdinand's Paul Thomson and Glasgow DJ Hushpuppy join forces for Music Please, a new night down in the cool surrounds of The Berkeley Suite, uniting the worlds of music and clubbing with a mix of jungle drums, new wave synths, foreign disco and funk, plus live visuals from Joe Crogan. The Berkeley Suite, Glasgow, 11pm, Free

Multi-art-form mini fest, Outskirts, debuts with a dynamic array of artists playing through the day, including Vashti Bunyan, Aidan Moffat, and Future Pilot AKA, alongside various art installations – which will see Thom Scullion present his interactive installation, Play [Station], where audience and artist bond through the medium of computer games. Platform, Glasgow, 3.30pm, £6 (£10 with food)

8

THE SKINNY April 2012

Photo:James Anderson

Fri 27 Apr

Photo:Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

Thu 26 Apr

Photo:Euan Robertson

Wed 25 Apr

fri 6 apr Sub Club continue their rather immense schedule of 25th birthday celebrations with messeurs JD Twitch and JG Wilkes resurrecting their much-loved Optimo, which from this date onwards will take on a new bi-monthly Friday night slot. All hail the return of the old faithful turbo soundsystem...

Sub Club, Glasgow, 11pm, £tbc

Sat 7 Apr Having fulfilled our dubstep needs for the last five years, Volume! unite the full crew (that'd be Termite, Paranoise, G-Mac, Brian D'Souza, Profisee, Ema and Krish) for one final swansong, playing their favourite tunes from the worlds of dubstep, bassline, jungle, D'n'B, grime and hippity-hop over a four-hour set. Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, 11pm, £3

Photo: Iona Spence

thu 5 apr Feral Glaswegian noisemakers Take A Worm For A Walk Week unleash a final blast of discordant thrash upon our ass, as they play what will be their last ever show down at Glasgow's Stereo. Cue a delightful barrage of sneering cynicism mixed with driving hardcore, plus stellar support from Adam Stafford and GRNR. Stereo, Glasgow, 7pm, £6

Wed 11 Apr

Thu 12 Apr

Edinburgh Science Festival turns foodie for Sensory Dining, where comedian Steve Mould looks at how our other senses affect our taste buds over the course of a palate-challenging tasting menu. Linguists, scientists and scent technicians will be on hand to help reveal the mysteries of how we consume food. Jam House, Edinburgh, 8pm, £35 (including dinner)

We literally never get tired of seeing Glasgow quartet United Fruit do their all-out-post-hardcore-servedat-F1-velocity thing, playing in the suitably dank and reverberating surrounds of Henry's Cellar, alongside Shudderpulps and the utterly unpronounceable Fat Bicth. Henry's Cellar, Edinburgh, 7pm, £5

Edinburgh Printmakers continue with their Superclubcurated Negativnights schedule of films, with the Fox Gut Daata and Burnt Altar lo-fi side-project of Cru Servers bringing together their music with new moving image works created specifically for the event, before artist duo Beagles and Ramsay take to the venue later in the month (26 Apr).

Edinburgh Printmakers, Edinburgh, 6.30pm, £5 (£4)

David Sherry 100 meters cake still

Photo: Martin Barker

tue 10 apr

Tue 17 Apr

Wed 18 Apr

Celebrating movies of the so bad they're, well, just plain bad variety, Nice 'n' Sleazy come up trumps for their monthly Bad Movie Night, where they'll screen Tommy Wiseau's notoriously bad cult hit The Room, alongside hammy 80s action flick Samurai Cop – because everyone loves a womanizing super samurai cop, yes. Nice 'n' Sleazy, Glasgow, 7.30pm, Free

Graham Coxon takes to the road armed with his latest LP, A&E, for which he'll be curating a unique bill for each date on the tour, inviting y'all to nominate local bands to support him, from which he'll pick his favourites. Full information at toursupport. grahamcoxon.co.uk. The Garage, Glasgow, 7pm, £16.50. Also playing Edinburgh's Liquid Room the night before

Presenting itself as one of the musical highlights of our month, Evan Dando et al (yes, The Lemonheads are coming to town!) play their classic album, It's A Shame About Ray, live and in its entirety; a carefully-crafted, and unusually coherent, collection of gems. HMV Picture House, Edinburgh, 7pm, £15

Samurai Cop

Photo: Sol Nicol

Photo: Pete Dunlop

Mon 16 Apr

Sat 21 Apr

Sun 22 Apr

Mon 23 Apr

Tue 24 Apr

The vintage specialists behind Judy's Affordable Vintage Fair bring their sister project, the Vintage Kilo Sale, back to Edinburgh. The premise is pretty simple; they'll be stuffing Leith's Drill Hall with stacks (three tonnes to be exact) of vintage clothing and accessories for the day, from which shoppers can choose a pic'n'mix selection and pay just £15 a kilo. Amen. Drill Hall, Edinburgh, 10am, £1

German-born artist Grace Schwindt celebrates the opening of her new exhibition – which premieres her film, Tenant – by staging a unique site-specific performance in the front window of Collective Gallery, where the audience watch from streetside seating: sure to be strange and magical in equal measures. Collective, Edinburgh, 8pm, Free. Exhibition runs from 21 Apr-27 May

On the go for a pretty damn impressive 24 years, longstanding gothic metal-styled hellraisers Paradise Lost bring the ruckus to Glasgow's King Tut's, led by doom master Nick Holmes' trademark dark and introspective lyrics. They'll be playing tracks from their new album, Tragic Idol, which drops that very day. King Tut's, Glasgow, 8pm, £14.50

In a unique collaboration with Glasgow's Gallery of Modern Art, GFT present Sculpture on Film, a mini schedule combining rarely seen artworks with archive documentary footage, taking in films by Lawrence Weiner, Ana Mendieta, Gordon Matta-Clark and Robert Smithson. GFT, Glasgow, 6pm, £4. Also showing on 22 Apr

moN 30 APR

With the kind of beautific house that makes us want to dance ourselves into a zombified state, we're looking forward to a dose of Matthew Dear's avant-garde tinkerings, playing a rather special Edinburgh set with his all-new live band, the day after his guest slot at Subculture, no less (as part of Sub Club's 25th birthday celebrations). Sneaky Pete's, Edinburgh, 7pm, £10

The Beltane crew stage their annual celebration of the coming of summer, with this year marking the 25th anniversary of the festival, for which they've got something pretty special in store. Cue fire, facepaint, dancing, nudity, drumming, and all the fun one can have up a hill in the dark (i.e. a lot).

Calton Hill, Edinburgh, 9.30pm, £5

Photo: Rosie Helena Short

Sun 29 Apr

Photo: Ove Hansen

Ana Mendieta, Alma Silueta en Fuego (Silueta de Cenizas), 1975

April 2012

THE SKINNY

9

ART

Glasgow’s Biennale Every two years Scotland's contemporary art Mecca unleashes a festival of visual art – here's what not to miss at Glasgow International

Oh My Gis! Dictator Style

www.glasgowinternational.org

We meet up with artist Pio Abad in his studio in London to discuss his upcoming show at the Duchy Gallery for Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art Interview: Leah Miller-Bio Copyright the artist

We’re like totally about to embark on the most exciting two weeks of the Glasgow arts calendar. Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art marks the end of a long drawn out season of relentless loneliness otherwise known as winter, and sees the lethargic art scene proliferate like a grossly pungent rhododendron bush. Every pissy alley will be transformed into a three-storey gallery with its own café and in-house DJ playing backwards rockabilly hits from the 1840s.

The festival programme is impacted with pure loads of artists whose names I’m about to rattle off here in the hope it occupies some of the brain space you otherwise waste on thinking about the different flavours of crisps you like.

Folkert de Jong is pretty great. A rare breed, he makes figurative sculptures that are actually good and rarely anodyne. His exhibition at the Mackintosh Museum will have you wishing all art was this satisfying.

Generously described as ‘consistently interesting’ in the festival brochure, Jeremy Deller will show a new interactive public artwork on Glasgow Green. Other than it being called Sacrilege, the project is a secret. That’s what famous artists do; they remain consistently interesting by being consistently aloof. Should be a laugh nonetheless.

The Common Guild will host an exhibition of work by photographer Wolfgang Tillmans. They might only be mindless snap shots taken from the privileged perspective of a cosmopolitan artist, but they are excellent all the same.

Now, cast your eyes over the rest of these luscious two pages and get nauseated by the sheer quality of everything that adorns them. Take heed of what is said and get in amongst some art during the festival this April. Remember, it’s a biennial event, and you might be dead the next time it comes around. [Andrew Cattanach]

Pio Abad_Naturalia 2011_Seashells, dummy CCTV camera

During WWI Norman Wilkinson designed the naval camouflage called dazzle – a kind of geometric, abstract pattern contrived to confuse the observer rather than disguise the ship. Wilkinson was later put in charge of the naval camouflage unit housed in the basement studios at the Royal Academy of Arts, the exact spot where, 95 years later, Pio Abad takes time out of his MFA studies to chat about his upcoming show Dazzler at the Duchy Gallery, Glasgow.

Dazzler, he explains, is also the name of an effete disco super hero in a 1970s comic book. Her only power is to emit rays of light that momentarily blind her assailants. But though she might pale in comparison to the likes of Superman, hers is a weapon uncomfortably close in reality to a weapon designed for American soldiers to control

crowds in Afghanistan.

Abad takes a book from his shelf. It’s Peter York’s Dictator Style – a reference book of images of the interiors of various dictators’ homes, including Saddam Hussein, Stalin and Idi Amin. It’s a chilling view into a world where art is subsumed into the psychology of megalomania.

The book exemplifies the shift of art and ornamentation from genuine self-expression into the proclamation of power. It’s a subject that haunts artists, such as Abad, and perhaps casts a shadow over his ambivalent relationship with decoration and ornamentation. “I guess there’s always this danger that I’m quite wary of,” Abad explains. “Of trivialising these things, and I hope by actually presenting real documents and objects

that it avoids that trivialisation.”

With one half of the exhibition a planned installation sponsored by Spandex and the other a curious sounding archive, the show will be a way of unpicking the web of intricate links that underpin Abad’s work. “An element of unpacking is important in my work because I always jam so many references in,” he says. “Sometimes the links are so dense that they just disappear.”

It’s pertinent to compare the disappearance of the links between Abad’s points of reference to a loss of individual identity in mass culture in general.

The camouflaging potential of decoration allows leaders, such as Imelda Marcos – the notorious first lady of Abad’s native Philippines and a recurring character in his work – to sweep problems under rich carpets of culture.

Through a vast and expensive cultural development programme Marcos was able to disguise the needs of her impoverished population and obfuscate the dubious activities of her husband’s military regime. Meanwhile, as the central figure of this programme she saw herself throughout as the standard of beauty and cultivation to be aspired to and a display of the exotic culture of the Philippines for the rest of the world to see.

Despite being exiled in Hawaii after the regime was overthrown, Imelda Marcos returned to the Philippines and to politics in the early nineties. A few years ago, Abad’s family received a present from her, a seashell and fake pearl encrusted clock with her own profile painted on the stand.

This odd little object, a picture of melancholic exoticism, sits above Abad’s desk. It’s a reminder that even the most banal of objects can be cleverly disguised cultural weapons, momentarily blinding their viewers to the problems of the environment in which they exist.

“I always liked that Walter Benjamin quote – that all documents of civilisation are documents of barbarism,” Abad explains. “In a way I see that as a kind of guiding statement in my practice; the idea of trying to extract ideologies or difficult histories from objects that are seemingly throwaway, or seemingly decorative, or seemingly kitsch, or seemingly benign. When actually, there’s nothing benign about anything.”

Dazzler, The Duchy, 20 Apr – 19 May, Free

PREVIEWS

Kilian Rüthemann and Kate V Robertson DAVID DALE, 20 APR – 20 MAY, FREE

Kate V Robertson, Plaza, 2011

10 THE SKINNY April 2012

David Dale Gallery and Studios recently moved premises. From their old venue in Glasgow’s sunny Bridgeton area in the east end they moved all the way to Glasgow’s sunny Bridgeton area in the east end. Bigger and better than their previous residence, the new venue has seen most of the Glasgow art fraternity mucking in to help get it ready in time for their inaugural show.

It’s no coincidence that the first exhibition in the new gallery will be during Glasgow International Festival of Visual Arts. What better time could there be to open your spanking new art venue than during the biggest art event on the city’s calendar?

The gallery has commissioned new site-specific works by artists Kilian Rüthemann and Kate V Robertson. Swiss born, Rüthemann makes interventionist work that alters the gallery’s fabric – chipping plaster off the walls to form a geometric shape, while leaving chippings in a pile on the floor; lifting a single floor board and propping it up at one end. That kind of thing.

Robertson makes sculptures that often seem bafflingly monumental, only to undermine their stature by being a bit pathetic, a bit weird or just outright fake. At Market Gallery in 2010 she exhibited what seemed to be a huge rock jammed between floor and ceiling. Impressively constructed, there was something nonetheless saddening – oddly desperate – about the sentiment of making what seemed to be a quarried rock out of aggregates and paint and then sticking it in the gallery.

Robertson will be showing recent glass works as well as a new video she’ll be projecting onto a screen made of ice, and depending on what time of day you visit the gallery the state of the ice will determine your experience of the art. As ever with Robertson, the materials she employs deliberately undermine our experience of the work, and the very fabric of her art is simultaneously its undoing.

[Andrew Cattanach] www.daviddalegallery.co.uk

Cut up culture Charlotte Prodger takes us to the edge ahead of her show at Intermedia Gallery later this month Interview: Andrew Cattanach cutting up of the trainers – because they share the constraints of structural films,” she says. “Long single takes – and the whole time you don’t see faces in them, mainly hands and bodies. Their identities are never revealed.”

This won’t be the first time Prodger has combined a high-art sensibility with the mores of a gay subculture. Back in 2010 she exhibited I was Confused About the Dancefloor Code – a 16mm film installation that tells the story of a friend’s first hand experience of the gay nightclub Berghain in Berlin.

“They went in and there were all these big bears and pounding techno,” Prodger tells of her friend’s experience. “It was a sunny day and there were blinds on the window and all the people were dancing facing the window rather than the DJ. Periodically, someone would climb up, tease open one of the slats and a shaft of sunlight would pierce the space and people would go mental when it happened, like some kind of pagan frenzy – arms in the air.”

The resulting artwork is ostensibly a text piece that tells the Berghain story one letter at a time, each letter lasting only one single frame. This makes the film near impossible to read and the viewer is forced to turn her back on the projection to decipher the words on the film strip as it passes through the projector.

“One of the things I feel like I’m working through in my art is my love-hate relationship with structural film,” Prodger explains. “I’m trying to recontextualise those forms by infusing them with queer subjectivity – or juxtaposing them with queer subjectivity.”

By using the particular modes of Structural Film, Prodger lets us explore the fringes of society with none of the sensationalism we have come to expect from such forays into the unknown. A rare insight into subcultures we would perhaps otherwise never encounter, Prodger’s work is a subtle, but no less empowering, celebration of the margins of society.

photo: Kendall Koppe

A Forest For The Neighbours 16mm film still, 2010

handclap/punchhole 16mm film/audio tape installation, 2011

photo: Nicolas Grenier

Most of you will know what it feels like to be passionate about trainers. You’ll remember the sought-after brands of your youth and recall the shame of falling out of sync with contemporary trends. The humiliation of owning a pair of humble, almost utilitarian, Hi-Tec Squash when all you want, and what everyone else seems to already have, is a pair of crisp, white Nike Air Max. For some, the adoration of sports footwear extends beyond the playground years, and since the 1980s, subcultures have evolved with an almost deistic regard for branded trainers. One only has to consider the heists on various outlets of the franchise Foot Locker during the UK riots of last year to comprehend the importance of sportswear for those on the fringes of our society.

Artist Charlotte Prodger has been exploring one such subculture, watching videos on YouTube of men cutting up pairs of trainers. “What they do is they buy brand new trainers, particular models that they fetishise – particular models that are classics – and cut them up,” Prodger explains. “Cut them into pieces, but very, very methodically, along the contours with a very sharp knife.”

The videos are not overtly sexual and only the comments posted below hint at their libidinal undertones: 'Show all the sweaty insoles together please!'; 'I really like your socks in this video… wish I could see more of them'; 'my weakness for adidas sambas... mmm, i wanna take them off your hot feet!'

Prodger will be showing one of these videos taken from YouTube in her exhibition at Intermedia Gallery later this month. She aims to draw comparisons between the footage of the slow, meticulous destruction of trainers with the 1960s artists’ movement known as Structural Film, whose proponents revolted against narrative and representation in film, largely abandoning storyline and plot.

“I think I’m interested in these videos – the

I’m trying to recontextualise those forms by infusing them with queer subjectivity Charlotte Prodger I Was Confused About The Dancefloor Code 16mm film installation, 2009

Courtesy greengrassi, London

Moyra Davey TRAMWAY, 20 APR – 7 MAY, FREE

Henry Coombes HOUSE FOR AN ART LOVER, 20 APR – 7 MAY, FREE

Film still from I Am The Architect, This Not Happening, This is Unacceptable, 2012

Les Goddesses, 2011_HD video with sound (video still)

Switching between autobiography and historical inquiry, the work of New York-based artist Moyra Davey was last seen in Glasgow at 2010’s Glasgow International Festival. Her film My Necropolis (2009) was screened at The Long Loch: How Do We Go On From Here? – a symposium held by artists Kate Davis and Faith Wilding on art in relation to a feminist heritage. The symposium identified a relationship between feminism and reading that creates an imagined community in which inspiration may be taken from conversations with the living and the dead.

This was an apt context for Davey’s film, which records her wandering Parisian cemeteries to visit the tombs of celebrated intellectuals. Intervening footage shows her family and friends pondering on the meaning of a cryptic letter written by philosopher Walter Benjamin, a long-time muse of Davey’s.

The muse is central to her work – a roll call of

historic persons of letters who act as a catalyst for her to weave together the characters of her inner and external worlds.

In her latest film Les Goddesses (2011) – screening at Tramway for GI 2012 – she recounts the lives of eighteenth-century writer and women’s rights advocate Mary Wollstonecraft and her daughters, whose nickname lends the film its title. As Davey narrates the tale, narrative associations begin to emerge between the characters and her own past – leading us to suspect that it is Davey who is the true subject.

With such a dense thicket of source material, it seems as though her work could easily have remained a research practice. But quoting others is not the sum total of Davey’s practice: rather – as one reviewer put it – she converts the sources into the lighting of the work. [Jac Mantle] www.tramway.org

Courtesy of the artist

PREVIEWS

Everyone knows we Brits have a mild obsession with social class. Though we congratulate ourselves that the class system is now eroding, artist Jeremy Deller recently starred in a BBC documentary entitled Middle Class Hero, in order to demonstrate that despite his privileged background, he’s actually pretty down-to-earth. It’s hard to imagine an artist of any other nationality doing the same.

London-born, Glasgow-based artist Henry Coombes is also concerned with class – but his attitude is a little more ironic. Using the oils and watercolours that have immortalised many a tweeded aristocracy, he picks away at the social veneer that rarefies both art and hunting. Scenes that on first glance seem cosily familiar – a decorative boon to any Highland lodge – are, on close inspection, dark and subversive texts.

His 2009 film The Bedfords features Sir Edwin Landseer, the nineteenth-century English artist famed for his romantic portraits of the stag, and for his unstable mental health. In Coombes’ film,

Landseer is beset by the notion that the Scottish wilderness could undo him. In a manner comparable with Nathaniel Mellors’ Ourhouse film series, an ongoing theme of Coombes’ work is the idea that entropy befalls even the most organised of systems.

Coombes’ new film, commissioned for GI Festival, follows a six-month residency at House for an Art Lover and responds directly to the history of the House and Bellahouston Park. Alongside the film, paintings and drawings act as both a means of research and as animated landscapes for the film. Titled I Am The Architect, This Is Not Happening, This Is Unacceptable, the film aims to create a moving painting wherein narratives create tense interplays in time, in reinvented worlds staged within real situations. Quite what this means remains a secret, but if Coombes’ previous works are anything to go by, we’re in for an absurdly grotesque, darkly funny treat. [Jac Mantle] www.houseforanartlover.co.uk

April 2012

THE SKINNY 11

MUSIC

MALCOLM MIDDLETON explains the premise behind his HUMAN DON’T BE ANGRY alter-ego and the lengths he’ll go to have a bit of fun INTERVIEW: CHRIS BUCKLE PHOTO: EOIN CAREY

IN THE early 1900s, German clerk Josef Friedrich Schmidt made a fortune flogging his take on a game best known on these shores as Frustration.

He christened his version Mensch ärgere dich nicht – which translates roughly (depending on who you ask/where you Google) as ‘Man, do not get bothered’, ‘Don’t get annoyed, buddy’, or, indeed, ‘Human, don’t be angry’.

“When I heard that the first time I thought it was a funny name for a board game, and then I thought, ‘it’s as shit as any other band name.’

So I took it,” says Malcolm Middleton of his new moniker. “I was asked to play the Fence Away Game on the isle of Eigg a couple of years ago, and I said I’d do it as long as I was under a different name. I had two months in which I wrote most of the songs that are on the album, in a creative burst of enthusiasm that seemed to come from not having to write ‘Malcolm Middleton’ songs.”

Using a loop pedal, he built up largely instrumental, atmosphere-heavy sprawls, gradually defining Human Don’t Be Angry’s less song-based aesthetic. The Skinny asks if it’s important to him that listeners make the distinction between his previous solo albums and this new guise. “Not really. I do think some people will just say it sounds like me but with less words. But I’d still rather some distinction was there, that it’s not just viewed as this miserabilist record by some guy who’s written those sorts of songs in the past. I think this is a lot lighter.” Was he aiming for a lighter mood? “I didn’t consciously think about it, but now I kind of regret that I didn’t make the album completely instrumental. My favourite songs on [the album] are the happier, upbeat ones,” he reflects, “and I’m aware that the ones with lyrics do tend to fall back in line with what I’ve been doing in the past.”

Of those ‘happier, upbeat’ tracks, the playful 1985 stands out, with twinkly glockenspiel and smooth guitar atop Penguin Café Orchestra-style wordless prettiness. “That one was originally called ‘Shit Summer’ – not because it was a shit summer in 1985, just because it reminded me of a summertime tune, with a bit of a downward slant to it. But

12 THE SKINNY APRIL 2012

then I thought that was too negative a title.” If he was aiming to avoid negativity, how did the album’s last track, Getting Better (At Feeling Like Shit), end up with such pessimistic parenthesis? “That’s the big faux-pas of the record,” Middleton sighs. “That kind of gives it away that it’s a Malcolm Middleton album I think. I wish I’d just called it Getting Better… If people still use the ‘miserabilist’ tag for this record, it’s my own fault for calling the song that.”

The less lyrics and singing for me just now, the better MALCOLM MIDDLETON

Middleton has previously described Human Don’t Be Angry as “a facade, a front so I can have fun again musically.” Has it worked – is he having fun? “Yeah, completely,” he enthuses. “I did the first band show for this record a couple of weeks ago and really enjoyed it. There’s a different dynamic being in a band with other people playing along. The policy was not to just rehearse songs; the band can learn the songs, figure out what to do, then change it. I’m not stuck on structures, so I think saying that to people from the start has made them relax and realise that they’re not just session guys. Songs are changing already. It can get a bit noodly, or more dynamic. So yeah, I’m definitely having fun. I enjoy just playing guitar – the less lyrics and singing for me just now, the better.”

Why does he shy away from that? “I’ll be honest: it’s writer’s block. In the background from

doing this I’ve got maybe seven or eight songs written for my next solo record which are coming slowly. I’m trying not to force it, because I find that when I do I end up writing a caricature of what I’ve been doing before, and I’m determined not to do that. Of course, I will sometimes, because I can’t change my past experiences and my current personality, so I’m still going to write songs in a certain way, but right now there’s nothing I can say about anything that’s coming out in songs…

When they come, they come, but I don’t want to rush it, and I don’t want to repeat myself.” Human Don’t Be Angry, it seems, has been the perfect tonic. “This album was easy to make – it wasn’t a struggle because I didn’t have any expectations,” he says. “I just thought ‘fuck it, I’ll try this’.”

Recorded at Chem19 with studio-boss and ex-Delgado Paul Savage, another familiar friend was also on hand when recording the album. “I did all the music, Paul produced and did all the digital drum programming, and Aidan Moffat did live drums,” Middleton explains. “My original idea was really simple and I thought I’d record it in a week – have it an hour long, almost completely ambient from start to finish with songs bubbling out of noise then fading away. I thought that would be great – I even thought it should be a double album at one point. Then I realised that, personally, I wouldn’t put that on; I’d maybe like to hear it for a short time, but I’d never play the album twice. It wasn’t until Paul started doing the drums and stuff that I realised the album should be shorter and not over-indulgent, which is what it was going to be.”

The shift in approach meant some material was shunted off the tracklist, onto an EP due later in the year. “The album was initially going to be called Midnight Noodles, which was one of the first songs that I wrote; ten minutes long, with three or four guitars and background noises and wanky solos. It initially was on the album but then I let a few people hear it, and they were like, ‘well it’s good but I don’t know…’ And even I was listening to it and thinking, ‘I’m going to skip this song every time that I get to it now.’” You’re not exactly selling

the EP… “The EP’s great!” Middleton laughs. “It’s four brilliant songs, plus a long ten minute one at the end. I don’t know, I’m quite impatient with music. I like pop songs, short things…”

Speaking of short things, did Middleton enjoy the all-too-brief Arab Strap reunion? “I loved it, I thought it was great,” he smiles. “I think Aidan talked me into it because I wasn’t that keen at first.

We’ve always thought we’d do something else at some point, but neither of us are interested in doing it now. We should wait until we’re ready – or until he gets chucked again…”

A single rehearsal the afternoon before the gig was all it took to reawaken dormant dynamics.

“It all came back really easy. I must look different when I’m onstage with Aidan, because I can relax, whereas when I’m onstage myself, playing my own songs, I can’t.” Did it feel peculiar revisiting the old material? “Not for me – I don’t know, maybe Aidan was in pain while he was singing about his old girlfriend, but for me it was fine.”

Does the same go for solo shows; is it possible to divorce less-than-cheery songs from the context in which they were written? “It’s weird – you can certainly put a wall up, but then you feel like you’re out singing that song every night and people think that’s what you think now. You just want to go, ‘naw, I’m alright.’”

With the benefit of hindsight, does Middleton ever look back at earlier songs and compare new with old? “Not really,” he shrugs. “In my head, the best thing I’ve ever done was Brighter Beat, but I like Into the Woods because it’s such a funny record. But I don’t listen to those records now and compare them – I’m sure if I did sometimes I’d think ‘oh, I can’t do anything as good as that again.’

But other times,” he adds, in typically self-critical fashion, “I’d think ‘that is shit, was that really released?’” There’s just no pleasing some people.

HUMAN DON’T BE ANGRY IS RELEASED VIA CHEMIKAL UNDERGROUND ON 16 APR. PLAYING GLASGOW’S MONORAIL RECORDS TO CELEBRATE RECORD STORE DAY ON 21 APR, GLASGOW KING TUTS ON 14 JUN AND EDINBURGH ELECTRIC CIRCUS ON 15 JUN WWW.MALCOLMMIDDLETON.CO.UK

Know when to unplug. Please drink Jack Daniel’s responsibly.

Copyright © 2012 JACK DANIEL’S. All rights reserved. JACK DANIEL’s and OLD NO. 7 are registered trademarks

CLUBS

The Sub Club: 25 Years

This year the Sub Club celebrates its silver anniversary, wedded to Glasgow’s rich heritage of underground club music. As the Subby turns 25, The Skinny speaks to the individuals who embody its past, present and future Words: Ray Philp and Kat Young

The Sub Club turns 25-years-old this month, and though the Jamaica Street basement is but four crimson walls and a set of speakers, its continued existence – precarious and itinerant as it has sometimes been over the last quarter century – has been a mirror to electronic music’s adolescence and new-found adulthood in Scotland and, indeed, far beyond these borders. Before ‘the Subby’, as most of the locals know it, settled into its Jamaica Street nest in 1987, its founding residents were in thrall to a seismic shift in Glasgow. Dropped amid a stew of genres that predated house music (“early hip-hop, electro, reggae, soul, Northern soul, New Order, stuff like that,” as James Harrigan, better known as Harri and now one-half of weekly residency Subculture, describes it), ecstasy had arrived in Glasgow, a catalyst that ripened the city’s appetite for club culture – and the embryonic sounds of house music – quite literally.

14 THE SKINNY April 2012

Becoming housebound “A new night called UFO [at which Harri was a resident alongside Hacienda’s John Da Silva, Adrian Rennie and Funk D’Void] which was in Tin Pan Alley… really kicked off because ecstasy had just hit Glasgow big time, and that place was just bananas, that was just amazing. They were serving up fresh fruit slices and everybody was off their tits, and the whole place was just mental.”

Some time afterwards in 1990, Harri had been invited to launch Atlantis at the Sub Club with Stuart [MacMillan, one half of legendary techno duo Slam], an initially middling night that, thanks to the Stone Roses, soon rose to prominence.

“Stuart and myself got asked to do the Stone Roses, they were doing this thing at Glasgow Green. To be honest, neither of us had heard of the Stone Roses but everyone was like ‘this is going to be massive, this band is massive.’

You’re no longer a human being, you’re just the club, like an inanimate object Barry Price

“Atlantis had had five to six weeks of 200 people in, but after the Stone Roses gig it was queued around the block for four years.”

By the mid 90s the Sub Club’s contemporary nucleus had begun to take shape. Domenic Capello became a resident in 1993, joining Harri soon after to start Subculture after Atlantis was wound-up the following year; Optimo (Espacio) launched in 1997, redressing a balance that had started to tip towards house and techno.

And then suddenly, in 1999, the music stopped.

A fire in the neighbouring building had caused enough damage to wipe the Sub Club dancefloor of bodies for three years. In the interim, the Sub Club staff found themselves hosting nights at Planet Peach (of which Sub Club director Paul Crawford says: “The name says it all. It actually had peach shaped tables, and when I asked the guy that owned the place why, he said it’s because it looks like a woman’s arse. So that gives you a kind of idea what the place was like.”), and later in Mas, by which point Crawford had become exhausted by promises that the club would reopen “in a few months”. In addition, the death of former Sub Club owner Kenny MacCrimmon complicated a proposed buyout involving Crawford and Mike Grieve, now also a director at the Sub Club. The club eventually reopened in late 2002, but not before things had reached breaking point.

“I think Mike and I had about four nervous breakdowns, went to the point of absolutely killing each other, and everyone else that we knew at the time. But we managed to get there. I think it was probably about 20 times that both of us thought that ‘this is never going to happen’. But we persevered, with sheer determination, because so many obstacles came up. Both of us had such a belief in what we were doing, and a drive to make the club a million times better than it had been previously.”

Such patience, a virtue that seems rather lost on countless other nightclubs, and perhaps electronic music in general, is emblematic of how the Sub Club had come to survive such a profound existential funk. Keith McIvor, better known as JD Twitch and one half of Optimo, attributes this patience to the very existence of the storied Optimo, a weekly club night that ran every Sunday, without interruption, for 12 years.

“Optimo wasn’t successful when it started. It took a long time, a couple years, before people really started getting it.

“Most other clubs would’ve booted you out by then because you weren’t getting the numbers in.

I think the Sub Club have a very, very long term view. Another thing that’s important about why Subculture and Optimo lasted so long, is because although lots of great guests played, fundamentally both nights were based around residents. If you have a night where the residents are the focus, it gives the clubs an identity.

“There are lots of clubs where they have great guests and a great warm-up DJ, but they never really get their personality across because it's different every time, because the guest is a dominant part of the night.”

The phoenix descends As motivational missives go, “work like fuck” is as direct and to-the-point as you would expect of a club that reflects Glasgow’s unpretentious, matter-of-fact way. As if to further emphasise the

point, Barry Price, a director at the Sub Club since 2008, is at something of a loss to expand beyond a hard and fast rule that he cites as central to the club’s longevity.

“I’m trying to think of something monumental but, just work like fuck. Work all the time is basically what we do. It’s constant and non-stop.

You’re no longer a human being, you’re just the club, like an inanimate object.

“Basically,” adds Price, “work hard.”

Beyond the stock answers (“I hate saying these things without sounding really cheesy, but so many clubs come and go and look for the quick buck or follow a certain trend”), Price’s outline of the Sub Club’s general strategy for selecting guests is refreshingly free of self-mythologising, Svengaliesque sophistry.

“You put on someone like Maya Jane Coles or Julio Bashmore, then you’re going to get a lot of people coming down because they’re kind of hypey guests and you need to get these guys in, first of all because they’re interesting guys in the scene.

But you always have to keep your eye on the trends now; it doesn’t mean you follow a bandwagon or whatever, but if somebody fits into the remit of what you’re interested in and you’re excited to hear them, then that’s why you book them.”

It’s telling, though, that the youngest of the Sub Club’s current staff, 23-year-old press and digital manager Chris Duncan, is most in thrall of one of the most established heads on the roster, Domenic Capello.

“Quite recently, Domenic’s last half hour at the night with Ralph Lawson (20:20 Vision vs Subculture in February) [has been one of my favourite moments]. [Domenic] came on after [Lawson] – I know the two of them have a one-upmanship when they play – and then Domenic came on and just absolutely wiped the floor with him, and I found that really entertaining.”

Otherwise, Duncan shares Price’s outlook on striking a balance between booking artists du jour and DJs who have previous with the club. Of the degree to which the Sub Club reflects the wider UK soundscape, Duncan references artists like Nicolas Jaar and Julio Bashmore, but is just as aware of the club’s lineage as anyone.

“We’ve been going for 25 years so we have relationships with certain artists from way back like Lil Louis and Andrew Weatherall, those are two names that go right back. While they’re not producing new albums just now, they’re still relevant to the club because they are the ones who influence a lot of the other artists we see and they’re ingrained in our history.”

Optimo’s prime “It was the build-up to it,” says McIvor, breathlessly recalling Optimo’s final night in April 2010, ‘Optimogeddon’, “because we announced about eight weeks before that we were gonna stop doing the weekly night, and there was this just kind of mania, that kind of build-up and the last eight weeks…it was just insane. Everyone that had ever been that was able to go had wanted to go and people had started queueing from lunch time.

“We put up this sign saying ‘please don’t queue’,

and me and Jonnie [Wilkes, aka JG Wilkes] arrived to set up, and just as we arrived there, a bar next to the Sub Club called The Crystal Palace was packed with everyone who was waiting to start queueing. Someone must have said ‘right, I’m going to start queueing’, and the whole pub was just running up the street and there was this queue, the most enormous queue I’ve ever seen outside the Sub Club in my life. We were pretty overwhelmed.”

Glasgow has changed in the two years since, however incrementally: of late, dubstep and so-called ‘UK bass music’ have become conspicuous tenants in a city that, until recently, has always been quicker to embrace European and American influences. That said, this month’s Optimo 2.0, an official return of sorts to their seminal residency, arrives not in a vacuum or a sepia-toned nostalgia trip, but rather with a renewed hunger to return to a city close to the duo’s hearts.

“Something we always get asked at every interview, is like ‘Where’s the best place to play?’ and people say something like ‘New York’. The best place to play is in Scotland, maybe Ireland as well. There’s something about those peoples when they go for a night out, they just give it everything and we get the best atmosphere, and we really miss playing at home.

“What brought it back home was this old friend of mine posted on our bulletin board: ‘When are you guys gonna start doing something in Glasgow? It’s actually easier for me to go to London to see you play together’, which is faintly ridiculous.

“We felt like the time was right to do a handful [of nights] which would be like five or six things over the course of the year, and it also felt right not to do it on the Sundays, for it to be something a little bit different.

“It’ll still be Optimo, but it won't be us doing exactly what we were doing then.”

And indeed, it’s a maxim by which the Sub Club itself also seems to operate, one of evolution rather than revolution; one which long-standing nights such as Subculture and Optimo are perhaps best placed to take forward into the lost nights, half-remembered months and ultimately unforgettable years to come.

Electric Cables Lightships is the new project from Teenage Fanclub’s Gerard Love LP | CD | DL | 02.04.12

GEOGRAPHIC lightships.tumblr.com dominorecordco.com

The Sub Club celebrates its 25th birthday with a special selection of shows over the next five weeks. 25 Years of Sub Club Series Subculture presents: 25 Years of Sub Club with Harri & Domenic, Sat 31 Mar I AM present Blawan, Fri 3 Apr Optimo, Fri 6 Apr Subculture present Dixon, Harri & Domenic, Sat 7 Apr Subculture present Omar S, Harri & Domenic, Sat 14 Apr Sensu presents Seth Troxler, Fri 20 Apr Subculture’s Record Store Day with Harri & D omenic, Junior, Esa & Telford, Sat 21 Apr Subculture presents Matthew Dear, Andrew Weatherall, Harri & Domenic, Sat 28 Apr Sensu presents Magda & Mike Servito, Fri 4 May Subculture presents Carl Craig 69 Live, Sat 5 May www.subclub.co.uk

April 2012

THE SKINNY 15

IT DOESN’T SUCK TO BE YOU THIS MAY AT THE KING’S Telephone bookings 0844 871 7648* www.atgtickets.com/glasgow* *booking charges apply

16 THE SKINNY APRIL 2012

MUSIC

Russian Circles vs Pelican:

The Brave and the Bold Two of Chicago’s finest ‘post-metal’ heavyweights sit down to tell us lies about Brian May Interview: Ryan Drever and Benny Blanco Illustration: Paul Smith

Pelican and Russian Circles not only share a talent for creating densely atmospheric and crushingly heavy instrumental records, but both bands also hail from the mecca of experimental rock that is the Windy City. To capitalise on their respective excursions to Stereo this month, we got them in a room to shoot the proverbial over a range of questions plucked from a hat.

Belying the moody ambience of their records, the resulting ‘interview’ consists mainly of cheap jokes and mass laughter, with the occasional broken glass and at least one audible fart. Occasionally, though, they break away from the madness to talk about the city’s rich musical heritage, being in a band without a singer, and voice support for Howard Stern’s fictitious presidential campaign.

Disclaimer: Shit gets silly...

I thought Howard Stern was Brian May for a long time...

Mike Sullivan

Q. What do you think about adding ‘post’ in front of a genre – does that make it cooler?

All: No! Mike Sullivan (Guitar, Russian Circles): Maybe it’s more confusing. I mean, nobody starts out saying ‘I wanna be in a post-punk band’, what the fuck does that even mean?

Trevor De Brauw (Guitar, Pelican): When music critics started using the term ‘Post’ and prefixing it to musical genres it specifically meant that the music was a response to the genre that it’s ‘post-ing’.

Brian Cook (Bass, Russian Circles): I think it just means you ran out of ideas...

Trevor: Really? What about all the fuckin’ postpunk bands? They‘re arguably more creative than the first wave of punk.

Brian C: I’m not saying that ‘post’ bands are less creative; I think it implies that everything has reached a dead end musically and it’s just

like regurgitating ideas. It’s not a whole new movement.

Q. On that note, what are your thoughts on labels such as ‘post-rock’, ‘post-metal’ and curiously, ‘post-instrumental’ that are often associated with your own music? Fair enough or a little restricting?

Trevor: Well, I think that when you’re in a band, that type of stuff is totally unimportant, whereas for somebody who is listening to music and trying to categorise it and make sense of different bands and how they relate to one another... there can be harm in it.

Mike: It used to be that five years ago you’d hear the word ‘post-rock’ and one of the first bands you’d think of would be Tortoise or múm. And that was cool because it was more jazz influenced and more ambient, but now post-rock has adopted washes of delay and that Explosions in the Sky tempo. Those bands are fine, but each year post-rock becomes more and more whittled down to traditional rock instruments played with delay pedals. It’s no longer post-rock, it’s becoming less and less experimental. It’s more and more like, ‘boring rock’. ‘Post-boring rock’ Trevor: So if I understand what you’re saying, what we’re doing to post-rock, our bands with our delay pedals is essentially what happened to emo?

People came in, watered it down and ruined it.

Dave Turncrantz (Drums, Russian Circles): So are we like the Bright Eyes of fuckin’ instrumental music?

Trevor: I was thinking more like Good Charlotte...

Dave: ...I’d say we’re more like the punk ska of post-rock.

Q. What’s the greatest pay-off from being in a rock band without a vocalist?

Mike: More blow to go around. That’s the first one.

Trevor: You don’t have to worry about the monitor mix feeding back as much.

Mike: Yeah, you can play louder!

Brian Herweg (Bass, Pelican): There’s not some guy running about on stage, bumping into you.

Mike: Yeah, no one can step on your pedals by accident.

Trevor: You probably don’t have to compete with the vocals in the mix, like your riffs will be heard.

I’m sure you care about that.

Mike: Yeah, riffs gotta be heard.

Brian C: That’s definitely a frustrating thing, I feel like every sound guy is trained to lift the vocals.

Like any kind of loud music, you definitely don’t want the vocals in the forefront. I’ve heard so

many fuckin’ awful mixes where it’s some guy yelling and that’s all you can hear coming from the PA. Dave: We also don’t have to worry about somebody losing their voice.

Mike: ...better chance of getting a blow job, falls in line with the coke thing.

Q. What do you think about the near-constant stream of heritage act reunions in recent times – At the Drive-in, fIREHOSE, Refused and Afghan Whigs are all on the road this summer – have any of them got you excited?

Mike: At the Drive-In? I love how they came out and said it’s pretty much for the money. ‘Don’t kid yourselves motherfuckers, there’s no record. We’re here to play and take some money.’

Dave: How much do you think they’re getting?

Mike: Over a thousand, probably.

[Everyone laughs] Mike: Easily twelve hundred, but including rider shit.

Dave: Are Refused back together, or are they just playing reunion shows?

Trevor: Right now it’s just reunion shows.

Mike: I saw the other day that they’re playing a DIY show. I fuckin’ love Refused but I’m not gonna lie, I was super fucking disappointed when they announced they were reuniting only to play Bonnaroo and Coachella. I was like ‘dudes, there’s tasteful ways to do this.’ I’m glad to see them doing the small club shows.

Q. Top five Chicago bands/artists of all time?

It would be great if you could all contribute with this one.

Mike: Brian, you’re slackin’. So you pick ten.

Dave: Yeah, pick mine too. Why don’t we just go around and ask everyone for a Chicago band that they like...

Trevor: Screeching Weasel.

Brian C: Woman hater...

Trevor: What?

Dave: Yeah, he hits women. [Referring to vocalist Ben Weasel who punched a female audience member and club owner at a show following an altercation at SXSW last year] Trevor: I haven’t hit anybody, I’m very pacifist.

Brian C: My number one answer is Chicago.

Trevor: The band? They’re ok.

Brian C: Yeah Peter Cetera-era only though.

Dave: I’m gonna say 90 Day Men. Mike: 90 Day Men are good. Not the best, though...

Trevor: You’re on record, man. You really wanna say that?

Mike: I’d say Smashing Pumpkins but no one

knows who they are. The singer from Ministry? Uh, I’ll take an obvious choice and say Shellac. And Tortoise.

Trevor: Speaking of reunions, what’s up with Ministry doing a reunion three years after they broke up? That’s the real question...

Dave: Money!

Are we like the Bright Eyes of fuckin’ instrumental music?

Dave Turncrantz

Q. If you could back anyone to run for president, who would it be and why? Dead or alive, actor or musician – you decide...

Mike: I’d say Howard Stern because I once heard he tried to run for office in New York and his goal was to make sure that construction on state roads only took place at night. Anyway, I thought Howard Stern was Brian May for a long time....

[The whole gang cracks up, again] Brian C: Let’s talk about how Brian May built his own guitar.

Mike: Let’s all tell one neat factoid about Brian May. Trevor: He bought the world’s first patented jet pack.

Everyone: Really?

Trevor: I assume so.

Dave: He’s an astro-physicist, he has a PhD...

[This continues for some time amid ear-piercing laughter before the question is read out again and ‘decide’ is jokingly mispronounced as notorious anti-Christian death metal legends ‘Deicide’, infamous for vocalist Glen Benton’s inverted crucifix scar on his forehead] Mike: Glenn Benton for president!

Pelican play Glasgow Stereo on 10 Apr; their Ataraxia/ Taraxis EP is released via Southern Lord on 9 Apr Russian Circles play Glasgow Stereo on 25 Apr pelican.bandcamp.com www.russiancirclesband.com

April 2012

THE SKINNY 17

TECH

WIRED up FOR THE SCIENCE FESTIVAL Of all the sciences, my personal favourite has got to be weird science. I mean, circuits and evolution are great and all, but Kelly LeBrock definitely tops all of it. But failing a surprise appearance this year, the Edinburgh Science Festival will have to make do with all the other good stuff science has to offer, which, technically, is everything.

For those who do, there are a slew of hands-on, make-your-own electronics workshops, robots and paleontology events to sign up for, with Edinburgh’s own HackLab letting attendees make their own kinetic sculptures out of motors and your own crafts. Digital also gets a nod with the

Bafta Game Designers Workshop, where future game developers will learn the amazing craft of big-name brands stomping all over your creativity making interactive come to life. No coding skills required, just a good head for what makes games fun and what keeps people playing.

Those with a more artistic approach can head out to the Anatomy Drawing Day to get a feel for the architecture under the skin, and those who want to see it in action can try out The Dancing Brain, where why you dance is even more important (and likely more embarrassing).

For those who’d rather watch, there are

Illustrations: Kyle Smart

screenings of new classics like A Scanner Darkly, talks about computer animation and the bleeding edge of imaging technology, and a healthy dose of Scotland’s contribution to sci-fi, good monster stories, and the very best of the Enlightenment at the Edinburgh Enlightenment Exchange (E2).

Suffice it to say, it’s a lot this year (and I haven’t even gotten to Derren Brown), and your best bet is to grab tickets online, by phone, or at the box office, or you’ll be stuck having to invent something brilliant and show it off next year.

[Alexander Cole]

Comedy

Food

Robin Ince and Matt Parker are coming to Edinburgh to prove that science isn’t just fun; it’s hilarious

Where the taste odf food is only the start of your sensory culinary expedition

interview: Bernard O’Leary

Words: Peter Simpson

Comedy has long had a nerdy side, but in recent years there’s been an explosion in humour with a strong scientific flavour. At the forefront of this movement are two shows that will be represented at the Edinburgh International Science Festival: Uncaged Monkeys, where Robin Ince leads the likes of Brian Cox and Ben Goldacre; and The Festival of The Spoken Nerd, which includes mathematician comedian Matt Parker and Blue Peter’s science guy, Steve Mould. The popularity of these shows must be baffling to those who don’t find quantum mechanics intrinsically hilarious.

Robin Ince will be appearing as part of the Humour Me show where, along with evolutionary biologist Robin Dunbar and psychologist Richard Wiseman, he’ll be delving into the mysteries of why people laugh. “We’re going to try and tackle quite complex issues in a way that’s fun and accessible,” says Ince. “There are some interesting issues but ultimately, with humour, if you analyse it too much it stops being funny.”

Matt Parker, who will be performing via the very 21st century medium of Skype, says, “The great thing about comedy is that you’re allowed to talk about anything as long as you make it entertaining.

So my strategy is to talk about maths but using the techniques of stand-up comedy to make it entertaining for the audience.”

Ince also agrees that science is a perfect medium for comedy. “All comedy comes from some kind of shared experience. Observational

comedy only works if the audience knows what you’re talking about. It’s the same with science, and if people just feel the same kind of joy that I feel, then it can be wonderful.”

While in Edinburgh, Ince will also perform his 2011 Fringe show Happiness Through Science. It’s a kind of postscript to The God Delusion, looking at how science doesn’t just offer dry answers but can provide real hope, joy and hilarity. “The point of that show is to leave the audience with the same kind of passion for science that I feel. It doesn’t offer any enormous answers but it’s hopefully a springboard into people getting interested in quantum physics, human genome mapping and the like. These things are wonderful.

“Comedy can be very cynical so I love it when a show is about something positive. Whether it’s me with science or my friend Josie Long talking about politics, you can really connect with an audience when you’re passionate about something. The only drawback with this is that when someone says, ‘I don’t agree with what you said’, you can’t just shrug and say, ‘it’s only a joke mate’. You have to say, ‘that’s a pity, because I really believe that’.”

It seems that passion is the common denominator between these ‘boffin comics’ (as some folk call them). And audiences around the country would agree that when they let rip on a topic about which they care deeply, the results are pretty funny. Science can definitely contribute to comedy, but what about the other way around?

Can comedy contribute to science?

“I can’t think of any scientific ideas that were advanced by comedy,” says Parker, “but a few bad ideas have been pulled apart by it. If a homeopath claims they can dilute dolphin sonar and put it in a pill to treat illnesses, that is probably better discussed from a comedy stage than wasting proper scientific discourse on it.

“That said, the best use for comedy in science is as a celebration of knowledge and geekiness.

Humankind’s achievements through science are incredible and what better place to celebrate than in a comedy club?”

A valid hypothesis if ever there was one.

Humour Me: The Jam House, 11 Apr, 8pm, £10/£8 Festival Of The Spoken Nerd, The Jam House, 12 Apr, 8pm. £10/£8 Happiness Through Science, The Stand, 11 Apr, 5.30pm, £7

18 THE SKINNY April 2012

Science and food have long enjoyed a close relationship, from Ivan Pavlov breaking from his important work of starving dogs to knock up a quick meringue-based desert, to fast-food giants using the power of science to turn mysterious pink goo into cheeseburgers. This year’s Science Festival line-up sadly omits both baking and industrial sandwich production, but still has plenty to offer for those of you who like your food with a scientific bent.

Calories and Corsets kicks things off to remind everyone that our obsession with eating right isn’t actually our obsession at all. Turns out that the Greeks and Romans were heavily into their crash dieting as well, as historian Louise Foxcroft and Alex Renton, food writer at The Times, will tell you. Learn about how and why we started caring about what we eat, and whether the Roman Empire would have ended up differently had they discovered Atkins.

Half-past-eight on a Saturday morning is a bit of an ask for anyone, but The Forager’s Breakfast should be well worth setting the alarm for. Foraging expert Miles Irving and ‘professional friend of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’ John Wright know a fair bit about finding wild food, and they’ll lead you around the Royal Botanic Gardens to hunt out some of the nicer stuff, as well as pointing out how to make the best use of the food growing around you. That’s followed by a wild food breakfast back in the Gardens’ restaurant accompanied by a talk that should keep your body from reminding you of the time.

“Of life’s many joys, the pleasure of the table and the delights of the boudoir are without question what make life worth living,” says author Mark Douglas Hill. Quite. He’s joined by nutrition scientist Dr Alexandra Johnstone in 'Aphrodesiac Canape and Cocktails Reception: Scientist At Your Table' to illuminate us on the wide world of aphrodisiacs over the course of an evening of cocktails and canapes. Learn whether they work or not, how they were discovered, and if the magical properties of asparagus have been greatly overstated.

Whisky Wisdom does what it says in the title, and there’s few people that know more about the national drink than Glenmorangie’s Head of Whisky Creation (best job title ever) Dr Bill Lumsden. He’ll lead you through the world of whisky, from the

making to the tasting and, of course, the talking.

Learn the correct faces to pull and strained comparisons to make over tastings of a range of whiskies.

Sensory Dining may sound like the name of a hip new band you should know about, but its actually the highlight of the Science Festival’s food programme. Comedian and kids’ TV science expert Steve Mould hosts a five course meal designed to bombard your senses, in the nicest possible way.

With the help of a linguist, a ‘scent technician’, and two professors, Steve will present an array of flavours, sights, odours and textures to ensure 'you’ll never look at dinner the same way again'.

Unsure whether that’s a threat or a promise? As with all scientific discoveries, there’s only one way to find out.

Calories and Corsets, Mon 2 Apr, 8pm, Ghillie Dhu, £10/8 The Forager’s Breakfast Sat 7 Apr, 8.30am, Royal Botanic Garden, £16 Aphrodesiac Canape and Cocktails Reception: Scientist At Your Table, Sun 8 Apr, 7pm, Royal Botanic Garden, £20 Whiskey Wisdom, Tue 11Apr, 5.30pm, The Jam House., £15/£12 Sensory Dining, Tue 11 Apr, 8pm, The Jam House, £35

Mad Padraic kills for a cause.

But his cat will be the death of him.

movies The Future Human Strand presents a season of films that question what it is to be human Words: Jamie Dunn

Motion pictures have a lot to answer for.

They lie to us, to contradict Godard, at 24 frames a second. Think of all the poor kids who put themselves through archaeology school only to find that there’s no whip, fedora or kooky sidekick handed out with their degree. All you get is a tiny brush that you’re going to use for laboriously uncovering artifacts that have no capacity to melt Nazis. The nerd doesn’t get the girl, the underdog rarely wins and it is never – now remember this one, cos it might come up – I repeat, never, the red wire.

One genre that doesn’t deceive us, at least not in the long term, is the sci-fi movie; give science long enough and it will take ideas that were once fantasy – space travel, cordless communication devices, public transport that doesn’t smell of urine – and turn them into reality. (Okay, the poindexters are still struggling with that last one.)

Looking at the dystopian nightmares on offer in this month’s Edinburgh International Science Festival’s Future Human strand, however, you might wish this wasn’t the case.

Future Human asks, what it is to be human? “A lot of people are interested in the way in which science is transforming our self understanding as human beings,” says Steve Fuller, professor of sociology at Warwick University, whose book, Humanity 2.0, was an inspiration for the Future Human series. “I think at this point in history we’re sort of at a crossroads about what the future of humanity is going to be.” The films in the EISF programme present an array of possibilities: 13 April Re-programed Human (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 3.15pm): Don’t let that messy breakup get you down, have all traces of your ex wiped from your memory forever. The process is a bit like dry-cleaning, only for your brain.

Created Human (Frankenstein, 6.15pm): By stitching together snatched body parts from the recently deceased, mad scientist Dr Frankenstein fashions a monster who’s more human than he is.

Cyber Human (RoboCop, 8.45pm): The half dead body of a police officer gunned down on patrol is used to create a cybernetic law enforcer. Is the resulting RoboCop simply metal and computer programing?

14 April Designed Human (Gattaca, 3.15pm): Andrew Niccol’s film imagines a future where babies are designed by geneticists to be disease-free, without flaws. Where does that leave those children born the old fashioned way?

Rented Human (Transfer, 6.15pm): Damir Lukacevic’s film explores the idea of body exploitation, set in a future where the poor can sublet their bodies and minds to the highest bidder.

Gaming Human (eXistenZ, 8.45pm): From the twisted mind of David Cronenberg, this is a dark future where virtual reality-junkies live life in hallucinatory games using a techno-biological pod that plugs into a vaginal socket on their spinal column.

20 April – 12 May 2012 BOX OFFICE: 0131 248 4848 GROUPS 8+: 0131 248 4949 TEXT RELAY: 18001 0131 248 4848 MOBILE: m.lyceum.org.uk ONLINE: www.lyceum.org.uk/inishmore TWITTER: #inishmore Royal Lyceum Theatre is a Registered Company No. SC062065.

Scottish Charity Registered SC010509.

15 April Stoned Human (A Scanner Darkly, 3.15pm): If reality is too boring or stressful for you there’s always mind altering drugs to make you feel more alive. The mysterious Substance D is the narcotic of choice in Richard Linklater’s trippy Phillip K Dick adaptation.

Mutated Human (Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, 6.10pm): This 1931 film based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic morality tale suggests there’s a monster inside all of us, we just need the right cocktail of chemicals to release it.

Grown Human (Splice, 8.45pm): A scientist couple accidentally grow a humanoid by blending human and amphibian DNA. The resulting creature is sexy. And bitey. But is it human?

All pretty terrifying, right? The expert is a bit more sanguine about humanity’s relationship to science. “Usually with the premise of these films there’s a sense in which what one is trying to do is rather good in principle but in practice it turns out to have all kinds of disastrous consequences,” suggests Fuller. “I think one of the things that these films do is, in a way, sensitise people; not to necessarily be against these technological innovations, but to be aware that there are some negative consequences and one has to be prepared to deal with them.”

Professor Steve Fuller joins ethicist Andy Miah and sci-fi writers Ken MacLeod and Justina Robson to discuss the themes of the Future Human strand on 13 Apr for panel discussion Human 2.0 Find more details about the films and events in the Future Human strand on EISF’s website www.sciencefestival.co.uk

April 2012

THE SKINNY 19

MUSIC

FIRST LISTEN:

BLUNDERBUSS With his first solo album under his arm, JACK WHITE holds council with the mayor of Lambeth in a bizarre night at London County Hall WORDS: FINBARR BERMINGHAM

20 THE SKINNY APRIL 2012

THE DEBATING chamber of London County Hall is a stately affair, tucked away amid the marble hallways and royal blue rope barriers, and decked out with hardwood pews, an imposing lectern and Georgian-era watercolours. It’s a strange place for Jack White to launch his rambunctious, southern fried new album, Blunderbuss, which is played in its duration to the darkened theatre, with a big screen showing the record spinning in real time.

The respectfully quiet gaggle of journalists, strategically subdued by the aqua blue Blunderbuss cocktails doled out beforehand (Jack Daniels, blue curacao, lemonade) listen attentively, squinting at their lyric books, impossible to decipher in the low light. Strange, and not very practical.

Things take a further turn for the curious once the record finishes playing. Up steps Christiana Valcarcel, the mayor of Lambeth, in full mayoral robes and regalia to “grill” White on Blunderbuss and life in general. “You are a talent. Don’t get bigheaded – but you should be proud of yourself,” she shouts at a puzzled White. “I can’t do both!” comes the reply. The stage is set for one of the oddest interviews you’ll ever see. Jack White, for his part, looks healthy and slimline. He passes himself humbly and amicably and is clearly excited about the first album bearing his own name.

“I didn’t know I was really doing it until I was doing it about four or five songs in,” he says of the record’s inception. “Then it felt like it was turning into something. There was a session booked [to record] a 45 in my studio and it got cancelled. I had flown in some players from out of town to play that day and I had nothing for them to do, so I thought I guess we’ll do one of my songs. I got three songs on the first day out of that session and I just kind of kept going, but I didn’t know whether to put out a Dead Weather record or Raconteurs record and by the sixth or seventh song it just felt like a kind of complete record. I thought: ‘I guess I’ll just call it me...’”

Blunderbuss is an aggregation of White’s career to date: a mixture of classic rock, country, blues and straight up, old school rock and roll. He

I thought: ‘I guess I’ll just call it me...’

JACK WHITE speaks of playing the conductor, moving from instrument to instrument and no longer being just the guitar player – a trend that began with the 45s he’s been churning out for three years in his Third Man record label. He explains: “If I didn’t move to Nashville I don’t think I would’ve made this record. Through all these 45s I’ve done, I’ve got a humongous family of pedal-steel players, violinists and harpists. Last year everything changed when I started production... there were ten or 12 people at times in the room playing live... it was the first time I’d really ever conducted an orchestra. I would say: “When the chorus comes in, I need the harps to do a D Minor chord and then the piano comes in for the break. There are so many session musicians, songwriters, people playing for tourists and stuff, where else would you have access to that much talent in the neighbourhood, you know?”

The conversation turns at various points to upholstery (White used to be an apprentice and last year opened an upholstery store), the word ‘love’ (“It’s hard to use the word “love” in a song, it’s been so used for so long thousands of times, plays, paintings, poems and if you’re going to say that word, I think you sort of have to put a twist on it.”) and White’s statistics (“6’1, 185 lbs”), before Valcarcel lets him off the hook and he makes an exit stage right. If there’s one thing you can glean from looking through his back catalogue, it’s that Jack White is rarely content to play by convention – and tonight in the County Hall is no different.

BLUNDERBUSS BY JACK WHITE IS RELEASED VIA THIRD MAN RECORDS ON 23 APR WWW.JACKWHITEIII.COM

FILM

Deadpan Poet

Finnish master of deadpan Aki Kaurismäki discusses his new film, Le Havre, and his future as a filmmaker

It can sometimes be dangerous to make assumptions about an artist’s personality from the work they produce. David Lynch and Gaspar Noé are engaging, softly-spoken men who happen to be responsible for some of cinema’s darkest nightmares, while many of Michael Haneke’s collaborators cite a sense of humour that you won’t find in his films. Aki Kaurismäki, however, is in every way the man you expect to meet based on his body of work. Slouched in his chair and fortified by coffee and cigarettes, the Finnish director is a morose, taciturn presence, offering short answers in an unwavering deadpan that often makes you wonder how seriously he intends to be taken.

Interview: Philip Concannon

I won’t make a digital film in this life AKI KAURISMÄKI

He’s at his most passionate when you get him onto certain subjects, like music, which he says is the only aspect of filmmaking that interests him nowadays, or the theme of his charming new film Le Havre, which deals with illegal immigration.

“It’s a shame, that’s why,” he responds when I ask what attracted him to this subject, “I am European and it is a shame for Europe that we have this kind of disgraceful situation going on all the time.”

Unlike many filmmakers who tackle the darker side of such stories, Kaurismäki finds a note of hope and humanity in the relationship between ageing shoeshiner Marcel (André Wilms) and an African boy hiding from the authorities (Blondin Miguel).

“I can’t help my natural optimism,” he says and,

although he has admitted in the past to making a late decision on whether his films will have a happy or sad ending, he didn’t have any doubts about this one. “It seems to be quite mathematical that every second film is either a happy ending or sad ending, but with Le Havre it was always a happy ending, always a fairytale.”

When Kaurismäki talks about filmmaking there is no pretentiousness and no self-aggrandising; in fact, he makes it all seem like the simplest thing in the world. When I ask him about directing actors he shrugs and says, “if needed, I will act in front of them, to show them how they should act. Casting for me is hiring the right actors so normally I don’t have to direct at all, which is good for a lazy man.” This idea of Kaurismäki as a lazy man just doing enough to get by is an image that he insists upon, and he claims that such laziness is what prompted him to become a director in the first place rather than a writer, which was his original intention. “When I say ‘let’s shoot’ we hire people and equipment, and then I have to be there on the first day with some idea,” he explains, “With writing I can always say, ‘Oh, I will start tomorrow... I will start tomorrow...’ Filmmaking is the only career for the lazy man.”

But for how much longer will Aki Kaurismäki be allowed to pursue that career? Throughout our conversation he makes references to the digital revolution that is currently altering the cinematic landscape, predicting a bleak future for directors like him who are “filmmakers not pixelmakers... The laboratories are bankrupt and so is Kodak, so why not me also?” he asks, and when I enquire about his next feature he glumly responds, “maybe I will retire, I don’t know. Will I still have film in a few years?” One thing is for certain, Aki Kaurismäki won’t compromise on his belief that cinema is light, and he scoffs when I suggest embracing digital technology rather than fighting against it.

“I won’t make a digital film in this life,” he states sternly, “I will die with my boots on.”

Le Havre is release 6 Apr by Artificial Eye www.artificial-eye.com

April 2012

THE SKINNY 21

FILM

First Class Whit

Following his Malickesque hiatus, The Skinny speaks to Whit Stillman, American cinema's great social anthropologist, about his riotous new college campus comedy Damsels in Distress Interview: Jamie Dunn

4.30pm, GMT, 19 March. I’m re-watching the final scene of one of the great films of the 1990s, The Last Days of Disco, as a bit of last minute research before I interview its director, Whit Stillman, at 9am, PST. I’m at the beautiful coda where Chloë Sevigny and Matt Keeslar, the film’s sweet, will they, won’t they couple, are on the subway, standing by a central pole, and are suddenly compelled to dance. The O’Jays' Love Train starts to swell on the soundtrack, although no one is carrying a beatbox. Soon the whole carriage is up. The credits role and everyone keeps grooving. Sevigny has never looked so happy, so beautiful. I ignore the email that pops up at the bottom right hand corner of my computer. Turns out I shouldn’t have.

It’s Stillman: “Jamie, I wanted to check whether we are still on – maybe I’ve messed up the time but it’s 30 past 9am here in Los Angeles now.”

Like a particularly poor episode of a bad sitcom, daylight savings time kicked in Stateside at the weekend and I have left my interviewee hanging.

But maybe it’s some sort of cosmic karma. Whitman, after all, has left us all waiting. For thirteen years. That’s the time that has elapsed since The Last Days of Disco played in movie theatres.

Watches are synchronised and we reschedule for a few hours later. When I eventually get Stillman on a Skype linkup he’s charmingly magnanimous about the delay. “We had a very late screening last night, our first one with the public over here, and we were drinking the cinema’s concocted ‘Pink Damsel’ cocktails [a delicious sounding blend of vodka and grapefruit]. You didn’t want to speak to me two hours ago.”

His new film is Damsels in Distress, a college campus comedy about a group of do-gooding sorority sisters, including Greta Gerwig and Analeigh Tipton, who make it their mission to improve the lives of their fellow students. I start with the obvious question: why has it taken him so long to get back behind the camera? “Well, in a word, failure.

I failed to set up and get going many projects,” says the 60-year-old New Yorker. “I think part of it is also getting more into screenwriter mode, completing screenplay assignments, rather than single minded filmmaker mode, where you’re set on doing a project. I sort of abdicated the responsibility for getting the films off the ground.

And they didn’t get off the ground; they didn’t fly themselves, so I’ve had a lot of strikeouts.”

Stillman reels off some of the ones that got away. It’s an eclectic list. There’s an adaptation of Anchee Min’s Red Azalea, set during the Cultural Revolution; a daft comedy about Martians called Little Green Men; a movie set in 60s Jamaica during, intriguingly, an angel shortage. “The problem is that they were stretches,” explains Stillman.

“Some of them had dramatic elements that people did not consider me very logical for.”

On the surface Damsels looks more in the Stillman mode. Like his so-called ‘yuppie trilogy’ (Metropolitan (1990), Barcelona (1994) and The Last Days of Disco (1998)), it’s essentially privileged prep-school types making very withering (and hilarious) remarks to one another, but there’s a distinctly less caustic, more upbeat edge. “This one is starting a new page, I think. There is some overlap, some connections to the previous films, but it’s sillier, it’s more fantastical.”

Typically Stillmanesque high-brow/low-brow references (the sexual techniques of twelfthcentury Cathars, the decline in the decadence of homosexuality since the days of the dandy school of authors) commingle with jokes about a frat boy who never mastered the colours and inept suicide attempts from the campus’s two-storey library – there are even a few Fred and Ginger-style dance numbers. The cold, controlled surface of

22 THE SKINNY April 2012

his 90s work has been replaced by a giddy feeling of organised chaos. Stillman himself struggled to keep up with the film’s freewheeling comic abandon. “There are so many people in the movie who are doing funny little things, and I hope people get to see the film more than just once because there are some performances that I’m just coming to appreciate now, the things the actors were doing.”

Even with this vein of broad comedy adding a spryness to Stillman’s wryness, the director confesses to being concerned that sections of the audience will still be as miffed as they were when his 90s trio were playing to half empty cinemas.

“Our films push back on a lot of cultural attitudes, which means that they are not always easily accepted,” says Stillman, wistfully. This was no more evident than at last year’s London Film Festival, where Damsels played to a packed audience as the festival’s surprise movie. If you had been standing outside the auditorium unaware of what was showing, you might have guessed director Sandra Hebron had lost her mind and selected some stomach churning exploitation flick – The Human Centipede III, perhaps – given the number of walk-outs, not an effervescent comedy. “We had a very strange audience response – it was like the English civil war all over again.”

Stillman has acquired a thick skin to this kind of rejection, though. When he was producing his urbane social comedies in the 90s, Tarantino (and his imitators) was the button of fashion in American independent cinema, while the comedy market had been cornered by gross-out peddlers the Farrelly brothers and Mike Myers. “Everyone seemed to be going in a Tarantino direction,” Stillman tells me, when I ask if he felt adrift from his 90s filmmaking brethren, “but not that Tarantino I would feel close to, because I think he has wonderful comic dialogue – I mean sensational dialogue – but the external aspects of Tarantino, that sort of pulp aspect, the violence. For a while it seemed like we were really off on our own with not much of a fan base.”

Today’s cinema landscape is a very different one. During the thirteen years since the financial disaster of The Last Days of Disco (it’s still trying to claw back its modest eight-million dollar budget), filmmakers like Wes Anderson and Jarred Hess have emerged as successors to Stillman and have been lucky enough to do so in a time when audiences are hungry for smart comedies told from idiosyncratic point-of-views. There’s also been a digital revolution during his extended sabbatical. A whole new sub-genre, mumblecore, has

been mining toe-currling laughs from the ‘comedy of mannerlessness’ that the ‘yuppie trilogy’ epitomised, and doing so on such insignificant budgets that even with the tiny distribution they receive they still turn a profit. Conditions are therefore perfect for Stillman’s long awaited comeback.

“I think one of the most exciting things about mumblecore was that it was developing a lot of territory we were interested in, but without the cinematic means,” explains Stillman, “so really Damsels is a mumblecore film, only with clearer diction.” How appropriate, then, that Stillman chose the movement’s most celebrated actor, Greta Gerwig (scene stealer in Greenberg, The House of the Devil, and every other mainstream production she’s appeared in), as his chief damsel in distress. It’s a piece of casting as inspired as when he chose the aforementioned Sevigny, then an underground actor and Manhattan It girl, as his lead in The Last Days of Disco. “They are two of my favourites. They sort of approach things the same way, where it’s a bit like, I don’t know, there’s both a naturalism and a sort of a throwing up the deck of cards and seeing where they land-quality to their performances.”

Now that Terrence Malick, American cinema’s other snail’s pace director, has suddenly acceler-

Everyone seemed to be going in a Tarantino direction... For a while it seemed like we were really off on our own with not much of a fan base WHit Stillman

ated his production schedule (IMDb currently lists the Texan as having four films on the go, all to be released by the end of 2013), will Stillman be following suit?

“He’s my hero,” deadpans Stillman. “Terrence Malick: dare to dream, dare to win.”

Like his characters, Stillman’s delivery is so bone-dry that I have to ask if he’s being facetious?

“I’m somewhat sincere now. He used his hiatus much more productively than I did. I think he got a graduate degree and taught philosophy. I was just wasting time in Paris cafes. Fortunately I had a few afternoons at the steeplechase race track to bring some colour into my existence.”

If you’re similarly in need of some colour in your life, Stillman’s ebullient new film is definitely worth a flutter.

Damsels in Distress is released 27 Apr by Sony Pictures www.sonypictures.co.uk

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Edvard Munch, The Scream, 1895 (detail), Courtesy the Gundersen Collection, Oslo © The Munch Museum/ The Munch - Ellingsen Group, BONO, Oslo/DACS, London 2012. National Galleries of Scotland is a charity registered in Scotland (No. SC003728)

Edinburgh

You’re IN-vited!

It’s time to join IN with Festival 2012.

To kick it off, we’re having a party.

Wednesday 2 May 6.00pm The Hub, Castlehill

Charity No SC004694

If you’re in your 20s and 30s, love opera, music, theatre or dance then IN is for you. Join us at the home of the Festival, The Hub, for the latest Festival lowdown, free drinks and to be among the first to hear about this year’s exclusive IN member ticket offers.

Free event, but places are limited. Get on the guest list by emailing INsider@eif.co.uk by Monday 30 April.

Visit eif.co.uk/INsider for more information.

In association with

APRIL 2012

THE SKINNY 23

e c a l P e h T s I Space somewhereto_ helps young people find the spaces they need to do the things they love. We spoke to four young people about their success with somewhereto_ Do you love to dance, but need a space to perform? Or are you part of a band needing a space to rehearse... or Paint, debate, write or play sport?

ART_

MUSIC_

Inspired by the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic games, somewhereto_ aims to bring together young people with space-holders. It might be a physical space that you need – a sports hall, piece of land, darkroom or recording studio, or maybe you need magazine column inches, online space or even screen time in a cinema. somewhereto_ can help you find that perfect place.

This is a nationwide project and there are regional coordinators based all around the UK to help you find the space you need. somewhereto_ is funded by Legacy Trust UK, an independent charity set up to create a lasting cultural and sporting legacy from London 2012 Olympic communities across the UK. This summer somewhereto_ will be helping young people use their local schools, colleges and universities as spaces to organise their own education in whatever they love doing. We want to see free runners in the gym halls, film sets in the classrooms, and dancing in the corridors. If you need a space this summer to pursue your passions in arts, sports and culture, or want to get involved as a volunteer, get in touch with somewhereto_.

EXHIBIT_

Name: Sarah Coloso Age: 23 Based: Fife

Name: Michael Corr Age: 25 Based: Dundee

Somewhereto_ gave me the chance to sing and play piano and guitar in a great venue. It was a brilliant opportunity to meet other musicians in my region, and somewhereto_ promoted the gig through their networks on Facebook and Twitter which meant that thousands more people got to hear about my work.

I first got in touch with somewhereto_ because I wanted to put on an exhibition of my work in one of the spaces listed on the website. The regional co-ordinator gave me the opportunity to exhibit my work much closer to home, in a venue I’d never considered. They’re now helping me to set up another exhibition here in Dundee, and I’m hoping that my work will be included in exhibitions in other somewhereto_ regions.

film_

Name: Michael Beach Age: 22 Based: Dundee

Name: Amy Kenyon Age: 21 Based: Dundee

Taking our degree into our own hands and showing what we can do as a class, rather than what we ‘have’ to do. The Recycling Center was the perfect location. The support we had from the somewhereto_ coordinators was amazing and the access to the space was a huge bonus.

Without this, the event wouldn’t have had the chance to shine as it did. We had such a great time and with the help of somewhereto_ we have hopefully set the bar high for exhibitions in our local area!

I was looking for an opportunity to get more experience in TV and film, and the local screen development agency suggested that I contact Rebecca at somewhereto_. Straight away they gave me the chance to film a live music event in Dundee. It was a great confidence-booster and I met some fantastic new people. I’m now planning to run my own film workshop and showcase, with the help of somewhereto_.

We’re looking for volunteers to help promote somewhereto_ in their area at events, online, and through their networks. Somewhereto_ volunteers are at the local voice of the project – we cover your expenses, and give you the chance to apply for a £100 monthly personal development fund. visit somewhereto.com to find out more

follow for opportunities @somewhereto_ SCT Call To get going 0844 243 9299 FIND YOUR FREE SPACE AT www.somewhereto.com

Scan Here

MUSIC

An Irishman walks into a bar...

Seamus Fogarty is a talented guy, and a great drinking buddy, as The Skinny found out one Saturday in London Interview: Finbarr Bermingham Photo: Ross Trevail

A text comes through from Seamus Fogarty as we’re walking to meet him at a coffee shop on the Thames. “I’ll be the big hairy fella,” it reads.

And sure enough, ten minutes later, there he is: hirsute and sizeable, sitting by the river with two dogs sniffing round his feet. “They’re not mine,” he laughs, by way of introduction. Despite the nip in the air, the February sunshine beams down with the suggestion of spring. “With weather like that, it’d be rude not to order a beer,” says Seamus.

And with that, as he articulately explains to his girlfriend four pints later, “the interview went liquid.”

Fogarty is from Swinford, County Mayo (population: 1,500), is signed to Fence Records in Anstruther, Fife (population: 3,500) and lives in London, England (population: 8,278,251). He’s about to release his debut album, God Damn You Mountain, which is one of the most beautiful to have passed through these ears for some time.

The connection with Fence was made via James Yorkston, a man who is no stranger to playing the bars and clubs of Ireland, and who advised him to “lose the Yank accent” he’d acquired from years playing Johnny Cash covers, before inviting him to open a gig in Kilkenny in 2009.

“I knew Homegame was coming up a couple of months after the gig,” says Seamus. “After the show, I asked him about my chances of getting involved in it and then kept emailing him about it.

Eventually, he got me sorted out with a slot and we kept in contact and always said we would do some recording together.” A year later, Seamus was back teaching music technology at a Limerick college. “I was fed up. I’d had a horrible day and emailed James again. He spoke to Johnny Lynch and they got me a gig in Anstruther. Kenny

Words: Darren Carle

I just do whatever, even if it doesn’t pay the bills!

Seamus Fogarty

Anderson was there and I gave him a CD. A couple of months later, he told me he’d listened to it five times in a row. He invited me back to play at Haarfest. I’ve been involved with them ever since.”

Fogarty is clearly delighted to be on Fence (“they’re an amazing bunch to be involved with”) and you’d be hard pushed to find a label more suited to his music. The CD he handed Anderson contained the opening tracks from God Damn You Mountain, an album that, stylistically, isn’t a million miles from King Cresosote’s understated magnum opus of last year, Diamond Mine, in which his microcosmic folk songs were drawn out by the ambient wizardry of Jon Hopkins. Fogarty, though, plays both roles. “I was sick of writing songs with such a rigid structure: verse, chorus, verse, chorus. So I started trying all sorts of different things. Jon has a load of field recordings from around Cellardyke, and I have a similar archive, I suppose. I’ve made it over the last five or ten

On Saturday 21 April thousands of independently owned music stores across the world will celebrate ‘Record Store Day.’ Just over a dozen independent record shops in Scotland will participate. We run through some of the special events and releases planned

years, so sometimes I’ll dip into them to add something to a track.”

And so, woven among the bluegrass, the blues and the folk is the baaing of sheep, the dropping of kitchen utensils and the memories of old, Irish women. Fogarty’s extensive mixing of the songs (over the course of the day’s chat the names Squarepusher and Aphex Twin crop up, helping to explain the prevalent electronic influence) give them an aura of nostalgia – a rose-tinted snapshot of old Ireland, much more appealing from a distance of 50 years. Fogarty, who was raised on a diet of traditional music – admits being surprised by how “Irish” the songs sounded when he first played them back. “I grew up playing trad,” he says. “I used to play the fiddle, tin whistle and like many people, I got fed up with it as I got a bit older. You kind of get it hammered into you when you’re growing up. I got into a lot of American music – Pavement, Johnny Cash, stuff like that,

and got back into the Irish stuff in my twenties.”

He admits getting “eyes to the sky” when he plays his music to the folks back home, but undeterred, Seamus decided to go full time last year. As well as his music, he makes films (he has had installations in Germany, Argentina and soon China) and paints pictures (the cover art is his own). “I just do whatever,” he says, “even if it doesn’t pay the bills!” It all makes for interesting conversation, and over the course of a day, we stretch to “girls with dinosaur bodies” (one of his more oblique lyrics”), dead singers (Sparklehorse and Elliott Smith are a big influence) and of course, Ireland. Eight hours, two pubs, a few songs and a skinful of ale later, we part ways. As first dates go, we haven’t had many more successful than this.

God Damn You Mountain is released via Fence on 16 Apr Playing Eye O’ the Dug Festival in St Andrews on 15 Apr and Edinburgh Caves on 31 May www.seamusfogarty.com

Despite a reported revitalisation of album sales in the UK and USA in the past year, you’d be foolish to think that the annual Record Store Day celebrations would become a moot point. Sadly, your average independent record store seems unlikely to glean much exposure, or cash, from the abundance of Adele albums nestled in Tesco shopping baskets or winging their way to letterboxes courtesy of one-click Amazon.

So, the fourth annual Record Store Day continues unabated by the foibles of an industry in habituallyreported, terminal decline. Yet, like those analysts who have always predicted that vinyl will outlive CD, can the humble indie outlet survive where the multimillion pound high street store cannot? Record Store Day answers that with a resounding ‘aye’, by rallying the troops to provide an experience that can’t be replicated by a large warehouse more accustomed to selling you bread, milk and Ginster’s pasties.

The main part of the pull is, of course, the exclusive record releases and in-store shenanagins that make up the bulk of the day itself. On home turf, the venerable Avalanche Records will be getting all Blue Peter on our asses with Ryan Hannigan of Star Wheel Press showing punters how to make their own album covers. There will also be performances from some friends of the store, including Withered Hand and ballboy along with an after-store party at Electric Circus featuring Hannigan’s band (plus a special guest you probably don’t want to miss in this intimate setting).

If you’re looking for your day to be a little more cluborientated, then a trip to Underground Solu’shn should prove a deft choice. The vinyl mecca on Cockburn Street will be showcasing some vinyl-only DJ sets from local talents such as Stephen Brown (Transmat), Craig Smith (6th Borough Project) and River of Slime (De-Fence). Owner George MacDonald sums the ethos up nicely: “All of these artists have releases on our shelves and are integral to Edinburgh’s home grown, internationally recognised scene.”

Meanwhile, over in Glasgow, the ever-reliable Monorail will provide a “friendly, inclusive, record buying environment for customers old and new,” claims former Pastels frontman and Monorail partner Stephen McRobbie. Sounds like business as usual then. More specifically they have announced in-store performances by Mr Edwyn Collins, plus Malcolm Middleton under his current Human Don’t Be Angry guise, along with Organs of Love and Snowgoose, as well as offering home-baking, quizzes and even some entertainment for the kiddies. Muso mums and dads rejoice!

Like many other outlets, Monorail intends to have a full catalogue of exclusive RSD releases. Cherrypicking from a frankly exhaustive list that runs from ABBA to Zomby, expect to find your local indie store bulging with goodies. Tenth anniversary album releases from James Yorkston and Mclusky along with a first-time vinyl pressing of Admiral Fallow’s debut are ones to look out for. There will be a small glut of re-pressings from the likes of Refused and The Cure, while Battles, Animal Collective and Hot Chip all dole out some nice 12” singles.

The good ol’ 7” gets a spin, or forty-five, from the likes of Django Django, M83 and St. Vincent, while the first two Tortoise singles enjoy a fresh airing on the humble format. “Ignore the doom-mongers,” warns McRobbie. “Music’s never been more exciting.” True that, and Record Store Day stands as a timely reminder.

For a full list of participating shops and events see www.recordstoreday.com www.recordstoreday.com

April 2012

THE SKINNY 25

ART

the art of movement

This year’s recipient of The Skinny & CCA Award at RSA New Contemporaries, Romany Dear, tells us about her practice, her degree show and the work she is currently presenting on the Mound Interview: Rosamund West

The Art of Hanging Around is presented in the RSA as a video piece, a documentation of a performance that took place within the gallery before the New Contemporaries exhibition opened.

Similarly dressed girls walk between the works, stopping, standing, arms on backs and hips, staring, moving on. Romany Dear has created a skilled choreography which explores the very process of looking at art, highlighting the theatrical nature of the experience, and introducing us to the weird laws of etiquette that exist in our consumption of an exhibition.

“The Art of Hanging Around I suppose is a slightly mocking gesture, but mocking in a nice way. It’s from an idea that I have that maybe there’s a set way we all move in art galleries and at openings. Often it’s got nothing to do with the art at all, we’re not really looking at it.” The work is not what Dear had originally mooted for New Contemporaries – she changed her proposal after visiting the space and observing the visitors move around the galleries. “I spent quite a lot of time in the RSA space and the way people behaved

reminded me of an earlier work that I’d done at Market Gallery so I changed my proposal.

“The piece I did that was similar at Market Gallery, the choreography wasn’t complex by any means, but more so than this – it moved through about seven different positions and then for this piece, I think because I was trying to capture it on video, they had about three moves that they did and they repeated. Maybe the outcome is slightly boring, but that’s kind of important, it’s not meant to have this theatrical conclusion, it’s just this thing that is happening. There’s no sound.

The movement is the essence of it and without an audio or anything else that’s what you’re purely concentrating on.”

The origins of The Art of Hanging Around extend further than the Market piece to the work that Dear presented for her degree show in Glasgow last summer – she graduated from the Sculpture and Environmental Art course at GSA. Visitors may recall the orange Walkmen that guided them around the Mackintosh Gallery. “The themes of my degree show are similar to those of the piece

For the next eight minutes I would like to encourage you to fully embrace absolutely everything, Audio Tour, 2011

Scott Myles This Production Sat 7 April–Sun 10 June 2012 Dundee Contemporary Arts

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

26 THE SKINNY April 2012

The Skinny seeks art-obsessed volunteers to invigilate The Poetics of Space, a solo exhibition of paintings by Stephen Thorpe running in Whitespace, Edinburgh from 28 Apr-10 May. Email jobs@theskinny.co.uk with a CV, or go to www.theskinny.co.uk/jobs for more info

NEW CONTEMPORARIES 2012 RSA, EDINBURGH, 17 MAR-11 APR, £4 (£2)

THE ART OF HANGING AROUND, GROUP REHEARSAL, KELVINGROVE MUSEUM 2012

I made for the RSA. This idea of documenting how we behave in social, institutional space, this physical etiquette that exists – you can’t do this, you can’t touch the work. So it was a kind of suggestive audio that encouraged you to push these or break these. Not in a sabotage way, again quite a subtle intervention. It led you from my studio space into the main Mackintosh gallery because that felt like the space where this kind of movement happens. It led you around and asked you to get closer to things. It was kind of intimate.

“It was from watching that piece that I pulled the movement out to make the RSA piece; you could have up to twelve people doing it at the same time so there would be these accidental moments of chance synchronisation where four people on the tour would be leaning forward or would have their hand on their hip.”

Dear has a background in dance, which has fed into her interest in making artwork from movement. “I studied dance when I was young. Rather than an expressive or narrative dance, this is very pared down, common movement that we all do subconsciously, consciously every day; just trying

to choreograph that. What I’m trying to say is it already happens, I’m just kind of bringing attention to it or slightly exaggerating it or repeating it which then makes you think about the way that you are moving.”

You can see The Art of Hanging Around at RSA New Contemporaries on the Mound until 11 April. And there’s much more in the works – Dear has a busy few months ahead of her, with a redeveloped audio tour for the Market Gallery’s Art Lending Library in GI, work on Glasgow Open Dance School – “we put on different dance and movement workshops in Glasgow once a month for free” – and a trip to Generator in Dundee for inclusion in They Had Four Years. And after that? A well earned rest in July. The results of The Skinny Award will be an exhibition in CCA’s Intermedia space next year, to coincide with RSA’s New Contemporaries 2013. Watch this space.

RSA NEW CONTEMPORARIES, EDINBURGH, 17 MAR-11 APR ART LENDING LIBRARY, MITCHELL LIBRARY, GLASGOW, 20 APR-7 MAY, PART OF GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL THEY HAD FOUR YEARS, GENERATOR PROJECTS, DUNDEE, 19 MAY-10 JUN

Now in its fourth year, RSA New Contemporaries brings together a select group of fine art graduates from Scotland’s five art schools (Edinburgh, Glasgow, Duncan of Jordanstone, Gray’s and Moray) nearly a year after graduation to present work new and old in the grand neo classical surrounds of the Royal Scottish Academy on the Mound.

Aimed specifically at enabling and fostering the development of artistic careers, NC has amassed an impressive catalogue of artists in the few years that it’s been running, and the gallery have created a network which continues to grow, setting NC alumni up with opportunities for exhibitions, residencies and even selling work. Says RSA Director Colin Greenslade, “The legacy over the last few years with those artists is amazing for us. Come June and the selection of the next batch of graduates that will be 300 selected for New Contemporaries. Even just the catalogues combined form an amazing encyclopedia, a snapshot of artists over that 5 year period.”

So what of 2012’s array of emerging practice? As always there is a wide variety of work on display, from the traditional worlds of painting and printmaking to the more avant garde works in video and performance, as evidenced by Skinny prize winner Romany Dear. There is a relatively large quantity of photography, of particular note being Tom Hatton, whose bleached out prints of people-less North African landscapes are both beautiful and timely.

Downstairs, Manuela De Laborde’s small-scale kinetic sculptures prove entrancing. One, Chroma, in the Projects Room, is a series of mechanically spinning coloured metal wires, delicate as hummingbirds and generating a gentle breeze as they buzz around. Untitled (turning gold ink) is a subtle intervention, embedded in the wall of the gallery and, as the name would suggest, featuring a slowly turning glass jar of golden ink.

In the next room, The Creative Services of Hugo de Verteuil and Ian Rothwell present an intriguing

ANDREW MASON’S POTATO FOUNTAIN

development on their degree show collaboration, an accomplished installation featuring a small cinema and a bar serving martinis that opens every afternoon for a limited service period. Interactive.

Dundee grad Rose Hendry’s series of short films proved a hit at the degree show. The production values are high, the works glossy moments of technicolour frivolity.

Upstairs, indeed on the way up the stairs, Sarah Hardie’s delicate sound installation I’m Calling is a beautifully placed welcome to the galleries, but could well be sending the door staff slowly mad through repetition. In the upper galleries, stand out works include Andrew Mason’s Potato Fountain, which has proved quite a hit with visitors and academicians alike, and Hannah Imlach’s Origami Shelter, delicate yet physically substantial, a paper shelter photographed in the unlikely situation of Rannoch Moor. As a whole, the show presents a refinement of the chaos of the degree show, and reflects the wide array of talent that emerges year on year from Scotland’s art institutions. [Rosamund West] WWW.ROYALSCOTTISHACADEMY.ORG/PAGES

APRIL 2012

THE SKINNY 27

PHOTO: DAVID GRINLY

rrrr

MUSIC

Heavy Metals

From the Parisian studio where she recorded her previous album The Reminder, and mixed her latest, Metals, Leslie Feist discusses Record Store Day, her relationship with physical releases, and the sound she calls Modern Ancient Interview: David McGinty Photos: Ross Gilmore

La Frette is an opulent 19th century manor house, 15 minutes outside of Paris, near the banks of the river Seine. Surrounded by leafy gardens, the house sits grand and austere. Inside, however, the ornate furnishings have been replaced by mic stands and drum kits, and the mantelpieces are lined with old books and vintage guitar amplifiers.

Amongst this ephemera, Leslie Feist recorded her Grammy nominated album The Reminder, and mixed much of her latest release, Metals, and it is from here that she joins The Skinny to talk records and her upcoming split single with American metal band Mastodon in support of Record Store Day. “Yeah, it’s finished,” she says of her contribution. “There was an Australian/South East Asian tour, and right before I flew over the Pacific to get there, we were in Los Angeles. Myself and Mocky, who’s worked with me a lot­on the last couple of records as well, Brian Lebarton, who’s in my live band, and Robbie Lackritz who engineered this last record and The Reminder; we basically picked what song and did the recordings there over two days.”

The aim of Record Store Day is to offer unique releases which will only be available from good ol’ bricks and mortar shops, and the variety of collaborations in its aid don’t get much more mismatched than Mastodon and Feist covering one another, or so it would seem. “They did Commotion and I just heard it. It’s incredible,” she tells us. “I think the point of this whole exercise is like a cultural field trip, going into a layer of the cultural sediment that I normally don’t visit. And for them too, I’m sure we had really similar experiences, which is to crawl inside a song that is totally from another planet. And, for me, it was like I had a head lamp on and I was exploring a new cave, this completely new environment.”

Although the orchestration and lyrical witticisms of My Moon My Man or Graveyard may seem miles from the fretboard mashing of Mastodon, the two share some common ancestry in terms of influence. “This is like my early history of listening to music, really heavy music, and trying to play it.

Of course, I never reached a point like Mastodon, but I was 15 years old, in a punk band, and so in a way my earliest musical memories are made by all of this violent, volume, energy ­– sort of – purity of metal, and it just really speaks to me on a memory

It was like I had a head lamp on and I was exploring a new cave

Competition We've teamed up with the good people at Chemikal Underground and Monorail to give away an arm load of Chemikal swag to one lucky winner on Record Store Day. All you need to do is be the first person to swing

by Monorail on Saturday, 21 April, pick up the album that meets the following criteria and take it

to the till: Recorded in Memphis and released in 1993 on a former folk label which also includes The Doors and Metallica on its roster

Limited to one winner only. Competition runs exclusively on 21 April 2012.

For full terms and conditions, go to www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

28 THE SKINNY April 2012

Feist on covering Mastodon for Record Store Day

level,” she explains. “But also [on] this new record Metals, as a guitar player, I was definitely drawn to dirtier, louder, more cut up, more distorted [sounds]; pushing the guitar tone into a more ancient place, and so it’s sort of speaking to me in the present time not only as a memory.”

Commotion is a steadily building, intense, and searing excavation from Feist’s latest album, and though it contains little in the way of guitar, the tension of the song lends itself to a heavier interpretation. “Well I really had a dream that they would do The Bad in Each Other,” Feist admits.

“I really wanted to hear how they’d interpret the riff – you know the main ‘dun dodley dodley…’”

The Skinny points out that this could be terrifying.

“True,” she laughs. “I think they probably picked Commotion for the lyrics. I chose Black Tongue, and partially it was because I could really climb inside the lyrics. Whereas some of the other [songs] didn’t have a lot of things I understand or relate to, Black Tongue I could understand.”

Though, ironically, Feist’s mainstream fame and success was delivered in part by the inclusion of her hit song 1234 in an iPod advert back in 2007, the singer has always seemed more of an advocate of the physical release, putting great consideration into the appearance of her records; an attribute that makes her a perfect ambassador for Record Store Day.“I love that there is this endeavour to make people remember what record stores used to mean to all of us,” she says. “The first records we – all of us – ever bought: you get really excited, and you save up your 12 bucks, and you have to maybe take a bus downtown, and you go to the record shop that has some kind of unfriendly salty dog working behind the counter who is sort of judging the purchase you’re making.

But it’s such a specific experience. Now that whole ritual is kind of dying, so I’m glad that there’s a reason for people to go back.”

What were those first records? “Probably The Afghan Whigs’ Gentlemen. Or maybe Dinosaur Jr. – Bug or Where You Been” she says. “Probably that kind of stuff... Sinéad O’Connor maybe,” she chuckles, “although maybe I just taped that off of a friend’s tape, I’m not sure.

“My Mom had The White Album, and I remember spending a lot of hours sitting in front of the stereo reading the lyrics,” she says. The experience of picking over a few glossy photographs and absorbing the liner notes is something that an iTunes LP or the other various digital iterations have yet to par. Feist clearly agrees: “The liner notes for albums were so much more fun to read, because you could just lay on the ground on your belly and read the whole thing, it’s like a big book in front of you.”

In the weeks leading up to the release of Metals, the singer’s website featured a series of ‘vignettes’, short expository video clips of Feist and chums recording, accompanied by solitary audio samples from the album. The Skinny asks if these short films were an attempt to port or reflect the liner notes experience for the digital age. “Oh, that’s interesting” she says. “We asked my friend Keith Magna to come and film just because he’s done some really cool stuff with the Beck Record Club. He has the ability to be a fly on the wall, you don’t really feel his presence though he’s catching stuff from these weird vantage points.”

“While you’re doing a mix of a record you’re always pulling up different elements of the songs ­– like just listening to the drums for two hours while you work on it, or just listening to the distortion of underneath the piano performance; all these little tiny blankets. I really loved listening to the little

fragments, and I thought, even as someone who wrote it and recorded it, there was still so much to find when you’re just listening to a layer. I thought it would be an interesting way to sneak people into understanding all of these layers and these sound decisions that were on the record.”

The footage not only extends a brief invitation inside the creative process, in some ways the arcane soundscapes and visuals combined with the concept of exposing these individual layers acutely complements Metals’ excavatory themes.

“I mean it’s not a glossy 8 ½ by 11, it’s more like a little impressionistic photo; a bunch of Polaroids or something,” she adds.

These exposed esoteric sounds lie deep within the mixes of certain songs and capture the environment while reflecting the core sedimentary lyrics. “That was ultimately the hope. Actually none of those are samples, just layers of mashing things. Just mashing these tiny sounds of 50 forks being dropped on a marble table, and simultaneously you’ve got someone smashing a timpani.”

That’s not to say that things are all serious and conceptual in the French mansion. “I mean there’s a sound in Undiscovered First that we had to name ‘The Galaxy Axe’ ‘cause there wasn’t any other way in the mix to talk about it. We turned up all those smashing metals and we named it ‘The Galaxy Axe’ because it was sort of the size and the shape of an axe, or like, the shape of an axe but the size of a galaxy,” she laughs.

“In general, on Metals I was trying to find a balance between modern and ancient and we started to call it ‘Modern Ancient’. I mean it’s modern because it’s a recording being made by someone in 2011, but it’s my attempt to sort of imbibe it with these ancient sounds that are little bit more like wind in the grass or like Krakatoa eruptions or just these extremes of the nature sounds that are – I don’t know, they feel a little bit timeless and when you talk about timelessness you usually put it in terms of the past so then in that case it’s kind of ancient.”

This dynamic fits so well and she is clearly still so enamoured that it remains to be seen

I love that there is this endeavour to make people remember what record stores used to mean to all of us Feist

whether the ‘Modern Ancient’ concept is one Feist continues to explore. “I think that I’m probably not done, I feel like I might have just approached the boundaries of that whole idea. I’m just so curious about what else I could possibly find. In a way Brian Lebarton is always stirring sounds out of these keyboards that I’ve never heard before, he’s kind of the keeper of this Modern Ancient idea and in a way he personifies it. He produced the Mastodon track with me, which was a step in with him, to work a little closer. Part of me wonders what we could come up with together in this next phase, I guess we’ll find out.”

‘The Future of Modern Ancient’? The Skinny offers.

“Yeah,” she laughs, “that is an ultimate... that is a pun right there. You just have to work the word past in there.”

Feist and Mastodon’s split 7” will be available in limited supply from independent record shops on 21 Apr www.listentofeist.com

April 2012

THE SKINNY 29

CLUBS

Back in Orbit

Spurred on from playing live again, Orbital are back with fresh ideas and a new album. The Skinny discovers what drew them back in Interview: Ronan Martin

When an act as established as Orbital reform to produce new material, cynicism can obstruct fans and critics from judging the music on its own merits. Changes in direction of even the slightest degree can result in claims of bandwagon-jumping and a refusal to recognise that musicians have a right to develop and explore new terrain. Seasoned outfits must also contend with accusations of 'flogging a dead horse' should they choose to continue treading the same path.

Neither of these possible fates have deterred Orbital, whose new offering, Wonky, manages to maintain their hallmark sound while branching off in new directions. Having been re-energised after a series of live performances beginning with 2009’s Big Chill festival, Paul and Phil Hartnoll have drawn on influences as diverse as dubstep and contemporary folk to craft their first release in eight years. For Phil, enough momentum had been building to allow the duo to get back in the studio.

“We felt that we couldn’t continue rocking all over the world like Status Quo, doing the same tracks so we thought we would try another album.” This desire to create new music is refreshing - many veteran acts, especially those with seminal anthems like Chime and Belfast to draw upon, tend to rest on their laurels. “We didn’t want to just become some sort of heritage band”, explains Paul. “We felt contemporary; we were in the moment rather than living an old moment. So we wanted to write some new music to reflect that.”

Inevitably, the prospect of Orbital’s dark anthem ‘Satan’ being given the Skrillex treatment and rebranded ‘Beelzedub’ will lead to cries of derision from some critics. Yet, Phil feels that as the track had been “developing into a different beast” in their live shows, it felt right to update it by infusing the song with some contemporary ideas. There is a real sense that the excitement and experimentation that characterises the duo’s live shows flows over into their work in the studio and they have fun with what they do, first and foremost.

Elsewhere, the title track on Wonky has the brothers collaborating with vocalist and rapper Lady Leshurr, who gives a pop-grime edge to a bass-driven track that broods and ascends in a manner reminiscent of the likes of Fake Blood. “I know nothing of the current rap scene. Generally, I don’t like it”, admits Paul, “but I wanted to find someone who was really sharp with their timing and angular...and female as well. It had to be a female. With the robustness of the bass it had to be a female cutting kind of voice. She was perfect for it.” It’s clear that the duo has not stopped absorbing fresh influences and they have harnessed these successfully to twist and skew a sound that Orbital has been honing for decades.

“We did what we always do”, explains Paul. “You incorporate what you’re enjoying at any given time into what you do. You hear stuff and say ‘I like that, but I want to do it like this.’ It’s like one big Chinese whisper doing music.” So, is contemporary folk music really among their key influences?

“That’s his thing”, Phil concedes with a chuckle.

Despite flirting with new sounds and bringing in guest vocalists to broaden the scope of the album, it is still dominated by their trademark style.

Across the piece, there are plenty of light, melodic phrases of the type listeners have come to expect, but the duo never seem to stray too far from their signature sound. “The joke is that it’s like your handwriting; you can’t actually change it even if you want to”, explains Paul. “The signature sound is what you love doing and also reflects your limitations as a musician. The reason I write melodies and harmonies in a certain way is because that’s

30 THE SKINNY April 2012

what moves me or it shows the limitations of my skill on the piano, maybe. It’s a bit of both. You’ve got to please yourself. Your music is a creative expression of who you are, so it does come out with a signature sound. I wouldn’t try to change that.”

These appear to be wise word. The strongest tracks are those which find Orbital in their comfort zone: ’Stringy Acid’ is a brilliant throwback to the early days of dance music and could have feasibly provided a strong b-side to the likes of ‘Chime’.

Where did it come from? “I’ve been meaning to do something with that track for 22 years”, admits Paul with a snigger. “It’s that old! I’ve had a recording of that on a D90 cassette and I’ve always said I have to do something with that. I’m really pleased with how it turned out in the end.”

With a series of gigs lined up, including some major festival appearances, the Hartnolls seem to

I really enjoy the creative process; twiddling knobs and pushing buttons.

Making noises, really Phil Hartnoll

be enjoying their work as much now as they did when they started out over 20 years ago. “For me, I’ve rediscovered why we were doing it in the first place”, says Phil. “I really enjoy the creative process and really enjoy twiddling knobs and pushing buttons. Making noises, really.” The final track on the album asks ‘Where is it Going?’ - a fitting question. “We always like to leave it on a question, like one of those dodgy horror movies”, says Paul with a chuckle.

“This is the end... or is it?”

Orbital’s new album Wonky is released on Sun 1 Apr O2 Academy, Glasgow on Sat 07 Apr, £24. www.orbitalofficial.com

BOOKS

Trainspotting – The Early Years

It’s a big year for Irvine Welsh – Filth is being filmed with James McAvoy, while a film taken from, and titled, Ecstasy, is being released in the UK. But biggest of all is the release of Skagboys, a prequel to Trainspotting, with an Edinburgh launch event sponsored by us! Let’s ask him about it...

Interview: Keir Hind Illustration: Peter Locke Skagboys is a fantastic read – think of it as a first half of Trainspotting, in terms of plot, yes, but also, in terms of quality. When Trainspotting was released – way back, in 1993 – certain material wasn’t included, for reasons of pacing or simply because it didn’t fit. A good deal of it was set before the events in Trainspotting, and this material formed the basis of a prequel. “There was about 100,000 words there,” Welsh tells me “which is the length of a novel. I probably chopped out about 20,000 and added another 150,000. Roughly. But it’s too organic a process to be sure. Let’s just say that the old material informed the new”.

The resulting tale follows Renton, Begbie, Sick Boy, Spud et al from around 1984 onwards. When Alan Bissett wrote a foreword to his debut novel Boyracers, he told me he’d had a curious double nostalgia – to the time he was writing it, and to the time he wrote about in it. When I ask Welsh if he can relate to this, he says “Very much. You have to recall the book for continuity purposes, but at the same time get into the time you’re writing about.

Loads of stuff about the 80s that I thought I’d forgotten or had probably deliberately repressed came up. I tend to live in the present and don’t have a great memory, until I start writing. Then all that stuff comes back.” Some of his personal memories of the 80s in general surprised him. “You think, that couldn’t have been me, it must have been Deano Rafferty or Jimmy Lugton or Des Wilson or Sandy McNair or some other fucker. You rationalise.”

An 80s setting means that Scotland, and the UK as a whole, is changing economically, and many people are being left behind. Early in the book Renton is involved in direct political action when he joins the picket lines during the miners’ strike.

“That was new,” Welsh says. “I had written about Orgreave before, but never used it. It just seemed like sense to put Renton in that story.” Significantly, a back injury Renton receives at the hands of a police officer causes him continuing pain, which is part of why he starts using heroin. It’s far from the only reason – his personality plays a part, amongst other things – but a symbolic connection to the national political situation is clearly made.

Welsh delves into the politics of drug use more overtly in Skagboys as well. The book is structured in a similar, if not identical way to Trainspotting – there’s more of a focus on central characters, and whilst the Junk Dilemmas sections familiar from the earlier book begin here, there are also Notes on an Epidemic which deal with the growth of drug use, and the subsequent spread of AIDS. “Everyone who had any connection with that scene anecdotally knows that heroin originally came locally from breaches in security of pharmaceutical manufacturers,” says the author.

“The product was pure. When the brown shit from Pakistan and Afghanistan started to hit the streets, nobody knew what it was. That was international trade.” In Notes on an Epidemic 3 Welsh writes that 'Conspiracy theorists point out that this glut of heroin importation occurred shortly after the widespread rioting of 1981.' However, when I ask Welsh how sympathetic he is to this proposition, he says, “I can’t be arsed with conspiracy theories. They become an end in themselves and a form of mental illness. I get too bored with them.

Capitalism in itself is set up to benefit the rich.

Why bother wasting energy conspiring when the economic system, government and apparatus of the state is all set up for you anyway?”

32 THE SKINNY April 2012

You look back and think: fuck! Where did that come from? What will my mum say?

Irvine Welsh

All the political insight in the world wouldn’t make a book work if the writing wasn’t up to standard. But it is. It really, really is. All of the political background supports a riveting story of how a number of characters became the characters we’re familiar with. They’re not quite familiar enough here, however, that they become predictable – Begbie singing, and well, at a New Year’s party is just one moment that surprised this reader. Welsh says that in writing them, “You have to let them surprise you. If they don’t surprise you they won’t surprise anybody else. Then you look back and think: fuck! Where did that come from?

What will my mum say?” Pass. It’s hard to say just how difficult it is to achieve that kind of reaction though, and the amount of work Irvine Welsh actually does shouldn’t be underestimated – Skagboys is obviously the result of some thorough graft. He says, “You get into each character’s head. It’s like everything else in writing, just a matter of plugging away until it reads as it should, or until you go mental.” He’s mentioned in previous interviews that he uses a ‘Where they stay; Who they lay; What they play’ maxim in writing for characters, creating a playlist of music that each character would listen to as part of this. “I liked most of my characters' music, except Bruce in Filth,” he says, “with his pomp rock and soft rock. But music tends to be a disease of association and I even started to like his stuff.”

Writing may also be a disease of association.

Welsh is very interesting when discussing influences, and he’s often discussed an affinity for the likes of George Eliot and Jane Austen. One of the epigraphs to Skagboys is by Herman Melville, and he’s recently mentioned the influence of Evelyn Waugh on his writing. When I mention this, Welsh says “I can definitely see it directly in Waugh. If you take the social milieu apart, there is a lot about male friendship, rivalry, and schadenfreude that influenced me.” With others, he’s more general – “A lot of Austen’s work was about being, in some ways, an outsider, which the best literature usually is.” Scottish/English Lit students, take note.

Another of Welsh’s enthusiasms is football, and specifically Hibernian FC. And so I had to ask what his favourite game from the period Skagboys is set in was. This, as it turns out, is a difficult question.

“It’s very hard to conceive of there being such a thing around the Bertie Auld/First phase of Alex Miller era. I remember a game at Tynecastle at the Gorgie Road end. We were all pretty high and my pal George was splashing pish from the terracing against the back of our mate Mickey’s leg. Mickey caught him and it was getting tense til Willie Irvine equalised for Hibs then love was restored to the terracing.” Scottish fitba, ye cannae beat it.

Skagboys will be launched in Edinburgh with a Bookslam event in The Caves on 20 April. Which we’re sponsoring. What’s happening at it? Let’s ask the man himself: “I haven’t got a fucking clue what’s going on,” Irvine Welsh says. “I just show up at these things and do what they want. If they want me to read, I’ll do it. If they want me talk about the book, I’ll do it. If they just want me to drink a few beers and swap some jokes with old buddies, I’m happy to do that.” A pretty admirable attitude, to be honest. Anything you won’t do? “I’ll even clean the toilets out but I’m not selling any snide TV boxes.

Now that I’m working in television, I can no longer condone that sort of behaviour.” Good man.

We do have a fucking clue what’s going on: Skagboys Edinburgh Launch event will be a Book Slam event featuring Irvine Welsh, World Slam Champion Elvis McGonagle, and DJ Craig Smith (who features in some of Welsh’s novels) It’s at The Caves on 20 Apr. Doors 7.30pm, show 8.30pm to midnight, approximately. Tickets £8 www.bookslam.com/events/item/?e=67

Win Tickets to the Skagboys launch at Book Slam For your chance to win a pair of tickets to the Skagboys launch at Book Slam at The Caves on 20 April, go to www.theskinny.co.uk/competitions and answer this question: Q: Which of Irvine Welsh’s short story collections has recently been made into a film by Rob Heydon?

Competition closes Tues 17 April Winners will be notified on the day of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. For full terms and conditions, go to www.theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

THEATRE

Behave Yourself Underneath the Arches at Behaviour Festival, the wild artists are free to roam... words: Missy Lorelei and Gareth K Vile

Having extended its season from a fortnight to around eight weeks, and with a more leisurely programme of events, The Arches’ Behaviour Festival has reinvented itself as a broad survey of performance’s more experimental trends. March saw activist and National Theatre of Scotland collaborator Robert Softley bring his intimate and personal If These Spasms Could Speak and the Fringe favourite The Oh Fuck Moment; April continues to promote both national and local performers looking to challenge old school notions of theatre.

The diversity of the programme reflects not only artistic director Jackie Wylie’s vision of performance, but the range of approaches performance now embraces. Stef Smith might be best known as the author of Roadkill, the stunning study of sexual exploitation, but her entry, The Silence of Bees, gets site specific and sensually smelly in Sauchiehall Street’s branch of Lush; Gary Gardner moves on from his early Arches Live! deconstruction of Santa to have a pop at Thatcher’s Children.

Nic Green, lauded for her contemporary feminist Trilogy checks out her sense of home – caught between Scottishness and Englishness, she delves into her Fatherland/Motherland; and for cheapskates there’s the chance of a free haircut from Mammalian Diving Reflex.

It’s difficult to fix on a single theme to connect the works: Fish and Game’s Cycling Gymkhana and Green’s entry have a feminist intention: Thatcher’s Children and White Rabbit, Red Rabbit are political. Bryony Kimmings gives it the old pissed up, anarchic artist energy, while Collecting Fireworks meditates on the memory’s habit of imbuing meaning to the past and transforming it.

And although the Edinburgh Fringe is an important resource for the programming – the Brick Award is handed to two pieces from the annual August jamboree, and Kimmings established her name there back in 2010 – Behaviour is more focussed in its remit, finding the sweet spot between experimentation and accessibility.

Collecting Fireworks (Inbetween Time Productions) If the titular fireworks are the collected memories in this installation, they don’t so much explode brilliantly as burn intensely. After a debut at 2011’s Edinburgh Fringe, where it provided a respite from the relentless push of flyer and showtime, Collecting Fireworks is perfect for the suggestive, mysterious atmosphere of The Arches. A darkened room, illuminated by a series of light bulbs that switch on and off to illuminate the recorded recollections, Fireworks rescues recollections of performance and invites a new audience to reflect on their experience in the theatre.

Ideal for a festival as frenetic as Behaviour, Collecting Fireworks is on the more reflective end of the performance spectrum. Stripping away the externals of theatre – cast, script, stage and event – it focuses on the impact left on the audience.

Recorded memories are played back, inviting the listener to share another’s experience and ponder their own memories. And while the individual speakers may be anonymous, the way that their memories have shaped them is apparent: this gentle addition to the festival puts the interaction between the audience and performer into a broader context – and can act as a retreat from the vitality of the artists’ expression of their visions.

Inconsistent Whisper (Torsten Lauschmann and Red Note Ensemble) “Torsten Lauschmann really gets it,” says Red Note’s John Harris. “We have worked with him before – at a gig at the Traverse theatre and he is always brilliant – and always funny.”

Bryony Kimmings invites the audience to think about drink, snog a random and listen to her keyguitar in Seven Day Drunk

Behaviour is focussed in its remit, finding the sweet spot between experimentation and accessibility Red Note’s recent adventures into theatre could be described in the same way. In April, they will also be rocking the Traverse again with Pass the Spoon and their own repertoire now includes collaborations with bhangra percussionists and a musical setting of A Drunk Man Looks at the Thistle, a poem that has a sharp take on Scottish identity.

Harris explains that Red Note’s eclecticism is the product of simply “doing stuff that interests us. Inconsistent Whisper is a short performance that involves Chinese whispers between the participants: members of Red Note, players who have developed their musicality outwith formal training and some household appliances.” On one level, it’s a study of communication and miscommunication. However, Red Note and Lauschmann’s wry humour is not excluded, and this is less a dry academic musical discourse than an immediate, playful mash up of improvisation and composition.

Lauschmann recently owned Tramway’s mainspace and the GFT with a film show that immersed an entire venue with flickering, emotive imagery. Inconsistent Whisper follows this with a sound plan.

Beats (Kieran Hurley) It may be slightly hard to believe in this current pick ‘n’ mix musical climate, with instantly downloadable playlists full of a finely-honed sense of irony

(Grimes and Eye Of The Tiger can happily co-exist for some) but rave culture in Britain in the mid-80s to mid-90s was a genuinely subversive scene – a real leveller with a punk spirit which threatened a Tory government who knew it could not be contained; so much so that a law was put into place – the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act, Section 63-67 Part V of 1994, banning the playing of ‘repetitive beats’ in public spaces, thus defining anyone involved within it as ‘anti-social’.

Kieran Hurley, himself no stranger to political dissonance, has created alongside resident Arches DJ Johnny Whoop a moving account of coming of age amid the heady days of techno’s second wave. Forget Irvine Welsh’s often morally dubious storylines – Beats has more heart and soul and a disarming, life-affirming honesty about virgin pillpopping and beautiful tunes by Aphex Twin and Autechre, evoking the hedonism of the mid-90s.

Premiered at Arches Live! as a work in development, Beats displayed likable, recognisable characters, great comic timing and a thoughtful, sensitive tone throughout, meditating on what it means to be young and disenfranchised... and Beats is for anyone who has ever fought to live and dress as they so desire and do what they want, in the face of resistance.

Brick Award: White Rabbit, Red Rabbit (Nassim Soleimanpour) As irritating as British politics can be, its censorious hand rarely prevents artists from leaving the country. In Iran, however, author Nassim Soleimanpour is stuck at home by official fiat. In response, he writes plays that dispense with the need for rehearsal, director and the rest of the theatrical apparatus. WRRR has a different actor at every performance – one who has never even seen the script before.

The inability of the writer to attend performances of his own play – especially as it is now an international success – lends every performance a melancholy and a reminder of how plays can be political simply by existing. Each show is unique, while repeating a fundamental act of resistance: the government may try to stop the artist moving, but it cannot contain the art.

Kieran Hurley's Beats

Gary Gardiner takes a trip back to the 1980s to see how Maggie became our mummy, helped by the Platform 18 awards

April 2012

THE SKINNY 33

MUSIC

Die Laughing

If ever there was a year for a Killing Joke album, this is it. The post-punk godfathers’ typically outspoken front man Jaz Coleman vents his spleen on the trouble with 2012 Interview: Dave Kerr Photo: Kenny Mccoll

“So you’re a member of the ‘don’t know’ party, are you?” Jaz Coleman barks, disgusted by The Skinny’s reluctance to hypothesise about what really happened on September the 11th (in the absence of the full facts). “You’re frightened of speaking out, aren’t you? You’re frightened of saying what’s really on your mind. When something doesn’t sit quite right, you’re frightened of the implications of your job, of what people might think…”

Over an hour in his company, it quickly becomes clear that, in Coleman’s view, Britain has gone to the dogs – sick of its citizens’ hesitance to engage with the smoke and mirrors of modern politics, its ongoing complicity in an illegal war, and the corruption he sees at the core of our government.

“It’s all gotten out of hand – it’s too far gone, isn’t it?” he spits. “I’m not living in this fucking country.

You know why? Cause I’m ashamed of it. I hate the class system here, with people like Osborne and Cameron – they’re probably very nice people to meet, and I’d probably like relaxing with a good cigar with them. But there’s your class system, look at the calibre of these people – they’re all Etonians with a sense of entitlement. Nothing’s changed in this country and I won’t be part of it.”

And neither he is. Since emmigrating to New Zealand in 1991, Coleman found his utopian retreat in an island 100 miles off the coast. Not that geography has done much to inhibit Killing Joke’s output since the band’s original line-up of Coleman, Kevin 'Geordie' Walker, Martin 'Youth' Glover and Paul Ferguson reconciled over the grave of long-standing bass player Paul Raven in 2007, resurrecting the work ethic of their early days. “We’re trying to get back to where we were when we started,” Coleman offers, “which is putting a record out every year. And that’s good. If there’s any regret I have, it’s that we don’t all live in the same area and can’t on any given day just say ‘let’s go for a jam tonight.’

Fusing the elements of serrated industrial guitars, dubbed-out bass, propulsive drumming and anthemic keyboard melodies that made 2010’s Absolute Dissent a triumph, the forthcoming MMXII reiterates Killing Joke’s status as a forwardthinking unit. And if Coleman’s confrontational manner and constant fits of maniacal laughter throughout our rollercoaster interview are any indicator, those jam sessions must be explosive rituals when they do come about.

There’s a Killing Joke documentary called The Death and Resurrection Show on the way this year, which documents three decades of the band. It’s difficult to think of many other groups out there who present themselves with the same conviction.

Is writing and performing still rewarding?

'Yeah, I often think, without the therapeutic benefits of Killing Joke, what would become of us all? Certainly criminals, possibly murderers. The whole motivation for making this noise in the first place is because we couldn’t find it in the bloody record shop. And it still is, really; you still get back what you didn’t expect, but you end up loving it.'

Hero Worship Bill Gould

(Faith No More) “The first time I heard Killing Joke I was 16 and it was so different, I didn’t really get it at first. But when I did...wow. It made heavy music interesting and groovy. But dark as hell; both humanly organic and extremely antisocial at the same time. I can’t think of another band where, 34 years later, I’m still just as psyched to hear what they’ve come up with lately, as I was when I first discovered them.”

34 THE SKINNY April 2012

Without the therapeutic benefits of Killing Joke, what would become of us all? Certainly criminals, possibly murderers Jaz Coleman

The new album’s quick on the heels of Absolute Dissent – presumably there was a sense that you had to get another album out at this particular time…

Oh my God – yes! I had two months off, did the recording and we all went bloody mad; it was a traumatic, painful, not always, but generally unpleasant recording process. As soon as I’d finished putting down the last vocal, I just fucked off with Geordie to New Zealand. I didn’t listen to music for two months.

Does MMXII already feel like another era for the band?

This year feels very different to the year we did Absolute Dissent. The whole climate of everything’s changed. Look, the world’s on a war footing, and this one could be nasty. Those are always good Killing Joke years – c’mon, let’s be honest! Apart from that, Killing Joke represents my dream of what a band should be like. Somehow, our career is an inverse model of most bands’, where they have everything at the front end of their career when they start and they live out the end.

Creatively, our albums are getting more intense, they’re getting better.

What an amazing passage of time with these guys, I’m blown away by that. To be in the same band as these teenagers that I started out with, I consider myself incredibly fortunate. I think the reason why we’ve been able to keep the vitality in our music going is that we just haven’t had it easy!

Over the past five years I’ve been really hungry on several occasions, with no credit card and no money – Geordie has as well. At those times it’s been people involved in Killing Joke who’ve literally put food in our stomachs and given us somewhere to stay and sleep. So I never lose sight of the fact that, the people we’re making music for and the gatherers who make Killing Joke have given us longevity of 34 years now. I never forget that it comes from these people's love of the music, which is why I want us to work so hard in Killing Joke, until death takes us!

Guest Question Joe Cardamone

(The Icarus Line) What keeps you on the right side of sanity when you’re on the road?

Laughing with my mates, laughing my fuckin’ head off – especially when everything’s falling to bits, that’s when we laugh the most. That’s what Youth loves the most – he loves employing people he knows are going to fuck up. He knows they can’t do the job and he usually goes out of his way to employ them so we can all watch. You’ve got to laugh mate, laughing has been the best therapy of all. When things are going really bad, which they often do with Killing Joke, we find it really funny. Youth and Geordie are such good company to watch it all fucking go down with – we howl.

From a fan’s perspective, it’s heartening to see the four original members on stage and that it all gels so well. When you say the albums are ‘getting better,’ is the chemistry any easier for this particular incarnation of the band, second time around?

The chemistry is bizarre with the original line-up.

I mean, when it comes to the creative process, everyone will give you everything you don’t want.

Every bassline that Youth does will be the last one I want him to play, and probably vice versa.

Everything just collides, and then it kind of writes itself out of the chaos. People talk about writing music and it sounds like this intellectual process, but if they only knew the truth – there is no fucking writing! We all get together and disagree: ‘Not like that, like this!’ It just happens when we get together. Preparation’s a waste of time normally because whatever ideas you come to the studio with, they’re all going to get smashed into a thousand pieces once it’s gone to the mill.

You’ve been living off the coast of New Zealand with no modern drains for some time now, what is it about the way of life out there that appeals to you?

I don’t use mobile phones or internet. I don’t use computers. I use a pen, I write letters still.

Obviously I need to get people to receive e-mails for me and stay in communication. How is it? Well, people ring up the next valley to tell me I’ve got to ring into the band’s manager – it’s like sending smoke signals. One example is a few years back, Sarah Brightman wanted to work with me, and she spent 18 months trying to find me until she came personally in the end. I guess it’s not good for business, this approach I have in life. But there you are – I’m very happy, my brain works just fine.

One of the reasons we won’t allow phone masts up on the island is that we believe they’re killing off the bee population, so ours is really healthy. Bear in mind that Einstein said mankind would survive four years after the bee was made extinct – these things are really important. The island is where I’m going to live out the rest of my days, make no mistake about it. That’s where I wanna be, that’s where I wanna die. I always look at a land or country in a different way. I remember being in America when the war was kicking off and thinking ‘whatever happens to me, I don’t mind dying, I just don’t wanna die in America.’ I don’t mind dying in Europe, I just don’t wanna die in America.

This land affects me. I’m so proud to have changed its national anthem*, to have worked with the Māori people there, to have built my studio… to have become involved in something better. The whole reason I went to New Zealand is because I’m so anti-nuclear. It’s the only place that offered a kind of English way of life without nuclear energy.

It was a political decision. The Labour Prime Minister David Longley inspired me; in the middle of the cold war he stood up to the American government and said ‘we’re not having it, we’re not having your mess in our country. We’re not having nuclear weapons; we’re not having nuclear power. I can smell the Plutonium on your breath,’ he said. I just thought ‘this is the country I want to live in and be part of,’ which I’ve done. Part of our motto in Killing Joke is ‘let nothing be fantasy.’ And believe you me, I let nothing be fantasy. Most of the things I dream about, they turn up sooner or later.

MMXII is released via Spinefarm Records on 2 Apr www.killingjoke.com

* Jaz was responsible for having the New Zealand National Anthem translated from English into the Māori tongue in 1998.

Track-by-track:

Killing Joke’s MMXII

From imminent global meltdown to hanging out with Uri Geller, Mr Coleman guides us through the chaos

Pole Shift I think most people will be familiar with the concept of what a pole shift is, which has happened on our planet so many times. If you look at the historian Herodotus who went to Egypt and talked to the priests there, they told him that the sun had changed from rising in the east to rising in the west four times in their history; we’re due for another one. The outcome could mean that the earth would stop going one way, the stars would stand still, then it would move the other way – causing massive earth displacement, which is like the rocks moving underneath the carpet really fast.

FEMA Camp Your duty to yourself is to click onto YouTube, Google away and do everything you do these days to educate yourself on this. It’s a very disturbing trend. Basically, what’s happening in America is that 800-1000 new FEMA camps are being erected, which – let’s be very clear about this – are for civilian inmates. Everybody in the US – and I believe in the United Kingdom – is going to be divided into three colours. ‘Red’ means that basically you hold anti-establishment views and are a threat to the state, ‘Blue’ are those people that sympathise with the Red people, and ‘Yellow’ is for cretinous, dronelike workers. So I think we should all be concerned.

Rapture Rapture is the whole reason we don’t go to church and we go to Killing Joke concerts – the spiritual sucker that we get from the intensity of it. Speaking for myself, this is why I go to a Killing Joke concert, even though I’m on the wrong side of the stage as it were. After a show, I feel an incredible sense of wellbeing. This gives me a greater spiritual strength than any of the options our society provides with organised religion.

Colony Collapse This is about the direction that we’re moving in with the rise of nanotechnology and biotechnology.

Basically, in a short time, human life will be inseparable from artificial life, and what we’ll have is a situation whereby elite members of human society can live to an age of 300-400 years old, but of course

they’ll have no emotional faculties. You’ll have loads of people begging for death in bodies that have no sense of feeling left. Humanity is defined by our ability to have compassion – to empathise with one another. The direction we’re taking with technology will lead us into a condition where there’s nothing about humanity that can be associated with it.

Corporate Elect Consider this: There are only three countries in the world that don’t have a Rothschild bank – North Korea, Iran and Cuba… consolidation is nearly complete. So you see, we’re all at the mercy of our corporate masters. We’re looking at the end of the democratic experiment and the beginning of an authoritarian era. Worse – they’re non-elected! The only thing that can save us is to educate people. You see unrest everywhere, but there’s no music to this movement – that’s the other interesting thing.

In Cythera For people that don’t know, there are two canvases by an artist called Antoine Watteau, one’s in Berlin and the other is in the Louvre in Paris. They both illustrate people leaving a beautiful, sensual, fertile green island, on a boat that’s taking them to grey lands in the distance. One woman’s looking back wistfully on the island of sensuality and it’s this feeling I have every time I have to leave my island, get on tour with Killing Joke and leave everybody I love on the other side of the world.

Primobile This is about the guys in the band and our relationship with each other. Everything in the band is based on a laugh and very very black humour – I’ve said it many times before: when you laugh, when you go through the physiology of laughing, there’s no fear in you at that moment. That’s why the act of laughing and especially black humour is so dear to Killing Joke, so that’s why the chorus goes ‘Holy is the laughter that overcomes all your fears.’ It’s a metaphor for how we’ve survived the madness really.

Glitch Glitch was written in anticipation of the solar storms. We’re so dependant on our computers and satellites – when the solar storms kick in they’re just

fucked, like that. We can’t be so dependant on our current technological system. The song says ‘Solar storms have come and chaos rules outside, the freezer’s broke, the foods are off, the GPS has died.’

It’s about the madness and stupidity of our current mode. It’s highly temporal and we shouldn’t trust in it. I saw a thing the other day about some kid who was shown a book and was looking for the computer pad. The motherfuckers. The state of this world; we’re so far from past the tipping point. The only thing left is destruction, we can’t go on anymore like this – I don’t believe it.

Trance When I’m not doing music I’m interested in the magnetic convergence points on the planet – they have very peculiar properties. I borrow a gauss machine sometimes and research these convergence points that stone circles mark. This song is really about the idea of putting on concerts within them, or raising energy in these places. We’ve played a concert in one of these areas; in the Killing Joke documentary you’ll see everybody talking about what happened to us individually when we played it. This initiated my interest in these magnetic grid points that crisscross the planet. I’ve studied these things with Uri Geller and all sorts of people and taken great interest in them. It’s about getting to a state of grace.

On All Hallow’s Eve This was written about all the people we’ve known who’ve died, and how we’re going to join them. In the same way that the Mexicans celebrate the Day of the Dead, when we remember them, they come alive in us. It’s animism and ancestor worship. In lieu of the fact that all of our fathers are gone now and many of our friends have passed – including Raven – this is a song to remember them all. It’s a joyous song, and I find there’s much to live for. But first, one of the biggest problems we face on this planet is having 435 nuclear power stations. In my dreams every last one of them is decommissioned and dismantled. Every last one of them.

MMXII is released via Spinefarm Records on 2 Apr. Read Jaz’s full guide to the album at www.theskinny.co.uk/music.

April 2012

THE SKINNY 35

TRAVEL

KAYAKING IN FIORDLAND One intrepid reorter explores the foot of New Zealand's South Island the Maori god way WORDS AND PHOTOS: ALLY BROWN

THE SOUTH Island of New Zealand is a canoe.

That won’t come as a surprise to all of you who know that the North Island is a stingray, but I was ignorant, so it was news to me. Captain Cook was the first westemer to land on and to circumnavigate the islands in 1769, but native Maoris had already circumnavigated the North Island, on canoes, and found that it was a giant stingray.

When the South Island was found to have the shape of a 500 mile-long canoe, the conclusion presented itself: Maori god Maui had fished the North Island from the sea while on his South Island canoe. And if Maori gods can suffice with canoes, I certainly didn’t need an air-conditioned luxury catamaran.

A million tourists every year visit Milford Sound in Fiordland, south-west New Zealand, almost all on air-conditioned luxury catamaran cruises. But I thought kayaking would allow for a slower and closer look at the scenery, and – in the more remote Doubtful Sound – allow for a brief eschewal of modernity, a retreat to a timeless world.

Unfortunately, in the timeful world, the three hours taken to get to Doubtful Sound necessitated a 5am alarm call, an unnatural o’clock to wake for anyone not being paid for the sacrifice.

But all early Monday fug was swept from my mood on sighting Doubtful Sound for the first time: as if in a fairytale illustration, snaking into the distance, with steep mountainsides cutting into both sides and a thin layer of morning cloud hovering above it. For the first of two days on Doubtful Sound we were blessed with perfect conditions: no wind and no clouds. With our guide KT, we skimmed along the immaculate surface, enjoying the serenity of remoteness, and gazing at the kilometre-high mountains rising above us.

Despite their steepness, these mountainsides are covered by thick rainforest, because moss can grow in the cracks and provide up to a foot of soil, enough for trees to take root and grow for a century or so, before gravity dictates they crash down in catastrophic avalanches. An abundance of native birdlife used to live in this rainforest, until mammals introduced from overseas, such as possums, weasels and stoats, took to eating them and their eggs. The result is startling quiet. We could chat on the water from 20m apart without raising a voice. A single bird call could be heard from a mass of trees a kilometre away. A handful of living creatures, us included, for miles around.

The mountains are scarred by tree avalanches, landslides, and earthquakes, but not humans.

Our careless vandalism is invisible from the water, presenting itself only as pristine peace. It’s eerie, but it’s hard not to enjoy.

Despite the names, Milford and Doubtful Sounds are not sounds, but fiords. A sound is a valley carved by river flow to the sea; a fiord is a deep valley carved by glaciers, which move slowly over thousands of years, grinding off hard rock.

In Fiordland, glaciers have been advancing and retreating for most of the last two million years, grinding mountains down to sea level, and up to 400m below. Quietly floating between these towering mountain ridges, it’s impossible to imagine the power, and the timescales, required for such magnificent engineering. Like looking at the Milky Way, which a clear night presents in luminous glory here in the untouched wild, gazing at a vast mountainous wilderness with that mindcurling creation in mind makes you feel not-a-little humble.

In the rainforest at night you can’t always be sure whether your eyes are open or closed. Look up and you might find some starlight peering through the canopy; but I looked left and right, and couldn’t see KT a foot left, or Marcel, from Switzerland, a foot right. At the camp, KT heard a

I thought kayaking would allow for a brief eschewal of modernity, a retreat to a timeless world

kiwi call and immediately recruited us to go find it. The flightless kiwi bird is a national symbol of New Zealand, no less than their common demonym, but they’re nocturnal, rare, and very shy. Most Kiwis will never see a kiwi in their lives.

So we sat in a clearing, in silence, in darkness, and waited. KT used a piece of plastic to imitate the call – and it called back! – but it was far away.

Fifteen minutes passed. I gazed at and around a star to stay awake. Something cracked; we shone a light and saw great flopping ferns, moss-coated trees, still shrubs, fallen logs, and nothing else.

Ten minutes passed: it called again, closer; we switched on and saw something trot from behind one tree to another. Was that it? Ten more minutes. I kept my eyes on the star. KT flashed her light on and scanned the scene from left to right: trees, ferns, bushes, a fallen log, trees, another log, wait: “there!” I whispered, pointing to an odd shape in the middle of KT's pan; and it heard me, spun its fat, round body on its skinny hind legs, and bobbed away back in to the bush.

A low morning cloud obscured our view the next day. It takes a few hours for the sun to rise

above the mountain ridges, so our eyes had to adjust to taking in only the first 200m or so of each jungle slope. When the sun arrived, the low cloud began to burn off; slowly, the previously hidden mountain peaks were revealed again, far, far above the morning mist. On one new peak, KT pointed out the tenth highest waterfall in the world – the 836m high Browne Falls – and revealed that, absurdly, it’s usually classified as a steep river, not a waterfall. A rare catamaran coasted by and blew its horn: it echoed forever. We returned to base past some more sky-high waterfalls and prepared to return to local base Te Anau: population 2000, a metropolis in the middle of nowhere.

Fiordland is one of the wettest places in the world, with annual rainfall in some parts amounting to 8 or 9m (Glasgow’s annual rainfall is just over 1m). So, inevitably, a trip to Fiordland wouldn’t be complete without at least one day of getting absolutely pissed on, and my day to bear relentless drizzle was Wednesday, Milford Sound day. We knew that rain was forecast: in fact, KT had persuaded me that wet weather was the best environment to see Milford in, so for a third successive day I roused my aching muscles from bed well before sunrise to go kayaking. She kept talking about the waterfalls, and when I saw the magnificent 160m high Bowen Falls, I thought I understood. But Bowen Falls and the distant Sutherland Falls are Milford’s only two permanent cascades; it’s more famous for its steep walls and sharp summits, which we couldn’t see through the rain. We paddled on wearily, struggling to look upwards at tree avalanche sites because of the rain in our eyes, but cheered briefly by an encounter with a seal pup, flipping, twisting and preening on the water’s surface. Then, after landing at a rocky beach for a quick lunch, the clouds briefly lifted, and we saw the results of their presence.

Peering through the mist from a few kilometres west, a slender new waterfall was gushing down a thousand metre high mountainside; just south, massive Mitre Peak unveiled its famous crooked spire and two new waterfalls rushing down its side; and as we reached the central point between three corners of the fiord, we found ourselves among five giant mountains, each taller than the highest height in the UK, each revealing their ridges, peaks and additional temporary waterfalls gradually, through rolling cloud.

That epiphanic moment was brief, as the rain returned and KT’s attempts to keep the group positive were resisted by fatigue and saturation.

After a 10km loop on the water we headed home, and found a highlight on the way. At the western entrance to the Homer Tunnel – a 1.2km tunnel blasted through the mountains in the 1930s – a huge natural amphitheatre of sheer silver granite was covered in spidery new cascades, spreading out along cracks and crevices and combining again into dramatic lower gushes. That’s when I understood KT’s enthusiasm about the waterfalls.

We didn’t see the postcard image of Mitre Peak, but we did see the spontaneous redirection of the rains through dozens of newborn waterfalls – each in that moment among the highest in the world – back towards the sea. It was a performance from nature, a special recompense for being rained on, and unlike a postcard of Mitre Peak, you can’t buy that for a dollar.

ALLY EXPLORED MILFORD AND DOUBTFUL SOUNDS WITH FIORDLAND WILDNERNESS EXPERIENCES, WHO RUN SMALL GROUP KAYAKING TRIPS TO BOTH FIORDS, FOR $175 (£80) AND $399 (£200) RESPECTIVELY (3-5 DAY TRIPS TO DOUBTFUL SOUND ARE ALSO AVAILABLE). SEE WWW.SEAKAYAKFIORDLAND.CO.NZ FOR DETAILS WWW.SEAKAYAKFIORDLAND.CO.NZ

APRIL 2012

THE SKINNY 37

FESTIVAL COLUMN: BREW AT THE BOG, 5 MAY

GO AWAY: TO THE PHILIPPINES – EDINBURGH STYLEE

such Skinny favourites as Washington Irving, Stanley Odd, Fatherson and Endor. goNorth host a stage there showcasing Highland acts such as Mike Nisbet and Open Day Rotation and there’ll be food to graze on, or films to watch if the music becomes overwhelmingly awesome. [Paul Mitchell] OVER 18S ONLY. 12PM ON SAT 5 MAY FOR 12 HOURS.LIMITED CAMPING AVAILABLE. CAMPSITE OPENS AT 1PM ON FRI 4 MAY AND CLOSES ON SUNDAY AT 1PM. CAMPING TICKETS ARE £10 AND GET YOU IN FROM FRI TIL SUN. NO BOOZE ALLOWED AT THE FESTIVAL SITE – UNLESS IT’S BREWDOG.

PHOTO: SCOTT SPORLEDER

MUSIC AND beer have long been easy bedfellows. It is oft reported how the ancient Egyptians, when congregating to praise one of their innumerable gods, would whip themselves into a hysterical frenzy to the sound of an accompanying harp, and begin throwing their containers of brew exuberantly in the air, drenching all the participants in alcoholic, deific exaltation. This practice continues to this very day (mostly at Kasabian gigs).

And so, a seamless (ahem) segue into a most convenient 2012 marriage of the two traditions.

We in Scotland are well-accustomed to the beer/ gig combo, but when those beers in question come with such lasciviously exquisite monikers such as Trashy Blonde, Tactical Nuclear Penguin and Sink The Bismarck!, it’s difficult not to be extremely curious about the music that will accompany the drinking.

BrewDog are considered Scotland’s largest independent brewery, and in the few short years of their existence, have generated a level of excitement around their brand that hasn’t been seen outside of 1-6 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California. And so, when they throw a party, well, we wanna go.

Brew at the Bog will take place in the beautiful surroundings of Bogbain Farm (not a ‘real’ farmer in sight) just outside Inverness on Saturday 5 May, showcasing the best in up-and-coming musical talent from these shores and beyond. Campers are invited to attend the evening before to get the party started, and stay well into Sunday afternoon.

Meantime, on the Saturday, the stages will be filled with genuinely exceptional quality including

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/BREWBOG WWW.TWITTER.COM/BREWBOG WWW.BREWATTHEBOG.COM

PHOTO: EUAN ROBERTSON

TRAVEL

WORDS: GARETH RICE

ADMIRAL FALLOW

EDDIE BROCK and Jack Foottit met waiting tables in an Edinburgh restaurant six years ago.

Fed up working for the man, they put their heads and their disparate talents together and are now the directors of a bespoke travel outfit dealing in trips to paradise. Tao Philippines offer boat tours that explore the most remote islands between El Nido and Coron in Northern Palawan. They are a responsible company who support the villages they visit, building schools, employing teachers and strengthening communities along the way.

For five days your home is a Bangka boat and you make your bed on a different beach each night. There is no strict itinerary, as the route is dependent on the weather and currents at any one time. Tao’s one guarantee to you is the unfolding of a unique trip that will have you visiting

38 THE SKINNY APRIL 2012

landscapes rarely witnessed by other tourists.

Days are a haze of snorkelling, exploring magical spots such as the Secret Lagoon and Hidden Beach, fishing and chilling out on deck. Evenings are centred around a fire, drinking Tanduay rum with your new friends and savouring yet another incredible meal, prepared and cooked onboard.

So take a look around your workplace – could one of your colleagues be your future business partner and ticket out of here? Or are they the friend who will accompany you on a short jaunt to paradise? [Janet McInnes] FOR FURTHER INFO SEE WWW.TAOPHILIPPINES.COM JANET FLEW RETURN FROM EDINBURGH TO MANILA (KLM.COM), MANILA TO CORON (CEBUPACIFICAIR.COM) AND EL NIDO RESORT TO MANILA (ELNIDOBOUTIQUEANDARTCAFE.COM) WWW.TAOPHILIPPINES.COM/

DEVIANCE

Sex education in a time warp New legislation may send sex education back to the Middle Ages if the Tories have their wicked way words: Matthew Bobbu

Sex Education in Monty Python's The Meaning of Life

Sometimes I get up in the morning, read the news, and wonder which century I will be transported to.

I experienced this curious sensation when I read remarks attributed to Conservative MP Nadine Dorries, for example. She is quite an unsettling woman, having brought two suggestions to Parliament, that are startling in their anachronistic absurdity.

Her first suggestion was to put forward legislation that would require counselling groups to be ‘independent' of abortion providers, a thinly-veiled attempt to give Christian groups more influence over counselling provision for women facing such decisions.

Moreover, she supported it with false accusations of bias and inadequacy against existing counselling providers, such as the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, who, by all accounts, are not only doing an excellent job, but are doing so according to government guidelines.

Fetish, Freaks and Health & Safety words: Miriam Prosser

What’s most horrifying about this particular motion of Dorries is that, despite losing in Parliament by 368 votes to 118, Health Secretary Andrew Lansley is still trying to push through the “spirit of [the] amendments” by adjusting these government guidelines.

Dorries’s other suggestion, which sent me reeling back into the middle ages, was that girls should be given extra sex education classes, on “the benefits of abstinence.” So, you’d like to single out girls for lessons on how to defend yourselves against those sex-crazy boys, Mrs Dorries? Not planning on teaching the boys that saying no is a positive thing, too? Or maybe just trying to force archaic, unsuccessful forms of sex education upon children?

There is little evidence to suggest that abstinence education is successful. A report by the AIDS Research Institute at the University of California, one of the world’s leading AIDS research faculties, concludes that 'little if any credible

research exists to substantiate the claims that abstinence-only programming leads to positive behaviour change among youth.'

Speaking of the US, a country that actively encourages abstinence-only education: it has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in the developed world, by an enormous margin: around 60 per 1000 births, according to the most recent reports made available by the Guttmacher Institute, a sexual health research centre.

Dorries’s suggestions have since resulted in protests, petitions and satire, which is exactly what to expect when you go around insisting that “Teaching a child at the age of seven to apply a condom on a banana is almost saying: ‘Now go and try this for yourself’.” Not only has she entirely misrepresented the way sex education is taught in primary schools, but she also doesn’t seem to quite understand teenagers’ attitudes towards sex: last time I checked, they needed no encouraging.

The Dutch have the right idea: children are given comprehensive sex education from an early age – from as early as five years old, teaching them about the biological and psychological implications of sex, pregnancy, and relationships. They teach teens that saying no is absolutely fine, as well as telling them everything they need to know when they do have sex. This might go some way to explaining why they have one of the lowest teen pregnancy rates in the world, at 15 births per 1000.

You know who else had the right idea? Monty Python. One sketch, showing bored children watching a sex education class, where the teacher has sexual intercourse in front of them, brings into sharp relief the real issue. It isn’t the education that’s the problem, but the social attitude.

As long as a natural, biologically necessary subject is still taboo, we haven’t a hope of teaching children how to enjoy themselves as well-informed, responsible individuals.

At Edinburgh Torture Garden nothing is forbidden (as long as it’s consensual) and no one is excluded. According to the website, “the crowd is the most diverse, radically dressed and cutting edge in the world wide scene” and is “the safest, friendliest and most relaxed club environment.”

But when my partner and I approached the dungeon monitor asking if we could play with the shackles, whips etc. in the playroom, instead of being invited to lurk with the other friendly perverts waiting to get paddled, we were brusquely told to leave.

We weren’t being uniquely obnoxious. In a rare display of good behaviour, neither of us were falling over drunk, rioting or disturbing anyone … we just wanted to enjoy some restraint and humiliation. Surely that’s what fetish nights are for? Safe, friendly rooms where people can get off doing weird stuff with strangers, or having a discrete ogle.

The fetish scene can’t be rejecting me like my

high school netball team! I thought TG more than anywhere was open to every preference and level of experience. Were we not even worthy of a good spanking? Oh, the shame! (And not the fun kind.)

I called Allen TG, co-founder of Torture Garden, in the hope he could soothe my rampant insecurities. Was there some kind of fetish etiquette we were unwittingly transgressing?

Apparently not. It’s an individual problem: some dungeon monitors think people are bastards, and if playing by themselves, someone will get hurt.

(What they think happens at home is a mystery to me. By this logic every shag would end in GBH). This DM was keeping a tight rein on things because he believes us beautiful freaks need to take care of each other. But we’re adults; I wasn’t bothering anyone, and I don’t need to be protected from the notion of two people exchanging desultory slaps with a leather-covered fly swatter.

By contrast, Allen TG believes that if you trust people to behave responsibly, even drunk, horny

party monsters, they will. In fact in twenty years, aside from having to expel the odd luckless groper (which, let’s face it, happens everywhere) Torture Garden have never had any safety issues.

He doesn’t like my freaks and weirdos theory though. Allen was a popular young athlete, and started wearing make up to get laid, rather than as an expression of the dark poetry in his soul.

When asked what “fetish” means to him he replied that it’s business; “Something you like doing that is a turn-on, whether it’s wearing an outfit or getting your arse licked... something that’s better than anything else during sex.”

Mostly he thinks fetish clubs are about creativity, dressing up, and performance.

That dungeon monitor should chill out. Sure, there are risks involved in exploring your fantasies, but we are all unquantifiably weird, and we’re doing alright. We’re not going to fuck each other up.

Let us have our own personal slice of deviance.

April 2012

THE SKINNY 39

SHOWCASE

Stephen Thorpe

Working in oil, canvas and expanding foam, Stephen Thorpe creates obsessively immaculate paintings with solid, rough hewn edges that physically emerge from the wall, reminiscent of fragments of antique friezes hacked out, shipped off and redisplayed in a pristine gallery. Their physicality and manner of display touch on ideas of cultural appropriation, while the compositions reveal dreamlike interiors that bend the rules of space and physics. The work in The Poetics of Space is explicitly inspired by the the theories of Gaston Bachelard. Other influences range from the Leipzig School, Neo Rauch and David Schnell, to Hockney to Renaissance painting to the surreal dreamscapes of Inception.

He says, “Neo Rauchs and Schnells really appealed to me, they were so vibrant and rigid.

But they were also quite painterly, and I loved that balance of tight lines and also abstraction, very free hand stuff. It’s a very conscious effort [in my work] to get the balance right so they’re not too sterile by being too geometric, so using freehand work in there too.

“The grid patterns peeking out beneath the surface of the paint – I used to do that in uni to help me orientate and do the geometric stuff. It’s no longer required but I like to keep it in as part of the process. I always try to leave a bit revealed in a painting to show every level, every layer, every stage of making.

“The physicality of [the work] emerged through discussions with my tutors, particularly Andy Cranston. He came to an exhibition of mine, and he said it would be good if you could cut the wall out around it and frame it then stick the painting with the bit of wall cut out on a wall... Which got me thinking about the edges, making them more organic.

“With this show, I specifically wanted to look at movement within the work. It doesn’t necessarily, specifically represent movement – these things could be just suspended or animated. It’s to do with the idea of taking things for granted. And that we all do it. Just to raise questions about what we do take for granted. What if it started to come undone? What if gravity stops working?

“It’s the first show I’ve done that’s in a new direction of sorts, within interiors. I’d just come back from New York [when I made this work]. I got taken with the intensity and the madness of it. The instability of it. I wanted to add some madness to my work. It always feels quite fragile, the wheels of life, what’s keeping it all together. What makes us conform and behave. I guess that’s just something that’s in the paintings, touching on that vulnerability.” [Interview: Rosamund West] 28 Apr – 10 May, Whitespace, 11 Gayfield Sq, Edinburgh, Daily, 11am – 6pm This page Top: House and Universe (Oil on canvas, 76x76, 2012) Bottom: Throne Room with Nautilus (?)

Opposite page Top: The Dialectics of Outside and Inside (Oil on Canvas, 45x60, 2012) Bottom: Drawers, Chests and wardrobes (Oil on Canvas, 60x76, 2012)

40 THE SKINNY April 2012

Photo: Eoin Carey

Aberdeen graduate Stephen Thorpe was chosen as The Skinny Award winner at last year’s RSA New Contemporaries exhibition. The outcome of his prize is this Showcase and an exhibition, The Poetics of Space, in Edinburgh’s Whitespace which opens on 28 April

April 2012

THE SKINNY 41

Photo: Eoin Carey

Photo: Eoin Carey

FASHION

NKILI: Silk Cut Raised in London and Oxford, Tolani Nkili Onajide moved to Dundee to study architecture.

Shortly after her Scottish re-location, the label NKILI was started as a luxury brand focused on producing “the most delicately designed silk shirts, that people would treasure.”

Tolani is largely influenced, perhaps unsurprisingly considering her chosen area of study, by Ludwig Miles van der Rohe, “one of the leaders of modern architecture”, whose minimalist approach can certainly be seen within NKILI’s simple, clean lines and elegant shapes.

Tolani explains that, “by highlighting the garment in its pure form, without distraction, the craft and beauty can be seen.”

The simply cut shirts are embellished with a combination of tonal hand drawings and traditional silk-screen printing as well as hand painting techniques, on pure silk, ensuring that each piece is unique. All garments are manufactured from “print to production” in Scotland.

This Scottish connection is something that the designer is keen to maintain and strengthen. So when it came to the creation of a fashion film and look-book images for her new website, Tolani chose to approach photographer and Skinny favourite Jonathan Pryce of street style blog Les Garcons De Glasgow: “he has a genuinely great vision and a belief in what NKILI stands for.”

Using Sofia Coppola as a reference and Dundee Botanic Garden as a location, Jonathan and Tolani collaborated to produce imagery that is, “feminine, light and fresh,” a perfect match for the garments themselves.

This April will see the launch of the NKILI S/S 12 collection on www.nkili.com, where it is available to buy. The web shop also includes hand printed silk scarves as well as shirts. [Alexandra Fiddes] Photography: Jonathan Pryce Jonathan is currently looking for more participants in his series of interviews called ‘Superior Interior’ (focusing on the style behind the street) - if interested please get in touch here ww.AnotherGarcon.blogspot.com www.LesGarconsDeGlasgow.com www.nkili.com

42 THE SKINNY April 2012

THE SKINNY SHOWCASE SHOP is now open on Culturelabel.com, offering up a series of beautiful, limited-edition prints which can be bought through the Own Art scheme, splitting the cost of buying over ten interest free monthly installments. Prices start from as little as £10 a month

THE INNOCENTS, 30X40CM, £75 PRINTED ON 310 GSM HAHNEMUHLE GERMAN ETCHING PAPER, PART OF A LIMITED EDITION OF 25.

RACHEL MACLEAN'S The Innocents is part of a biblically-inspired diptych reinterpreting Herod's massacre of the innocents in a digital, consumerist age. The Innocents preludes the massacre, evoking a powder pink land of milk and honey referencing high Renaissance painting, manga and the art of YouTube.

You can see Rachel's prints in the flesh at the Market Gallery's Art Lending Library in the Mitchell Library, part of Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art. 20 Apr-7 May, Mon-Sun 11am-5pm.

Extended opening hours Tue & Thu, til 8pm

ONE PENNY, 45X60CM, £100 (£10 PER MONTH WITH THE OWN ART SCHEME) PRINTED ON 310 GSM HAHNEMUHLE GERMAN ETCHING PAPER, PART OF A LIMITED EDITION OF 25.

RABIYA CHOUDHRY'S One Penny is part of a specially created triptych of red ink prints , available to buy through Culture Label. The drawings are concerned with the theme of money, intricate tributes to the inexorability of market forces in the world of visual art.

You can see more of her work in Persevere, an exhibition of new work by three Leith-based artists (Rabiya, Bernie Reid and Liana Moran) in Edinburgh's Old Ambulance Depot from 21-29 Apr, 1-5pm. A preview evening will be on Fri 20 Apr, 6-9pm

coming up at

trembling bells with bonnie 'prince' billy

Wed 25 April, doors open 7pm

phil bancroft's small as the world

SIGHTS & SOUNDS

Solo exhibition from Ellie Fraser

Sat 28 April. 8pm

28 April – 19 May (Private view 7pm 28 April)

the ukulele orchestra of great britain

8am -4.45pm 8am - 4pm (Sundays) St Johns Church, Princes Street (Closed all day Wednesdays & Tuesday/Thursday mornings)

Sun 29 April, 8pm

camille o'sullivan Tue 8 May, 8pm

www.thequeenshall.net 0131 668 2019 APRIL 2012

THE SKINNY 43

FOOD & DRINK

Spring The Noise It is Spring, so it is. We celebrate with a guide to where to buy, how to grow, and what not to put straight in your gob without checking it first

With Lewis MacDonald

This month, in the world of exciting food, we look at bodacious bento boxes. Possibly the most visual of all the manners of food presentation, the ethic is to get creative with whatever is at hand. As we find ourselves in Easter time, we take a long-eared slant on bento boxes. Thanks to all the contributors, check out more of their creations online. www.annathered.com

Words: Peter Simpson Illustration: Nick Cocozza

Phagomania

happylittlebento.blogspot.co.uk

mental

wow

44 THE SKINNY April 2012

You’ll be gawking at baby sheep and comparing pieces of fruit with an officious zeal in no time

FINDING You may well think that spending your hardearned on such frivolities as food when At the Drive-In have confirmed for Reading and Leeds is a fool’s game. You may believe that growing food is for men with odd accents and overbites. You may also have heard that food does in fact grow everywhere, and fancy a nice walk coupled with some off-the-cuff fruit collection. Spring brings with it a whole host of fruits and herbs for you to have a go at, and wild food can be found in almost any wooded area. Simple, eh? Save your money, see if Omar and the gang have still got it.

That said, it would be remiss of us not to point out what our wild food expert Andy Fraser said when we dealt with this area in the autumn. “The rule is pretty simple really; if you are not 100% sure of any wild food do not eat it. Some stuff out there will kill you stone dead.” You. Dead. Stone dead, in fact, so be careful when looking for accompaniments for your Squabbit. After all, there’s only ever been one guy who survived dying in the spring, and he had quite a bit of help with the whole business.

adventuresinbentomaking. com

modular plant storage solutions, and help to manage a wide range of community projects to suit the greenest of green fingers.

In the capital, it’s a slightly different story. When the Council aren’t busy trying to strangle the city’s artistic community with one hand while signing off planning permissions for entirely necessary additions to Sainsbury’s property portfolio with the other, they’re presiding over six year waiting lists for urban allotments. Officially, you ain’t growing a damn thing, son. Luckily, the Edinburgh Community Backgreens Association can help you get your spring on in your backyard, providing mentors, giving advice, and helping to talk round the mad old lady from upstairs. They even have their own social network of Edinburgh-based urban gardeners, so you know they’re cool and ‘with it’.

cloud9food.blogspot.co.uk

BUYING Clothing aficionados have Fashion Week, and film buffs have the festival circuit. When it comes to the foodies, the farmers’ market is the place to be to find out what’s new and in season, looking fly and tasting nice. There are over 50 of the buggers across the country, with two each in Glasgow and Edinburgh. They’re ideal chances to try new things, such as Squabbit Pie (bits of squirrel and rabbit, not one horrifying cross-breed dreamt up by a bored farmer on a cold winter’s night) at Stockbridge Market and Ostrich Burgers at the market in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle.

Our tips for the market-goer: ask questions, as this will bizarrely make you appear more informed than you are; try the samples but don’t take the piss as the supplier himself will probably be looking right at you as you do; and go early. Seriously, tales abound of entire stalls clearing out before the average sane person is thinking about getting out of their pit on a Saturday morning. If you fancy some local seasonal goods without the early rises and social interaction, then the likes of East Coast Organics and Grow Wild can bring farm-fresh seasonal produce direct to your door then leave you to get on with it. Whether they can bring you incongruous pies is something you’ll have to take up with them.

GROWING Now you, reader, are probably an urbane sophisticate with a nice haircut and a lovely pair of trainers. Someone who loves the hubbub of city life, but every so often, in quiet moments of reflection, longs for a simpler life of standing in a large field trying to control a runaway threshing machine while weeping softly at the overwhelming stress of supplying a ravenous supermarket produce buyer with thousands of tonnes of flour. That’s you, give or take a few details.

Thankfully, there are a number of groups out there who can help you get your fingers green without having to resort to enormous agricultural machinery, while avoiding the need to deal with such questions as “Who are you?” and “Why are you in my garden?” Sow and Grow Everywhere coordinate and organise a wide range of urban allotments across Glasgow and the surrounding area, taking derelict patches of urban sprawl and replacing them with hives of horticultural activity.

How SAGE of them. Oh, suit yourself. Anyway, SAGE work to hook up budding growers with advice, assistance, and super-cool Ikea-style

oof t!

www.annathered.com

Congratulations, you made it! High five!

You’ve come out on top, besting the most ‘meh’ winter in living memory. And your reward for surviving three-and-a-half months of continual greyness and the occasional stiff breeze? Why, it’s spring, magical land of small fluffy animals, plants and vegetables in a wide range of exciting colours, and giant chocolate eggs. Naturally, it’s going to take you a while to adjust to this strange new world, so we thought we’d put together a little guide for you to get you started. You’ll be gawking at baby sheep and comparing pieces of fruit with an officious zeal in no time.

bento

Natural beauty

AROUND THE WORLD IN 20 DRINKS:

SOUTH KOREA Our man in Korea gives us the lowdown on mind-altering spirits, complex customs, and liberal interpretations of the word ‘food’ WORDS AND PHOTOS: EUAN WALLACE MUCH LIKE it is round these parts, drinking is an integral part of Korean culture. As soon as the working day is done, salarymen flock to nearby bars in a concerted effort to get hammered and eventually vomit their way down the stairs to a nearby subway station before the last train leaves.

In terms of the drinks themselves, leaving aside cheap but pisspoor Korean beers such as Cass, Max or Hite, the country has two popular national drinks.

The most prominent is soju, an unassuming spirit with a taste similar to mild vodka but with the effects of a mild hallucinogenic. Soju doesn’t like to let you know that you’re drunk until it’s five bottles later and you’re attempting to walk on water or stop traffic with your mind. A complication for

with a gentle touch

foreigners partaking in soju drinking is remembering the various customs that go with it.

Remembering how to properly hold your glass or how to properly pour your associate’s drink while staying mindful of their age and status in accordance with Korean culture is hard enough. And don’t forget the added difficulty of getting steadily drunk, and steadily less capable of pouring a drink anyway, when you’re in the middle of an evening with this stuff.

A less potent but still challenging beverage is makgeolli, a rice wine that tastes like a mixture of a passable dry white and some century-old yoghurt.

A popular drink for rainy evenings, it is traditionally served from a kettle into some battered-looking old metal bowls that could possibly have been previously used to bludgeon someone in a waking soju nightmare. While more forgiving than soju, it can still be relied upon to provide quite a brutal hangover even if you only drink a few bowls.

And no heavy Korean drinking session would be complete without a variety of anju, snacks that generally only exist to accompany alcohol. The star among these is mallin ojingeo, dried shredded squid with an atrocious smell and a taste to match.

Yet it’s inexplicably alluring, a culinary experience similar to eating a surprisingly moreish belt.

A wide range of natural organic body care & beauty products for all the family

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Shop online at www.realfoods.co.uk 37 Broughton St, Edinburgh EH1 3JU 8 Brougham St, Edinburgh EH3 9JH UNASSUMING BUT DEADLY, LIKE KIM JONG-IL.

MAKGEOLLI

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coffee bar

café

Quality, Speciality Coffee

LUCKY YOU! Present this flyer to claim a free coffee, and enter our prize draw to win a free meal for two Sourcing ingredients from the best local, Scottish produce 291, Byres Road, Glasgow

FOOD NEWS WITH PETER SIMPSON

This month’s Food News contains trace amounts of art, along with enough beer to float the Titanic Food News this month starts with the wisdom of experience being brought to bear. The latest of the Edinburgh Local Food Network’s monthly talks is by kings of home-delivered vegetables East Coast Organics. If anyone is going to have useful tips on how to keep plants alive and edible in horrendous Scottish weather then these guys will. Mind you, they may refuse to help for fear of losing custom, or offer you advice then turn up in your back garden at 2am to ‘take out’ your vegetable plants à la every Mafia film ever made.

Still, couldn’t hurt to ask them.

From vegetable assassination in Edinburgh to art and architecture in Glasgow, as duo Hole In My Pocket present a combined exhibition, performance and dining experience as part of The Arches’ collaboration with the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art. The lads will present a series of talks and performances on the concept of timeanxiety, while you tuck into what’s described as a 'time-themed' menu. We don’t know what a 'timethemed' menu entails, but we’re very intrigued.

FEAST 2012 is the latest instalment of Jewel & Esk College and Queen Margaret University’s jointly-held annual food festival. It’s a chance to try out the best of Scottish food, learn what you should be looking for in your local produce, snaffle freebies and see some top chefs do what they do but with less swearing than usual seeing as there’ll probably be kids and ladies present.

And finally, Scotland’s biggest beer festival! In...

Paisley? Is that right? Yes, it’s the 25th anniversary

PAISLEY BEER FESTIVAL

of the imaginatively-titled Paisley Beer Festival, with four days of beer-based fun to be had. Over 160 ales will be to hand, with many of those that featured at the first Festival back on tap. That’s 160 kinds of ale, there are two other non-ale bars as well as that. There is also a ‘meet the brewers’ session, thankfully arranged for first thing to reduce the chances of drunken beer aficionados screaming in brewers’ faces about how much they love their ale. See, that’s experience for you.

EDINBURGH LOCAL FOOD NETWORK TALK, THU 5 APR, 7PM, EDINBURGH LARDER, 79 BLACKFRIARS ST HOLE IN MY POCKET, SAT 21 & THU 26 APR, 5.30PM, THE ARCHES, 253 ARGYLE ST FEAST 2012, SAT 28 APR, JEWEL & ESK COLLEGE, EDINBURGH PAISLEY BEER FESTIVAL, WED 25 – SAT 28 APR, PAISLEY TOWN HALL

Untitled-3 1

23/08/2011 13:15

APRIL 2012

THE SKINNY 45

Brewdog Music Festival Bogbain Farm ∙ Inverness ∙ 5th May 2012

three blind wolves endor fatherson washington irving kitty the lion over the wall laki mera ...and lots more Tickets £45 Camping available www.brewatthebog.com

46 THE SKINNY April 2012

MUSIC

Live Music Highlights

METAL COLUMN

wunderkind Auntie Flo tops a bill fleshed out by the righteous post-punk jams of Sacred Paws, a live set from Halleluwah Hits’ Dilla disciple and abstract master Dam Mantle, plus sets from Silk Cut, The Rose Crucifixion and Blue Sabbath Black Fiji & Gum Takes Tooth. One thing’s for sure, without the tireless efforts of promoters like the Parrot, the live scene in Glasgow would be a different caper altogether. Recognise, fools!

TAWFAWW back in the day

Photo: Sarah Roberts

Helmet

HOT TICKET of the month Frightened Rabbit’s Highland Tour 11-22 Apr, Various Venues

Frightened Rabbit enjoy a rare excuse to venture by the northern territories and road test a few numbers from their as-yet-to-be-recorded forthcoming fourth LP this month.

Taking in venues of all sizes in every nook and cranny of the land, frontman Scott Hutchison explains the attraction of the trip: “The Highlands and Islands are mostly uncharted territory for FR, though we’ve always been aware that there are fans of our music in Scotland’s outer reaches. We all grew up in rather boring wee towns, so we understand how great it would be if one of your favourite bands (or any band for that matter) came to play in your neighbourhood. We’ve not been this excited about a tour for quite some time.”

The arrival of spring comes as bad news for us metal fans, right? But then it’s not like we ever emerge from the dark murky depths of our bedrooms except to do a Space Raiders run, get leathered on diesel or go to a gig. Speaking of which...

‘Post-metal’ titans Pelican are also set to perform their trademark bowel-loosening instrumentals at Stereo (10 Apr). Expect a cinematic experience from the Chicago boys, touring with an expansive new EP of ambient awesome titled Ataraxia/Taraxis under their arm. Playing the Classic Grand on the same night, retro-flavoured stoner-doom kings Orange Goblin provide a suitably tongue-in-cheek alternative. Over in Auld Reekie a few days later, English metalcore group Architects pair up with electronica-tinged spazzcore kids Rolo Tomassi at The Liquid Room (13 Apr), playing alongside American hardcore crew Stray From the Path.

Brazilian extremists Vulcano celebrate 30 years as a band by playing their first ever Scottish show at the Classic Grand (19 Apr). They’re joined by fellow South American thrashers Necroriser and our very own black-metallers Haar. Australian doom-merchants Inverloch (half of diSEMBOWLMENT) are due to flood Edinburgh’s Bannerman’s a day later (20 Apr) with their gloomy funeral aesthetics, also appearing under their d.USK moniker on a bill alongside Wraiths, Bonesaw and Sufferinfuck.

If last year’s Empros sounded like a rocket hurtling through space on a collision course with Mars, you can imagine the damage instrumental three-piece Russian Circles will inflict on Stereo (25 Apr), but even they’ll be hard-pressed to outdo support act Deafheaven, a band that has garnered plenty of attention for the intensity of its live show, masterfully combining the uneasy bedfellows of black metal, post-rock and shoegaze.

No joke.

Ringing in the end of April, harsh sonic carnage arrives at the hands of the 13th Note’s Cave ov Lights All-dayer (28 Apr) with appearances from the psych’n’doom disciples Bong, joined by Headless Kross, Skull Wizard, Troll Picnic and more. The chaos begins super-prompt at 2pm and will continue well into the night. [Ross Watson]

Photo: Emily Wylde

Let’s not fuck about, people; Helmet in their prime could wipe the floor with your favourite band. A bit jazz, a little hardcore, and very metal, theirs is a formula that countless others have been struggling to rip ever since. So bow down and show some God damn respect when they show up at The Cathouse (4 Apr) and bang yo’ head like it’s 1992 as Page Hamilton’s men celebrate the 20th anniversary of Meantime.

Glasgow venue Stereo are showing a lot of love for the mighty riff of late; they’ve booked a fair few of our picks this month: The first date for your calendar is a figurative 21-gun salute for fly-by-night noise rock nutters Take A Worm For A Walk Week (5 Apr). The boys are sadly calling it quits, but you can put big money on Burrito King Quimby’s men bowing out in shocking style.

Will they don the spandex one last time?

Back with much of their original incarnation, Bruce Loose and San Franciscan punk progenitors Flipper come through Stereo (8 Apr); these gents have been around in one form or another since the late 70s (counting one Krist Novoselic in their ranks for 2009 album Love). Known to inhabit the sort of barbed post-punk and depraved sludge rock that jolted The Melvins to life (indeed both bands steamrollered Glasgow Garage some years back), expect a satisfying blend of both, plus a straight-up evil cover of Scentless Apprentice.

In case you forgot, Andrew WK is in the business of partying hard, in the same clothes, rocking the same look, tweeting about partying methods and constantly wondering why he just can’t get out from under that mental pop rock debut he unleashed in 2001 (I Get Wet). Whether he’s the construct of a sinister record exec committee or simply a lone drunken maverick (we never did find out), there’s no question that these are awesome anthems for the quadraspazzed. Glasgow Garage on 14 Apr is the where and the when.

Swedish tech-metal architects Meshuggah need no introduction in these pages; all you need to know is that they’re promoting the release of their latest mathy monster Koloss by holding a cranium-crushing chugathon at Glasgow Garage (15 Apr). Mixed support comes from intricate proggers Animals As Leaders and pissed-off Albini-endorsed Geordie agit-punks We Are Knuckle Dragger. We’ll be gurning with a doomclaw down’t front.

While Damon swans off with cartoon supergroups and monkey operas, Alex James is all about getting papped at Turdstock with David Cameron and Jeremy Clarkson, and Dave Rowntree’s busy being ginger; Graham Coxon’s the only member of Blur with his dignity intact (just kidding, Dave). Coxon shrugs off his 2009 folk excursion The Spinning Top and gets back to the improvised weirdness we love him for with A+E this month. Witness the new material first hand at Edinburgh Liquid Room (16 Apr) and Glasgow Garage (17 Apr).

If the perplexed people of Edinburgh just can’t deal with that moody, Doors-mangling wubstep maniac Skrillex crossing the Forth Bridge on 18 Apr, let the Lemonheads soothe the migraine away with another throwback from ’92 as they roll into town with the blissful It’s A Shame About Ray. It went down a treat at Òran Mór late last year, HMV Picture House gets the encore.

Picking the tempo back up in the west (and ensuring we walk away from April a bauckled, sweaty wreck), tireless DIY booker Cry Parrot hosts its fifth birthday celebration at The Glue Factory on 27 Apr. Rhythmic afro-house

Photo: John Lewis

words: Benny Blanco

You can join Frabbit on the road here: Acoustic: 11 Apr, Cafe Continental, Gourock 12 Apr, Perth, Twa Tams 13 Apr, The Loft, Forres 14 Apr, The Arch Inn, Ullapool 15 Apr, An Tobar, Tobermory, Mull Full Band: 18 Apr, Aviemore, The Old Bridge Inn 19 Apr, Stornoway, An Lanntair 20 Apr, Portree, Community Centre 21 Apr, Strathpeffer, Spa Pavilion 22 Apr, Dunoon, Queens Hall Russian Circles

frightenedrabbit.com/updates/highlands-tour-2012

April 2012

THE SKINNY 47

Talib Kweli The Arches 23 Mar

photo: Eoin Carey

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Earth / Mount Eerie The Caves, 8 Mar

rrrr The Caves’ tall arches provide stellar acoustics for an Earth gig, and Mount Eerie do a solid job of demonstrating the venue’s sound enhancing properties.

Phil Elverum’s stage presence is withdrawn and awkward, but it’s the music itself that does the talking, electric guitar emitting radiant, wholesome tones which reverberate gloriously around the room. Devotees are treated to the quieter end of his oeuvre, though the uninitiated have a harder time coming around to the subtlety of the performance. With this being a solo set, Elverum simply lacks the resources to deliver a true rendition of his often earshattering best work.

Earth, on the other hand, sound grander than ever. The relatively recent addition of cellist Lori Goldston to the lineup adds a vital backbone to their sound,

almost to the point where it’s hard to imagine them without her as she breathes new life into songs like Tallahassee, from 1996’s Pentastar: In The Style of Demons.

The slothful, ponderous nature of their music means their stage presence isn’t much to behold, but nobody came here expecting stage dives or crab stances.

Visionary guitarist Dylan Carlson has filtered out the non-believers by this point in his career; only the die-hards remain tonight. Most of the congregation are stood in quiet contemplation throughout the quartet’s lengthy instrumental pieces, up until the last notes ring out, giving way to rapturous applause. In the wake of their encore – a stunningly spaced-out run-through of Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light, Vol. 1’s Descent to the Zenith – it’s clear that Carlson and co have come a long way from that agenda-setting ‘91 debut. [Ross Watson] www.thronesanddominions.com

Nasty P’s support set is an exercise in multimedia turntablism, as Edinburgh’s favourite hip-hop DJ and producer employs two decks, an iPad serving as a drum machine, a laptop and an array of classic hiphop samples to perform tracks from his recent LP The Story So Far. It hypes the crowd just right, and when a black-clad Talib Kweli enters from stage left, it’s to rapturous applause. His set generously dishes out the hits, from his Reflection Eternal and Black Star projects, and solo albums stretching right up to last year’s Gutter Rainbows. Anthemic

Souls of Mischief Electric Circus, 13 Mar

rrrr Immortalised as four of the faces to grace A Tribe Called Quest’s Midnight Marauders sleeve when they recorded one of the great paeans to easy living that defined the era (93 ‘til Infinity), Souls of Mischief retreated to the fringes and formed prolific independent collective Hieroglyphics while contemporaries from that same artwork (Dr Dre and Sean Combs, for two) tipped the genre into commercial dominance.

Tonight a trio, as men in their mid-thirties (touring without fellow founder Adam ‘A-Plus’ Carter), the Oakland posse exude the benefits of staying true to the essence (“it’s a lifestyle,” says Damani ‘Phesto’ Thompson); throwing down a

Future Islands Captain’s Rest, 7 Mar

Wu Lyf SWG3, 17 Mar

rrrr Before they come on stage, Wu Lyf’s set is dominated by the symbol which represents the band.

It’s more magickal glyph than logo: anyone who has tried their hand at a bit of sigil magic will recognise the stylised presence of each letter of the band’s name, itself an acronym for World Unite: Lucifer Youth Foundation.

After a heart-stoppingly beautiful performance from support act Holy Esque, combining Cobain-like vocals with Joy Division’s sense of atmosphere and space, Wu Lyf take the stage. Their sigil lights up, imbuing SWG3’s stark warehouse with a ghostly, reverent glow.

Singer Ellery James Roberts plays

48 THE SKINNY April 2012

side-on to the crowd, teasing snaking, sinuous sounds from his organ, leading the band with his Followill-esque growl. The band build up an incredible head of steam, somehow wrenching the epic, ethereal sonics of their church-recorded debut EP from the bare warehouse space.

Culminating in a riotous, cathartic We Bros, to fist-punching, cheering and stage diving from the crowd (and indeed Roberts), the gig left all who attended it with a feeling of euphoria. The strange disconnect between the band’s satanic name, Psychic TV-influenced visuals and uplifting heavy pop is irrelevant – these guys are bound for glory, and most likely stadiums too. [Bram E. Gieben] Holy Esque’s debut EP is released on 23 Apr; they play Dundee Doghouse on 4 May and Glasgow Stereo on 5 May

Sacred Paws start proceedings with an exuberant, pulse-raising set of afrobeat-influenced lo-fi pop; consisting of Eilidh of Golden Grrls on drums and Rachel of Trash Kit on guitar, the duo’s intricate busyness belies their simple set up, with all components firing off on unpredictable trajectories and staying in constant motion throughout.

By comparison, self-described “pastoral punks” Way Through are a pricklier proposition. Another drums/guitar two-piece, the Shropshire duo revel in wilfully tricky time signatures, shuffling together pop hooks and noisy feedback surges, with resulting echoes of, amongst others, Hot Club de Paris and Pixies (particularly in the Black Francis-esque vocal range).

Yet while both supports make a real impression, they can’t help but be side-lined in the memory banks by the headliner’s mercurial frontman. Normally we’d try to

photo: Ross Gilmore

photo: Kenny McCOLL

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highlights such as Just To Get By and Move Somethin are clearly just as well-appreciated by the older members of the crowd as the younger hip-hop heads.

Kweli’s most salient, intelligent points and most impressive feats of verbal dexterity are underscored

by DJ Spinna dropping the beat out completely, allowing the words to speak for themselves. The Eleanor Rigby-sampling Lonely People tears the roof off, with Kweli’s super-tight doubletime flow causing outbreaks of frantic body-popping in the crowd. A triumphant showcase of hits from a socially conscious, technically superb hip-hop artist who shows no signs of slowing down. [Bram E. Gieben] www.facebook.com/talibkweli

dextrous set of funk flavoured hiphop that truly brings the Electric Circus to life. Tajai in particular ignites the room when he takes centre stage; with a bombastic flow in his latter day, he recalls Meth and Busta at their hungriest.

Distinctly old school without reclining into call-and-response clichés to see them through, playful staples like Limitations and That’s When Ya Lost comfortably rub shoulders with the grittier verses of 2010’s Prince Paul-produced Montezuma’s Revenge. Indisputably, it’s that familiar, perfectly rounded anthem that raises the biggest cheer of the night, emerging like an old stoned friend who never moved out of his parents’ basement. Getting reacquainted was easy. [Dave Kerr]

Mark Lanegan Band O2ABC, 9 Mar

rrrr Loping into town on the back of the excellent reviews bequeathed to latest long player Blues Funeral, Mark Lanegan and his grizzled band are in no mood to disappoint tonight. A typically understated welcome – a tilt of the shaggy mane, a trademark grimace – and the rasping excellence of opener The Gravedigger’s Song is more alive, if at the same time even more down in the mouth, than its recorded cousin. Particularly in the wake of his work with Isobel Campbell, Lanegan is no stranger to either these shores or the ABC, but tonight there is none of the sweet and sour whimsy which came with that unlikely pairing, only the grungy modern blues of the two Mark Lanegan Band records, interspersed with a smattering of numbers from his ‘solo’ years as a rock and roll survivor.

Shorn of its studio gloss, Quiver Syndrome, which with its counterintuitively merry whoo hoos is a bit sub-Dandy Warhols, changes to a thuggish, brute of a tune, Lanegan’s

voice so wonderfully lowslung that it smacks the diaphragm like a none-too-friendly punch; Ode to Sad Disco collects a clanking industrial sample in the chorus, ensuring its nice synth backdrop isn’t too disco for the down on their luck numbers that surround it. The danceable beat even tempts something like a shoulder-shuffle move from the singer, which is as far as Lanegan goes when it comes to physically expressing any ‘joie de vivre’ on stage.

The big songs from previous album Bubblegum – Hit the City, Wedding Dress and stomping encore closer Methamphetamine Blues – are just as well received, the loose, but not too loose, skills of the band stepping up here as the singer takes holds of his mic stand as a sea captain might hold his wheel in the teeth of a bitter storm. A victim of Friday night merry makers, Lanegan only comes close to losing the thread when he lets the tempo drop and, as affecting and emotional as his remarkable baritone is, the crowd show little patience with the true funereal end of the singer-song writer’s whip-throated, whiskylashed repertoire. [PJ Meiklem]

www.hieroglyphics.com

avoid meeting the piercing gaze of buckfast-swigging, wild-eyed eccentrics, particularly so if they’re incessantly slapping themselves in the head and/or growling like a theatrical grizzly bear. But in the case of Future Islands’ Samuel Herring, we can’t look anywhere else. From the moment he bounds onstage, he’s a gravitational presence, sucking all eyes towards him with a mix of gleeful daftness and unsettling danger.

Despite admitting to feeling “pretty beat up” (less due to the face slapping, more to do with being 21 gigs into a tour without a day off), opening number Give Us the Wind is a spellbinding demonstration of the Baltimore trio’s compelling idiosyncrasies. Other highlights include Walking Through That Door and an emotive Before the Bridge, but the longer they play, the clearer it is that Herring’s unorthodox vocal style (part Ultravox, part Tenacious D, part Les Miserables) could turn any old muzak into a hypnotising tour-de-force. [Chris Buckle] www.future-islands.com

photo: Gemma Burke

Live Reviews

Father Murphy Nice n Sleazy, 14 Mar

rrrr For all their irreverent chat, Fat Janitor don’t mess around. Pummeling Nice n Sleazy with dense hardcore, the Jannys’ bracingly raw sound is effective if unsubtle, their relentlessly noisy riffs spiked with baw-kicking feedback.

With their debut album due shortly, Citizens offer a cleaner, less aggressive take on many of the same genre ingredients, with more varied and melodic results.

Their approach is no less invigorating, but they accost the room’s collective lugs in more diverse (and arguably more satisfying) ways.

But as good as both supports are, there’s relatively little in the way of overlap with tonight’s headliners (unfaltering intensity aside). As Father Murphy huddle solemnly onstage, the inter-bill contrast is brought into sharper

focus; where the opening acts were unyieldingly heavy, the Italian trio experiment with textures – silence to shrieks, quiet clicks to cacophonous rackets.

The crepuscular mood is interrupted twice by mobile phone interference pulsing erratically through the PA, but otherwise they foster an unbroken, reverential atmosphere, in which applause is held back till the set’s end so as not to disturb the carefully placed clangs and moans.

As Reverend Freddie preaches inscrutable sermons over Chiara Lee’s accompanying keys, drummer Vittorio’s loose and inventive percussion holds the elements in place, whether tolling cracked cymbals or punctuating the Rev’s discordant guitar drones with sharp intakes of breath. Though challenging and unorthodox, they’ve a confidence and clarity of purpose both rare and rewarding. [Chris Buckle] www.fathermurphy.bandcamp.com

RECORDS

THE DIRTY DOZEN With some of the most generous Dirty Dozen scores dished out in recent memory, it takes a lot to displease MARTIN JOHN HENRY and the PERMANENT SKELFS INTERVIEW: CHRIS BUCKLE PHOTOS: ROSS GILMORE

The OK Social Club – The Shape of Things to Come (Platform Records, 2 Apr) Paul Mellon: This is like a Scottish Razorlight or something.

Raindeer: It’s very energetic…

Martin: …and young, and I don’t feel either. Er, but it’s quite nice, really poppy.

The Skinny: Marks out of ten?

Paul: Well I doubt that’ll be the best, or the worst.

Martin: I hate it when people review me and here I am… Maybe we should wait till we’re four or five in before we start giving scores?

François and the Atlas Mountains – City Kiss (Domino, 16 Apr) Raindeer: I saw them play last year and thought they were excellent, but this sounds really different, really polished. I still like it though.

James Woodside: It reminds me of… what’s that fat band?

Paul: The Magic Numbers? That’s the second time this week someone’s mentioned ‘that fat band’ to me. The only reason I know who you mean is because someone said I look like a thinner version of the singer…

Martin: I really like this – it’s a bit on the twee side, but still interesting.

Tom Williams & the Boat – Teenage Blood (Moshi Moshi/Wire Boat Recordings, 9 Apr) The Skinny: This one was recorded in a working brewery…

Paul: Well that wins it points already. This almost sounds like latter-day Oasis.

James: It’s got some nice wee bits, like that violin part.

Martin: Right, let’s start rating these then.

Paul: I think François and the Atlas Mountains is definitely the best so far – 8.

Martin: In which case, this one is, what – 6?

James: Well in that case the first must be a 5.

Martin: Agreed.

Django Django – Storm (Because, 23 Apr) Raindeer: My ears have pricked up right away with this one…

Paul: It’s the most immediately interesting song so far. The album’s really good as well actually. You can tell his brother was in the Beta Band, but not in a bad way. I really like them.

Martin: It’s the first song tonight to sound both instrumentally and vocally inventive.

Raindeer: This is the first I’ve heard them, but it definitely makes me want to listen to more.

Martin: I like how it starts that big build, then just goes back to a minimal riff. 8 as well – I wouldn’t go as far as a 9 yet…

Rufus Wainwright – Out of the Game (Polydor, 16 Apr) Raindeer: He hasn’t started singing but I like it already, because I already love his voice. He reminds me of Billy Joel.

Martin: His sense of melody is just amazing. He does that thing where everything is very traditional, but he still manages to put his own imprint on it, which is the hardest thing to do.

Raindeer: I love this. I feel like I’ve known it forever…

Martin: I’m really enjoying it. Let’s give that a 7.

James: He sounds like a big Elton fan. I could listen to that with all sorts of people, you know?

Not just you guys, but like my auntie or whatever.

It’s inoffensive.

Pulled Apart By Horses – Wolf Hand (Transgressive, 23 Apr) Paul: I saw these guys in King Tut’s recently and they were great.

James: I’m not sure about this – it’s like it’s either too heavy or not heavy enough…

Martin: If I saw them live I think I’d like it more this sounds compressed, like it’s playing on an FM radio. I’m going to struggle with scoring that.

Paul: Well I really like them, so what happens here?

Martin: Since it’s my band, I’m going to say 5.

Paul: You’re the boss. I still really like them. I’ve played gigs with them before.

James: Oh well in that case we really like them, especially the production.

Lightships – Sweetness in Her Spark (Geographic, 26 Apr) Martin: It’s quite Teenage Fanclubby isn’t it?

Paul: That’s because it’s Gerry from the Fanclub, it’s his solo thing. It’s not doing anything new…

Martin: …but then they never have.

Paul: Aye, you know what you’re getting, but they’re so great at it. I think this is really pretty. It does just sound like Teenage Fanclub though.

Raindeer: It’s nice – how about 7?

Ane Brun ft. Jose Gonzalez – Worship (Balloon Ranger Records, 2 Apr) Raindeer: This is great. I have to keep reminding myself that these are singles though – this feels more like an album track.

Martin: I kind of don’t care about Jose Gonzalez’s part – I mean, it’s a nice male vocal, but her voice just has so much personality. This is really lush sounding.

Raindeer: I like the way it builds without you realising. It catches you off guard. If you start to zone out, there’s another sound to keep you interested.

Martin, warming to the reviewer role: Another 8?

We could keep scoring stuff all night…

Paul: Get a few beers in, and we’ll score every record you’ve got in the whole house.

Taffy – So Long (Club AC30, 21 Apr) Paul: This sounds very 90s, sort of Britpop.

They’re from Tokyo? That’s surprising – they sound like, what’s that band called…

Martin: Kenickie? No, wait, this is Japanese Echobelly!

Paul: I’ll have that: the Japanese Echobelly. A bit Weezery as well.

Martin: It’s retro music from another culture, which makes it hard to critique. It’s more like a tribute act than something that draws from the past and uses it in its own way, so 4.

Marina and the Diamonds – Primadonna (679/ Atlantic, 16 Apr) Martin: I think this is… [pause] total guff. Turn it off, we’ve heard enough. I’ll give it a 3, but only because my wife quite likes her.

Spiritualized – Hey Jane (Double Six/Spaceman Recordings, 16 Apr) Paul: I’m going to see Spiritualized tomorrow…

This is quite lo-fi, which is unusual for them. It’s almost more towards what he did with Spaceman 3, a bit more garagey sounding.

Martin: I like the ‘don’t-give-a-shit’ vocals. This isn’t really what I was expecting.

Paul: That cacophony at the end is good; he gives good cacophony. Definitely 7.

Raindeer: Hmmm, I’d go with 6.

Paul: Nah, I’m sticking to my guns with this one.

[Reindeer continues to hum the guitar part as we

load the final promo] Listen, you’re still singing the riff! Come on, it’s the only one you’re going to go away remembering.

James: Isn’t that just because it only just finished?

Paul: Aye, but it’s still catchy – I haven’t heard anyone sing any of the others…

SINGLE OF THE MONTH Single of the month: King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Third Swan (Domino, 21 Apr) Martin: This is lovely - he has the most beautiful singing voice.

James: Seeing him play acoustic in a church hall was one of the best things I’ve ever seen.

Paul: His lyrics are great too. It always sounds really effortless – it’s very traditional, in some respects, but there’s a kind of spacey sound to it as well.

Martin: 9 – definitely single of the month.

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/MARTINJHENRY

EP REVIEW WHORES RUINER

STRESSED SUMO, 30 APR

rrr Let’s get this out of the way: Whores’ debut release is completely blunt and confrontational. The sleazy bassline which dominates first track Daddy’s Money mirrors the demented guitar work at play in the opener to The Jesus Lizard’s highly influential Goat in more ways than one, and the Atlanta, Georgia trio’s overall sound is injected with a filthy shot of sludge.

The result sounds like Harvey Milk (whose member Kyle Spence produces here) having their way with Helmet – not a pretty sight, but it’s impossible to look away when the band jam this hard. There’s not much creative variety in these tracks, but the EP works best when thought of as a single twenty minute slab of pure, unfiltered rage. [Ross Watson] WWW.STRESSEDSUMORECORDS.CO.UK

APRIL 2012

THE SKINNY 49

ALBUM REVIEWS

RECORDS

ALBUM OF THE MONTH: DEATH GRIPS

THE MONEY STORE SONY, 23 APR

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The anticipation surrounding the major-label debut of Death Grips is fevered, to say the least. The Money Store does not disappoint. The significant change from last year’s Exmilitary is the lack of recognisable samples.

Melodically, The Money Store’s sonic palette is synth-driven, much like the standout tracks from their first album (Guillotine, Future Shock).

The band’s jackhammer approach – deconstructing juke, dubstep, punk rock and ghetto techno into dystopian berserker soundsystem attacks – has grown in power and innovation. MC Ride’s lyrics are more focused, more intense – his all-consuming, apocalyptic howl turned outwards against the world, and on the future. He tackles homelessness and societal decay on Lost Boys; then voyeurism and body horror on the ruthlessly infectious, booty-shaking I’ve Seen Footage (perhaps

the best statement since Videodrome on the cultural effects of extreme pornography, uncensored YouTube footage of political violence; its desensitizing, passion-warping effects on the modern mind).

Throughout, Zach Hill’s drums sustain the raw punk energy the band deliver so thrillingly in a live context, while Andy Morin (aka Flatlander)’s production reveals a landscape of overclocked synth stabs, weirdly-pitched, percussive vocal samples and grinding bass noise. More and more, this band sound like the future of music: the kind of rhythms you expect to hear blasting from broken stereos in bleak tent cities, or filling cracked, broken warehouses with legions of head-banging, black-clad rioters, charging them up with hate before they go and strip the remaining skyscrapers for parts.

A blistering, feral and intense second album from a band who show no signs of selling out, even while signed to Sony. If anything, it’s the corporation who have sold their souls to the devil: this is dangerous, anti-corporate, rabble-rousing music, and the best thing since... well, since their last album. [Bram E. Gieben] PLAYING GLASGOW’S STAG & DAGGER FESTIVAL ON 19 MAY WWW.THIRDWORLDS.NET

SEAMUS FOGARTY

THEESATISFACTION

CARTER TUTTI VOID

FENCE RECORDS, 16 APR

SUB POP, 9 APR

MUTE, 2 APR

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GOD DAMN YOU MOUNTAIN

Rita Jack’s Lament, the centrepiece of Seamus Fogarty’s startlingly good debut album, features a recording of a County Kerry native on her first trip to Ireland in 50 years. She’s standing in the house she grew up in, talking about her childhood, as a traditional Irish guitar track plays out, distorted and unwound. You can hear the birds singing in the background and, to coin a phrase, you can almost smell the cowshit off it.

The ethereal mood permeates throughout God Damn You Mountain, a record that nestles beautifully at the point where the digital and analogue worlds collide. It’s a wonderful, woozy mix of folk, country and blues, in which Fogarty’s weary vocals and ghostly field recordings are fused fast with the plaintive banjo, plucked guitar, organ and violin. At times it’s heartbreaking, but, like a good daydream, you come out the other side wistful, smiling and longing to go back in for more. [Finbarr Bermingham] PLAYING EYE O’ THE DUG FESTIVAL IN ST ANDREWS ON 15 APR AND SUPPORTING JAMES YORKSTON AT EDINBURGH CAVES ON 31 MAY WWW.SEAMUSFOGARTY.COM

AWE NATURALE

TRANSVERSE

As only the second hip-hop act to be signed to Sub Pop (the other being Shabazz Palaces, with whom THEESatisfaction have worked extensively), this Seattle-based female duo sculpt their narratives of urban life from a position that is, in several senses, on the margins. Their approach, however, feels understated, assertive yet nonconfrontational; these self-styled “queens of the stoned age” confidently occupy a distinctive position in the landscape of urban music through a careful assimilation of influences including soul, jazz and Afro-futurism.

It’s a sonic combination that recalls Erykah Badu’s New Amerykah LPs, and while awE naturalE feels somewhat slighter than those records – clocking in at just half an hour, and lacking the political tensions of Badu’s lyrics – it’s nonetheless an impressively cohesive, sharp album.

Highpoints like Existinct update the jazzy piano samples of early hiphop with a rich, soulful lyrical style; at such points, THEESatisfaction’s music evokes the simplicity and allure of the genre’s playful, cut-andpaste origins. [Sam Wiseman]

Executed and recorded as a live stage show, for which these four sizeable noise ambles were specifically composed and rehearsed beforehand, Chris & Cosey (veteran members of industrial music all-stars Throbbing Gristle) joined hands in technoprayer with Factory Floor’s Nik Void at Mute’s Short Circuit festival last year, uniting grandmaster and padawan in an unholy creative alliance.

In doing so, the trio have produced the ideal soundtrack to an evening spent in Gaspar Noé ‘s fictional sex dungeon Rectum, or at the very least a really intense but kinky bike ride.

Despite repetitive booming tribal rhythms that only a satanic Manuel Göttsching could ever hope to rival, the LP feels oddly jazzy and melodically exploratory. Void’s post-industrial disco blood is injected into Chris’s comb-filtered Kompakt beats, while Cosey’s subtly distorted jackal moans lurk amidst perverted impulse frequencies and fiery headlocking grooves. Immediate, unstable, fervent and a hazard to your ears: Transverse is an admirable live document. [Timothy McQuillian]

PLAYING THE ARCHES ON 21 APR

WWW.MUTE.COM/ARTISTS/CARTER-TUTTI-VOID

TREMBLING BELLS FEATURING BONNIE ‘PRINCE’ BILLY

BATTLES

JK FLESH

WARP, 16 APR

3BY3, 30 APR

HONEST JON’S, 9 APR

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THE MARBLE DOWNS

rrrr Trembling Bells bring a marked departure from recent Will Oldhaminvolved projects, with a sound that’s a brimming-over the cup of baroque. Their infusion of psychedelia and folk is the stuff of an LSD trip around the Maypole, while the input of the ‘Prince’ is his trademark voice of faltering longing. The union’s success brings the best parts of each act together, and creates something novel, something that might not have otherwise been possible had the two not conspired so.

Oldham brings vocalist Lavinia Blackwall’s soaring, whimsical and operatic voice down to earth; it’s a perfect marriage of harmony. It’s full of staccato piano, protracted, reverberating guitars, and heavy brass over constantly evolving drums; it is frenetic, uplifting and joyful, despite the pessimistic, damning indictments of love and hope in Love is a Velvet Noose and Ain’t Nothing Wrong With a Little Longing. It’s an unforgiving record, and not for the faint-of-heart. [Fred Weedon] PLAYING QUEENS HALL, EDINBURGH ON 25 APR

DROSS GLOP

Ignoring Gui Borrato’s soulless piano loops and the Field’s disappointingly unpromisingly standard hi-hat factory marathon (hint: skip tracks 1 and 2), Dross Glop manages to transcend its 12” series origins and truly grind as a fully fledged album. Even between Shabazz Palaces’ phasered hip-hop and Silent Servant’s meticulous dark techno, so many varied approaches seem to flow warmingly.

Extra effort is felt on Kode9’s punchy garage reinvention of Africastle, and label-mate remixer Hudson Mohawke’s contribution somehow manages to lay low on the maximalism for once. The token DFA progdisco remix that inevitably appears on any hip dance compilation has gone the extra mile too and managed to seductively transform Mr. ‘My Machines’ Numan into a supreme nightclub voyager. The real highlight however is the album-exclusive eYe remix: a flurry of careless digital jumpcuts and torrential bass that closes the show, providing a glimpse of the man’s rarely outed patented DJ Pica Pica Pica sound collage vibes. [Timothy McQuillian]

POSTHUMAN

Justin K. Broadrick’s genre-hopping tendencies have been well documented across a multitude of projects: aside from his industrial metal roots in Godflesh, he’s traversed the realms of melancholic shoegaze (Jesu), electronica (Pale Sketcher) and moody ambient (Final). Latest endeavour JK Flesh sees the one time Napalm Death member returning to harsher sonic territory, playing out as a grotesque hybrid composed of elements from both his recent forays into IDM and the extreme, depraved nature of his early work.

This is most evident in Idle Hands, which features an ugly, repetitive guitar riff chugging along to computerised beats, distorted vocals gargling away underneath the mix. Cold and detached, dark and demented, Posthuman is an unapologetically difficult listen. With its detached atmosphere and heavy basslines, it has its middle finger pointed firmly in the direction of the post-dubstep crowd, and will come as a welcome curio for fans of this most cultivated figure of underground music. [Ross Watson]

SPIRITUALIZED

MAPS & ATLASES

THE LEG

DOUBLE SIX , 16 APR

FATCAT, 16 APR

SONG, BY TOAD, 30 APR

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SWEET HEART SWEET LIGHT

BEWARE & BE GRATEFUL

AN EAGLE TO SATURN

Sweet Heart Sweet Light opens with a sumptuous, succinct instrumental (Huh?), before diving balls first into a nine-minute glam rock opus (Hey Jane) that’s four minutes longer than it should be. Little Girl opens with the line: “Sometimes I wish that I was dead,” before leading into one of the simplest and best songs J. Spaceman has written in years.

If you’re after an analogy for Spiritualized’s career, you could do worse than this opening trio, and the pattern continues throughout.

There are moments – like the brilliant Freedom and gospel-tinged I Am What I Am – of sublime clarity, where he sounds like delivering on his promise of a perfect pop album, a la Brian Wilson. Elsewhere, though, he seems destined to spin forever through the stratosphere on the back of an intergalactic tangent (the protracted Headin’ For The Top Now and Get What You Deserve). Many of Jason Pierce’s talents are apparent on this album. Unfortunately, restraint isn’t one of them. [Finbarr Bermingham]

In just two albums Chicago’s Maps & Atlases have experienced the kind of transformation few bands ever encounter.

From the epileptic math rock squalls of their early recordings, the quartet pushed their frenetic guitar noodles out as more rounded arrangements on debut Perch Patchwork. Album number two, Beware & Be Grateful, finds the band edging closer towards more mainstream climes; building on their pop-sensibilities to create a consistently fascinating longplayer.

Much of the band’s presence lies with frontman Dave Davison, whose emotional purrs push the knotted melodies of Fever and Old Ash into gorgeous, shivering swells. Despite the trend towards more accessible blasts like Vampires, a sense of intricacy presents itself in the likes of Silver Sail and Bugs, which rattle to a labyrinth of time signatures and ebullient guitar noodles. With Beware & Be Grateful, M&A have created their most rewarding effort to date. Their transformation is nearly complete. [Billy Hamilton]

Rambunctious Edinburgh trio The Leg count Julian Cope among their fans, and indeed An Eagle to Saturn sounds in many ways like a throwback to the more eccentric, singular edges of 80s UK indie. Half Man Half Biscuit and The Fall are evoked by the frantic, rambunctious clatter of Twitching Stick, with its gleefully pointless refrain, “I don’t know what a twitching stick is” (neither will you by the song’s close).

Slower numbers like Bake Yourself Silly allow more space for Pete Harvey’s cello, which works most effectively when it forms one element among the endearingly artless, percussive melee; played more delicately, on tracks like Sad as Dead Monkeys, it feels at odds with the energetic silliness that prevails elsewhere. Yet that willingness to embrace incongruity is one of Saturn’s great strengths; it generates a sense of compelling weirdness that sounds, despite the familiarity of the influences here, remarkably fresh. [Sam Wiseman]

WWW.SPIRITUALIZED.COM

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50 THE SKINNY APRIL 2012

GRAND DUCHY

BEAR IN HEAVEN

LIGHTSHIPS

COOKING VINYL, 9 APR

DEAD OCEANS, 2 APR

GEOGRAPHIC, 2 APR

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LET THE PEOPLE SPEAK

I LOVE YOU, IT’S COOL

ELECTRIC CABLES

Every marriage has its ups and downs; Let the People Speak is mostly the latter. Husband and wife Frank Black and Violet Clark follow up Grand Duchy’s 2009 debut Petit Fours with another eclectic collection of divergent genre dabblings, but it’s hardly the stuff on which iconic reputations are built, nor maintained. The record begins inauspiciously, with See-Thru You a hi-NRG beat and a dye-job away from Republica, while The Lopsided World of L is the first of several skits – each more teeth-grindingly irritating than the last.

Amidst the dross is a smattering of decent tracks, and even one or two rough diamonds: the escalating Dark Sparkles and the Beat showcases Clark’s affective vocal style well, while Shady features an enjoyably eccentric performance from Black, full of playfully arcane lyrics. But even these high watermarks are fathoms below his best work, rendering the enterprise intermittently diverting, but skippable.

[Chris Buckle]

Bear in Heaven have always been a tough band to love. In contrast to like-minded brethren Animal Collective and Grizzly Bear, the Brooklyn-based trio’s penchant for off-piste compositions has never struck a chord with the record buying masses. Yet, buoyed by the swooning adjectives of the music press, there was hope they could pull it together to create one extraordinary aural masterpiece. Sadly I Love You, It’s Cool is not it.

The band’s third longplayer continues the trend of churning out glacial and bland compositions set by its predecessors. Cold, barren synths blow through the spine of a mainly lifeless affair, with the likes of Noon Moon and Kiss Me Crazy suffocating in a mire of repetitive rhythms. World of Freakout’s android jittering at least wheezes with a gust of innovation, but this is quikly forgotten amid a concoction of overcooked hipster fodder. [Billy Hamilton] PLAYING STAG & DAGGER FESTIVAL, GLASGOW ON 19 MAY

Most Teenage Fanclub albums contain at least one standout penned by bass player Gerard Love: Star Sign, Sparky’s Dream, Ain’t That Enough, I Need Direction – you get the idea. But with three other Midas-fingered songsmiths competing for space on each, it’s unsurprising that records like Electric Cables exist as outlets to let off excess songwriting steam. Love captains Lightships with a delicate touch, assisted by a congenial crew that includes erstwhile Fanclub drummer Brendan O’Hare and Bob Kildea of Belle and Sebastian, and the results are suitably transportive.

On initial listen, opener Two Lines seems almost too vaporous and airy for its own good. But as subsequent tracks whisk the mind away to carefree summer days via languorous guitar tones and dainty flute melodies (courtesy of Tom Crossley of The Pastels), the haziness falls into heavenly focus. A fine collection of Love songs, beckoning repeated, lingering visits. [Chris Buckle]

WWW.MYSPACE.COM/GRANDDUCHYMUSIC

WWW.BEARINHEAVEN.COM

WWW.TUMBLR.COM/TAGGED/GERARD-LOVE

ORBITAL

QUAKERS

AU

ACP, 2 APR

STONES THROW, 9 APR

THE LEAF LABEL, 2 APR

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WONKY

Orbital’s first LP since reforming in 2008 initially strikes out into familiar territory: the opening bars of One Big Moment revisit the combination of multilayered spoken-word samples and wistful, glassy chords perfected on 1994’s Snivilisation. Yet it’s soon apparent that the Hartnoll brothers haven’t returned for nostalgia’s sake alone. Several tracks embrace dubstep rhythms: the most successful venture, Distractions, entwines hypnotic female vocal samples over intriguingly erratic synth melodies and stuttering beats.

At points, this modern update misfires ever-so-slightly, as on Beelzedub, which veers uncomfortably close to Americanised, Skrillex-style machismo. Such moments are offset by highlights like Stringy Acid, perhaps more of a starry-eyed acid house anthem than Orbital ever recorded in their early 90s halcyon day. This combination of reflective and contemporary elements continues throughout Wonky, which always retains the duo’s familiar, playfully cinematic tone; their ability to absorb new influences within their own distinct universe remains peerless. [Sam Wiseman] PLAYING GLASGOW’S O2ABC ON 7 APR

QUAKERS

At 41 tracks, Quakers is a behemoth of a record.

It’s hip-hop to the core: samples and crisp beats clashing violently beneath a roll call of emcees who run the gamut from well-known indie stars like Dead Prez, Prince Po, and the ubiquitous Akil of Jurassic 5 (all of whom are in fine lyrical fettle) to virtual unknowns like Coin Locker Kid. With beats by Fuzzface (aka Portishead’s Geoff Barrow), 7-Stu-7 (Portishead’s engineer), and Australian producer Katalyst, one might expect a disjointed outing, with the three producers and thirty-five emcees straining against each others’ aesthetic sensibilities, but the opposite is true. Quakers has a remarkable coherence.

Highlights: What Chew Want’s brassy, minor-chord horn-stabs, with the loping, stoned flow of emcee Tone Tank; the synth-powered swagger of Jobless and Dark City Lights. This is solid, exciting, experimental hip-hop with an old-school soul. Destined to become a classic, it has the epic sweep of the old Quannum collaborations: a self-assured reliance on the core values and aesthetics of hip-hop, cheek by jowl with serious experimentation and boundary-pushing. Lyrically and musically, it’s a triumph. [Bram E. Gieben]

HUMAN DON’T BE ANGRY

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT

CHEMIKAL UNDERGROUND, 16 APR

POLYDOR, 23 APR

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HUMAN DON’T BE ANGRY

Working with a pseudonym borrowed from a German board game, Human Don’t Be Angry sees Malcolm Middleton in an appropriately playful mood. Opener The Missing Plutonium lounges like Don Henley’s Boys of Summer given a retro-futurist reshuffle, while H.D.B.A. Theme further clarifies the album’s combination of guitar-based vistas and looped cores. Both tracks impress by blowing open expectations, pushing Middleton into new, but intuitively grasped, territories.

In early HDBA live shows, Middleton struggled to fully embrace this altered direction, saying: “I’d always, after two or three instrumentals, think ‘shit, I need to give them a song!” The album, deliberately or otherwise, is similarly structured, with vocals henceforth used intermittently: sometimes incorporated in fairly unorthodox ways (First Person Singular, Present Tense’s searching mantra); other times towards more straightforward ends (epically eighties-esque ballad Asklipiio).

Regardless, HDBA’s tabula rasa has done a fine job of both revitalising Middleton’s palette and nourishing his muse. [Chris Buckle]

TORCHE

HARMONICRAFT VOLCOM, 23 APR

rrr Whether consciously or not, Torche have always been a group famed for realising a crazed, delicate balance between doom metal, grunge and power pop. Their sound is a culmination of the band’s Sonic Youth influences and penchant for thick, textured guitars. Harmonicraft is an extension of their curve away from metal as much as possible in recent releases, so if you were one of the odd ones who didn’t understand the Foo Fighters comparisons spouted over their popular Meanderthal, the impossibly cleaner vocals on these new songs should fix that dubiety immediately.

The record opens with surges of psychedelic riffs thundering back and forth that are unquestionably impressive, and Torche are at their fleeting best when the drums are urgent and lashing, like on the standout Walk It Off. It’s the slowing of pace in the latter half of the album however that should have brought a heavy stoner contrast. Instead, their light efforts don’t uphold the early promise. [Timothy McQuillian] WWW.TORCHEMUSIC.COM

OUT OF THE GAME

Rufus Wainwright has been overtly stating of late that being a highly regarded yet somewhat esoteric pop star isn’t good enough. He wants to drop the ‘esoteric’ part. And so, on seventh studio album Out Of The Game, he’s drafted in the uberlord of mainstream, Mark Ronson, and the pair do all but literally throw the kitchen sink at this one. ‘Genre-bingo’ begins with the opening track, a baleful country number where Wainwright somewhat mischievously ponders his own relevance (a recurring theme).

Synth-pop features heavily on Bitter Tears, Perfect Man, and Song of You; Jericho is a delicious slice of cabaret, and, just for The Skinny readers, an uplifting bagpipe crescendo in Candles. Guests such as Sean Lennon and sister Martha never take centre stage, for – despite the (overly) elaborate adornments – this is a quintessential Rufus album, with luscious orchestration and charismatic vocals, delightfully wry lyrics and well, ultimately quite familiar to existing fans of the man. [Paul Mitchell] WWW.RUFUSWAINWRIGHT.COM

BOTH LIGHTS

AU’s latest album is typically arcane, yet it crackles with access points. As always, a casual cadre of guests expand upon Luke Wyland’s intricate compositions, with frequently exceptional results: punchy opener Epic is an explosion of rapidly-tapped guitars, with a gradually-building sax undertow courtesy of Colin Stetson; Get Alive switches track by entwining Wyland’s baleful croon with Holland Andrews’ airier counter-vocals, over playful AnCo-friendly psych-pop; while Solid Gold again benefits from Stetson’s bestowment, a vigorous jazz solo enlivening the track’s closing minutes.

Throughout, Both Lights radiates at unpredictable tangents, but always naturally; this doesn’t feel like experimentation for the sake of it, more like the fruits of a musical mind instinctively following its synapses wherever they fire, without stopping to question either methods or results. To be privy to such explorations is a treat, albeit an occasionally long-winded one that could only benefit in future from tighter editorial reins. [Chris Buckle] WWW.AU-AU-AU.COM

MOONFACE

WITH SIINAI: HEARTBREAKING BRAVERY JAGJAGUWAR, 16 APR

rrrr Initially, Moonface seemed to possess its own niche in Spencer Krug’s everproliferating portfolio: single-track debut Dreamland offering up “marimba and shit-drums” in its sub-title and contents, while follow-up Organ Music Not Vibraphone Like I’d Hoped was, as hinted, almost wholly keys-based.

Neither Ronseal-monikered, nor premised on select instrumentation, the third Moonface release breaks this nascent pattern, though its title nonetheless sets some pretty accurate parameters: lyrically, Heartbreaking Bravery sees Krug in part sorrowful, part defiant moods.

“All the stars are dying” he croons through Yesterday’s Fire’s glumglam Bowie-isms, while elsewhere darker tales stalk (“There was blood, there was gore… There was some ugly shit in store” goes Headed for the Door). While the lyrics are all Krug’s own, the music is a collaboration with Finnish act Siinai, and their slow-burn style nicely counterpoints their temporary band leader’s more baroque tendencies, resulting in some of Krug’s most satisfyingly direct material to date. [Chris Buckle]

THE TOP FIVE

AMADOU & MARIAM

1

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2 3 4 5

DEATH GRIPS

THE MONEY STORE

QUAKERS

QUAKERS

SEAMUS FOGARTY

GOD DAMN YOU MOUNTAIN

HUMAN DON’T BE ANGRY

HUMAN DON’T BE ANGRY

LIGHTSHIPS

ELECTRIC CABLES

FOLILA

BECAUSE, 2 APR

For a visually impaired husband and wife duo from Mali, Amadou Bagayoko and Mariam Doumbia have an impressive knack of befriending international superstars. Over the last 20 years they’ve racked up a stellar roster of heavyweight accomplices – including U2, Blur and Coldplay – all eager to affiliate themselves with their Afro-rhythmic grooves. And, really, it’s no wonder such luminaries are knocking at the door: the pair have an ear for composing majestic, intricate melodies that are both progressive and reassuringly familiar.

Studio album number seven, Folila, mines a rich vein of inventive blues-soaked washouts. Bearing more than a hint of Yeasayer in rhythmically shamanic mood, cuts like the spasmodic Metemya and Wari throw entrancing harmonies over heavy doses of sludging guitar and piercing harmonica. In a thrilling, if sometimes predictable, journey, the ferocious brawl of Santigold-accompanied opener Dougou Badia starts on a peak from which it rarely descends. Mesmerising work. [Billy Hamilton] WWW.AMADOU-MARIAM.COM

APRIL 2012

THE SKINNY 51

MUSIC

NEW BLOOD

MAGIC DOORS

Recently signed to Chemikal Underground, ‘indie-tronic’ producer Julian Corrie aka MIAOUX MIAOUX discusses his initial fear of Glasgow and why he believes in happy coincidences INTERVIEW: CHRIS MCCALL PHOTOS: EOIN CAREY IT’S THE indie label that’s become a benchmark of quality by releasing some of the best contemporary music from Scotland and beyond. But Chemikal Underground’s latest addition to their growing roster of artists marks something of a departure for the company.

Julian Corrie, aka Miaoux Miaoux, is a DJ, producer, multi-instrumentalist and bona fide electro performer. Tall, slim and articulate, he has a firm idea of what he wants to do and how best to do it.

He describes his music as “spacey hypercolour indie dance pop”, and freely acknowledges the likes of Caribou and Four Tet as primary influences.

All things considered, he doesn’t sound like the most obvious of signings for a label most widely known for working with guitar slingers such as Mogwai and The Phantom Band. When The Skinny meets Corrie in a Partick cafe, he admits he was slightly surprised when Chem supremos Paul Savage and Stewart Henderson approached him following a gig last August.

A freelance sound engineer, the 26-year-old works regular shifts at the BBC Scotland studios at Pacific Quay. Amongst his responsibilities is engineering live sessions for radio shows. His regular contact with bands means he is familiar with an industry which is renowned for promising much but delivering little. His initial reaction to interest in his music is thus one of measured enthusiasm and hard-headed realism.

“Being in the music industry and working with bands, I’ve heard a lot of people say: ‘Let’s do

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52 THE SKINNY APRIL 2012

BAR

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GLASGOW

NEW BLOOD this, it’s brilliant, we’ll get you in, we’ll pay this, that and the other and it’ll be great’ – and you’re like ‘awesome’, you get really excited and then nothing ever happens. So my reaction was: ‘that’s really great – but I’m not going to get excited as these things have a tendency to fall through.’”

But the promise of a deal was very real. And signing with Chemikal provided Corrie with the much needed impetus to finally complete his debut album which he had been working on for almost two years. The end result is Light of the North, due for release this June.

Recorded and produced by Corrie himself at his small studio in Glasgow’s Hidden Lane, it was subsequently mixed by Savage at Chem 19. It’s fair to say it’s one of the most eagerly anticipated album releases of the year. Bloggers, critics and anyone lucky enough to have witnessed one of his energetic live shows have taken to waxing lyrical about Miaoux Miaoux in recent months, despite having so far limited himself to releasing a handful of singles and indulging in the odd spot of remix work.

To many, Corrie is still a relative unknown. But that’s all set to change. Born in Nottingham, he spent his early childhood in Peru, where his father worked. Having learned the piano from a young age, he became interested in the possibilities of sample-based music through his older brother, who introduced him to the likes of Portishead and the Propellerheads.

“I got into sampling, and then I got into trance when I was at school, and the whole thing just combined. I’m obsessed with writing perfect pop songs. I think Miaoux Miaoux has become a combination of that – my excitement about trying to write good songs, and also being really into synth sounds and production techniques from the dance

I’m obsessed with writing perfect pop songs JULIAN CORRIE

sticking to. Miaoux Miaoux was born when Corrie relocated to Glasgow permanently in 2010. “It was a reaction to the sample based stuff I had been doing,” he says. “I’d spent a lot of time doing it and I was convinced it was going to be successful.

“I had spent about a year and a half on making a record. I brought it out, gave it to a few people, and no one really cared. I thought ‘fuck it; I need to do something else.’ Miaoux Miaoux is supposed to be a reaction to that. It could mean anything; it’s like an offcut, whatever. There’s no prescriptive rule of what it should sound like. I know that sounds like a terrible idea to sell yourself – I know I couldn’t do a bluegrass record under that name.

“But the album (Light of the North) has turned out to be quite eclectic. It will be interesting to hear people’s take on it. There’s even one track

music that I’ve heard. It’s a bit funny, because I’m a little worried that I could fall between the cracks.

I think people want quite simple separations in their music.”

He began a sound engineering degree at Surrey, and first visited Glasgow to complete a placement at the BBC. He confesses that he was “fucking terrified” when he first arrived. “Everyone down south has this horrendous image of Glasgow.

It’s snobbery.” Happily, Corrie quickly found he rather liked his adopted home, thanks in part to becoming a regular at the weekly open-mic night at Nice N Sleazys, where he got to know bands like Admiral Fallow and Zoey Van Goey.

Here he would perform “terrible songs” on acoustic guitar, which had the effect of leading him away from the sample path he was doggedly

that someone even said sounded like Oceansize.

I’d never even fucking heard of Oceansize!”

Corrie says he is “extremely pleased” with his now completed debut, which he credits in part to working with veteran producer Savage. But, being unaccustomed to twiddling his thumbs, he has already begun to think about tracks for his next album, very much viewing Miaoux Miaoux as a long term project.

“I have to really commit to this. People like it, and it seems to be going really well. I have so many ideas about things that I want to do. I really want to make some dubstep for example, but the question is: do I release that under the Miaoux Miaoux label – would people be really confused? So is it worth doing another name for that? I don’t know.

“Earlier today I had a photoshoot [for this very rag], and I was thinking ‘This guy has gone to all the effort for me’ – it would be stupid to make up a new name and start again, unless it’s a specific project. So there will be another Miaoux Miaoux album. I’ve started writing for it, I’ve got maybe two or three tracks. I think it’ll probably be an EP actually and it’ll hopefully come out late this year. It will have more of a winter sound.”

In the shorter term, Corrie hopes to take Miaoux Miaoux to the summer festivals, and is currently on the lookout for an established booking agent.

He says he is delighted that he ended up signing for Chemikal Underground, being a man that firmly believes in happy coincidences. “I have a lot of basslines on my phone that are just me humming them on the street. It’s the beginning of a lot of my tracks. It’s always best to start things in the most random way possible.”

LIGHT OF THE NORTH IS RELEASED VIA CHEMIKAL UNDERGROUND ON 11 JUN WWW.MIAOUXMIAOUX.COM

MILK SUPPORT FOUND AT THE ELECTRIC CIRCUS, EDINBURGH ON 7 AUG AS PART OF THE EDGE FESTIVAL

challenge each other, taking our disparate inspirations and finding ways to harmonise them. We enjoy sifting through the noise.” When the sifting is finished, nuggets of Lizard King stargazing, smooth 80s grooves, moody atmospherics, deadpan humour and prog-squiggles remain. The unorthodox blend slips through genres like cow lactose through fingers. “We converge in strange places,” they acknowledge.

Milk confound classification in part through tactical shyness. Their low-profile moniker and lower-profile web presence constitute a genuine attempt to avoid the pigeonholing that rubberstamps acts straight from the womb. Milk are leaving their options open and keeping followers guessing.

“We’re still in the formative stages of playing this music together, so anything that allows the freedom to go off on creative tangents is a must,” they explain. “The name gave us the blank slate. If you treat a band’s name as a statement of intent, then ours remains open to interpretation.” Refreshingly, in an age where choosing a MySpace background sits uncomfortably high on new-starts’ ‘to do’ lists, they’re uninterested in cultivating a potentially-straitjacketing online persona. “We want the opportunity to surprise others and ourselves.”

Live, they don’t let such opportunities pass them by. But what about recordings? Any releases on the horizon? “In this regard,” they assert, “we reserve the right to remain mysterious.” Seems Milk will be whetting appetites a little longer yet.[Chris Buckle]

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THE SKINNY 51 AUGUST 2010

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

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

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

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

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

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• Tour Edinburgh's dramatic radical past

August 7th-14th London Lesbian & Gay Film Festival On Tour 10 Aug to 2 Sep

Highlights from this year’s hugely successful two-week festival, which took place in March at BFI Southbank. The season includes LLGFF Closing Night Gala Children of God, a fascinating and politically bold study of sexuality in the Bahamas; lesbian comedy And Then Came Lola; erotically charged crime thriller The Fish Child; acclaimed Argentinian drama Plan B; and two programmes of shorts, one for the girls and one for the boys!

Five Easy Pieces 13 Aug to 19 Aug

Directed by Juan José Campanella and showcasing two of Argentina’s biggest stars, this is a riveting thriller spiked with witty dialogue and poignant romance. Receiving rave reviews and awards, it was also the surprise winner of this year’s Oscar® for Best Foreign Language Film, beating off stiff competition from The White Ribbon and A Prophet.

The Secret in Their Eyes 13 Aug to 9 Sep

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A key work from an era that’s now considered the last Golden Age of American cinema, Bob Rafelson’s superlative character study established Jack Nicholson as the foremost actor of his generation. One of the few honest American films about social class, family and alienation. Don’t miss this wonderfully restored classic.

Clockwise from top left: Pablo; Callum; Michael; Sam

www.theelectriccircus.biz

• Film premiere of 'Morticia' by Nabil Shaban

MUSIC

APRIL 2012

THE SKINNY 53

CLUBS

PREVIEWS

Simian Mobile Disco

Blawan i AM, Sub Club, Tue 3 Apr

Hessle Audio, Clone and R & S ingenue Blawan arrives at i AM as one of a handful of acts to herald the Sub Club’s 25th anniversary celebrations; quite the stamp of approval given that Blawan’s debut release, the drum orgy of Fram/Iddy, only saw the light of day two years ago.

Although i AM’s is the Sub Club’s officially designated ‘student night’, the acts booked of late have betrayed the guiding hand of the venue’s seasoned tastes. Blawan’s galloping drum workouts are often augmented by toughened, jacking house records and rolling, boxcutter-sharp techno that veer well away from the predictable, London-centric ‘bass music’ selections of some of his more derivative peers. Of his recent releases – everyone should be on his white label ripper of last year, Getting Me Down, by now – his Clone Basement 12” Peaches is an essential purchase, and aptly showcase his floor-ready production. [Ray Philp]

Simian Mobile Disco & Tensnake Comedian Doug Stanhope has a great routine praising the benefits of ‘excess in moderation’. “You have to stretch it out sometimes. Don’t drink one beer a night, pick one night and drink all the beers”.

With that maxim in mind, Musika, Heavy Gossip and Ultragroove form like Voltron for what should be 12 hours of dancefloor mayhem.

Like all good summer parties, things will kick off with a leisurely BBQ in the back, after which Edinburgh bands Battle of the Zoo and Discopolis perform EDM-minded live sets – Tensnake, a DJ for the summer if ever there was one, does his thing live too. All of this will build towards the mighty Simian Mobile Disco, who take to the decks to showcase their new album Unpatterns, which is set for a May release. Add to that a cast which also includes Craig Smith of 6th Borough Project and residents galore, and this is set to be an excess of the agreeable kind. [Neil Murchison]

11pm-3am, £5 advance

3pm - 3am, £20 advance www.liquidroom.com

Aberdeen Beach Ball Room, Sun 6 May

The salty shores of the granite palace are set to be smashed to bits this May, by way of a unique and unseen-in-Aberdeen all day party, The Big Beach Ball. Created and curated in part by the people of Club Snafu, one of the very few viable venues for alternative electronic music in the city, the Big Beach Ball presents the kind of outing long desired by fans of underground music in the north east.

Set in the resplendent surroundings of the iconic and oft-overlooked Beach Ball Room, the debut of Aberdeen’s first alternative festival is set to welcome around 2,000 hedonists.

Spanning 12 hours of live music and DJ sets, and plucking the choicest cuts from the local and national circuit, the Big Beach Ball will see many of the city’s employers reaching repeatedly for their

holiday rotas as Heartthrob (M_nus) and Tiger and Woods (Editainment) top the bill. Home grown talent comes in the form of Glasgow storm trooper collective Bigfoot’s Tea Party, youthman reggae/dub team Chungo Bungo, disco duo Den Haan, Scottish Alternative Music Award winners Fridge Magnets, local heroes The Little Kicks and Aberdeen’s own inimitable party starters Minival, while Glasgow duo Slam, who should by now require no introduction, pour further fuel on the fire as they present a much sought after and highly anticipated house set – rarely heard, never forgotten. Keep an eye out for further line-up releases, with early bird tickets long gone. The Big Beach Ball will be here before you know it. [Calum Sutherland] 1pm-12am, £24.50 + BF until Sun 15 Apr, £27.50 + BF then on www.thebigbeachball.co.uk

Slam: 20 Years at The Arches feat. Laurent Garnier The Arches, Sat 7 Apr

For Stuart MacMillan and Orde Meikle, selecting guests for their 20th anniversary bash at The Arches was simple. “If you were to cherry pick a guest that is as relevant now as he was when we started, it would be Laurent [Garnier]”, explains Stuart. The Frenchman has continued to innovate as a DJ and live act over roughly the same period as Slam made The Arches their home, and his Live Booth Sessions (LBS) project sees him manning the turntables – as well as an array of machines – in collaboration with Scan X and Benjamin Rippert on keyboard in an enthralling hybrid of live performance and DJ set. The second guest, Ben Klock, has been a more recent phenomenon but has already made a huge impact.

A resident at Berlin’s legendary Berghain club, Klock is an artist firmly committed to pushing boundaries in his productions and through his label, Klockworks.

Slam themselves will unleash two sets on the night. Opening the smaller front arch, they will look to the future, displaying an ability to remain ahead of the curve when it comes to contemporary techno.

Later, they will follow Garnier’s performance with a rare classics set, dipping into some of the tracks that have made their nights so memorable over the years. “If I’m being honest, I’m not usually comfortable with a retrogressive [sic] kind of set,” admits Stuart. “It doesn’t normally feel like what we should be doing. On this occasion, though, it’s something I’m going to enjoy.”

54 THE SKINNY April 2012

Words: Neil Murchison Illustration: Andrew Denholm

The Liquid Room, Sat 5 May

iamclub.co.uk

The Big Beach Ball

clubbing HIGHLIGHTS

Yet, nights like this don’t merely depend upon dedicated residents and esteemed international guests.

Orde has no doubts about the role of the event’s loyal patrons. “They play a massive part. Musically, they are very open-minded.” Across 20 years Slam events have attracted a varied crowd. Younger revellers, new to the Glasgow clubbing experience, mix with seasoned regulars to create a unique atmosphere, focussed around a shared passion for music and a pretension-free approach to partying. “The crowd is one of the fundamental aspects of our success”, adds Stuart. “I’ve always said that a DJ can try and work miracles but if he is playing to people who don’t really want to hear or respond to the music it can fall on deaf ears. The Glasgow crowd are always really up for it.” With such a history of memorable events already established, and with the added commemorative overtone to the proceedings, we suspect this one may be pretty special. [Ronan Martin] 10:30pm - 4:30am, £18 + bf www.thearches.co.uk

There’s a beauty to the logical progression of the seasons. Even when we know what’s coming, it still feels like a surprise when it gets here.

Clocks go forward, birds chirp louder, midges start biting and smoking areas are suddenly rammed with people who don't look like extras from Ice Station Zebra. Spring, then, is something like being in the pre-club bar before a big night out, knowing that everything great still lies ahead.

Melting Pot tip their hats on Fri 8 April as they pay tribute to Larry Levan, the DJ behind the legendary Paradise Garage. Between 1977 and 1987, it was a hotbed of disco and early house music and the scene it helped grow still radiates with its influence. Assisted by Funktifeyeno and Piacentini from Dance! Dance! Dance!, the crew will draw from the 100 greatest tracks to be played at the Paradise Garage to recreate some of the atmosphere of that distinct time and place, airing some songs that have been overlooked for far too long.

Substance have another cracker up their sleeve on Fri 20 April at the The Bongo Club with Aphex Twin’s Rephlex Records holding court. Aleksi Perala and Monolith have been selected to represent the label live and DJ Stingray will be making his grand entrance straight from Detroit to lay down a set bound to include some Rephlex classics. If his last appearance in scotland is anything to go by (a headlining slot at Glasgow's Tribute last year) then expect relentless subaquatic 140bpm bangers.

A great new clubbing initiative called LATE gets

going at The Arches on Tue 10 April that will aim to pioneer an inclusive clubbing experience, of the type rarely seen in Scotland. The inspiration behind the event was a lack of decent clubbing nights for people with learning difficulties; thanks to C-Change and the dating and friendship agency for people with learning difficulties, datesn-mates, the support of The Arches was secured which means the inaugural event will be hosted at one of Glasgow’s best clubs. Peter Bowers will DJ the inaugural event, and though it’s called LATE the finishing time of midnight will not set you back too far for a Tuesday night. And of course, everyone is welcome.

Philanthrobeats, another forward-thinking club experience, aims to bring together some of the most recognisable promoters in Glasgow under one roof for a charitable cause of their choice. It all kicks off on Thu 5 April at Chambre 69 featuring Mount Heart Attack, Mia Dora and the Philanthrobeats residents Tarantism and FortyWinks, with all the proceeds going to Amnesty International.

Sneaky Pete’s have a wealth of talent lined up this month including, Nadastrom and Roska, but the jewel in the heaving crown is Redinho on Fri 27 April. There are many who operate within his sphere, but no-one comes close to making it as funky.

And finally, of all of this month's Sub Club 25th anniversary parties, Subculture on Sat 14 April with FXHE's Omar S is downright unmissable.

CLUBS

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ALL HANDS ON DECK

O2 ABC Love Music Column

Aspirimh DJ's are lent a helping hand by Everyone is a DJ Interview: Laura forsyth

Action Bronson O2 ABC2, Tue 3 Apr, 7pm, £10 advance

With the popularity of underground electronic music in Scotland, you might think that finding a place to teach you some of the tricks of the trade would be easy enough. While getting access to tuition for drums, guitar or almost any other instrument is quite straightforward, the lack of equivalent classes for DJing seems odd. Even for those not aiming at a career behind the decks, DJing is a fun and creative hobby for anyone who wants to engage more with music that they love. The few places that do offer tuition are prohibitively expensive even before taking the cost of equipment into account. Unless you are willing to commit to an HND course, the market for affordable classes is sparse. Private tuition in Glasgow starts at £50; the Edinburgh DJ Academy charges around £150 per day. R.I.P, life savings.

Elaine Jappy is an undergraduate studying Commercial Music at Glasgow Caledonian University who, in recognising this financial obstacle, devised the ‘Everyone’s a DJ’ course, initially as part of her third year degree project. She considered the concept of tuition and focussed on the art of DJing with the help of two pros who have performed at some of the best venues across Scotland. Derek Rollins is a big name in the local electronic music scene, and his passion is evident. Originally from London, he is known for his popular Pangea nights at the old Art School and Split at The Cabaret Voltaire, as well as working with Laconic in Stirling. “I learned from seeing other DJs kill the dancefloor; in my eyes they were clearly having a good night. I would stay in my bedroom, just learning and learning. It was a hard process because there wasn’t really any opportunities to go out and learn so I was self-taught.” His fellow teaching buddy, Stephen Scott, is Derek’s friend and ex-neighbour who happens to be the King of Scratching, a regular on the music scene since he was 16 and inspired by the likes of Eddie Halliwell and Marco V. “My brother used to buy a lot of tapes from the Barrowlands like Bass Generator and Technotrance. Listening to them got me interested in getting on the decks. I started mixing within six weeks.” says Stephen. Since then, he has specialised in Happy Hardcore before progressing to slower dance music in venues in Sauchiehall Street to radio stations and clubs across Scotland.

While Derek is new to teaching, Stephen is more of an expert. “We run through the basics, do a couple of double drops, get them up to feel the decks and have a muck about. Hopefully they’ll get something from it and be inspired by it.” And it was pretty impressive to see the guys in action – Stephen’s scratching demonstrations, for example, sometimes morphing into a blur. The instructors focus mainly on d’n’b in the class but everyone can bring their own material. Along with information on where to source equipment and reasonable price ranges, the duo mainly take the class through Serato, the revolutionary vinyl/software hybrid. They encourage questions or opinions and there is no pressure to get up on the decks and you can just to sit back and listen. A younger girl who was less experienced was given as much attention as the other members, and she was happy to come to the stage to practise her mixing and scratching techniques.

Another class member, who is partially deaf, was able to learn through the visuals and vibrations.

“No one has the right to judge anyone,” Derek says passionately. Both he and Stephen agree that it is about staying true to your style and not folding with the times. Connections are important if you want to make it big, they say, but the emphasis is on having fun. They share good advice and are open to questions, while providing hands-on experience and sharing their own stories. Although Everyone is a DJ remains a start up company, they intend to continue in the long-term; an entirely plausible scenario if their sessions are anything to go by. Even if it isn’t your dream to emulate one of your heroes, it doesn’t really matter. Whether you don’t know your Serato from your Ableton or you are already a master behind the decks, it’s worth learning more about the art and techniques behind the music that you drunkenly sway to on a dancefloor. Conjure yourself up a DJ name and see if you can get your skills up to scratch.

Action Bronson is one of those rap stars who arrives seemingly from nowhere already fully formed and a part of the hip hop landscape. The giant white American, with his shaven head and large ginger beard, exudes a different quality to most rappers. The former chef from Queens has a technically impressive delivery and possesses a wealth of lyrical flair that has transcended any questions about his place at the hip hop table.

Initially likened to Ghostface Killah, Action Bronson has more in common with another New York rapper, the late Big Pun whose Puerto Rican background and lethal multi-syllabic rhyme schemes also made him stand out from the pack.

Similarly, Action Bronson’s lyrical style has flows perpetually cascading from his mouth without a hint of breathlessness as he paints imagery with rapid fire speed. His lyrics are concerned with having a good time but with his appreciation of culinary delights he manages to describe New York as if it was a literal melting pot of different cultures and people.

Support includes local rap groups Gasp & Depths (The Being), United Front’s One Oz, Sean El, Silvertongue with DJ Sokol as well as one of the best hip-hop DJs in the country, DJ Bunty.

TEN DAYS OF RIDING BIKES, CULTURE & GOOD TIMES.

Skrillex – ‘The Skrillex Cell’: Grey Daze Tour O2 Academy, Thur 19 Apr, Tickets at the door, £TBC

You can tell the point that a crossover becomes a phenomenon when the front cover of Kerrang! is plastered with the face of a dubstep DJ. Not since 1997 when The Prodigy desecrated the idea that samplers and computers could only make tinny beats has an artist managed to straddle the world of electronic and rock music so completely.

Opinions abound on Skrillex’s (aka Sonny Moore) mash up of noise and bass, but having racked up 71 million YouTube plays of just one song he has achieved an incredible feat in bringing so many people to a sound that a few years ago would only have been found in clubs at 2am. With a juggernaut of support behind him, Skrillex was always going to put on an impressive show and the new ‘The Skrillex Cell’ is exactly that: huge 3D projections of massive robots and monsters that are live motion captured to Skrillex himself and a stage set that seems to morph and mutate to the music. It’s going to be next to impossible not to be blown away.

TWEEDLOVE.COM

Picante Polar Bar, O2 ABC, Sat 7 Apr, 11pm - 3am, £7 (£5 advance)

Picante makes its return and gets back to its roots in the Polar Bar on the first Saturday of every month playing music from the worlds of rock ‘n’ roll, garage, trash pop, punk, new wave, rockabilly, hillbilly and country. Along with Love Music and Nowt But Northern, El Rancho Records DJ Jnr. C draws upon the twisted roots of the genres for tunes that go from cow bells to hell’s bells and beyond. facebook.com/o2abcglasgow facebook.com/o2academyglasgow

A NEW SPRING SPORTIVE IN SCOTLAND

112KM OF CLASSIC ROAD RIDING START/FINISH PEEBLES, 29 APRIL 2012

The ‘Everyone is a DJ’ series of workshops cost £8 each and is looking to run further classes in the future. You can register interest for future workshops at the website. www.everyonesadj.co.uk

tourotheborders.com April 2012

THE SKINNY 55

REVIEWS

April Events FILM

Fans of British cult classic The Wicker Man may or may not be pleased to know that the Belmont in Aberdeen is showing The Wicker Tree on 1 April.

This prequel, based on director Robin Hardy’s 2006 novel Cowboys for Christ, features an evangelical American couple coming to Scotland to spread the good word. Their intentions may be honourable, but will they manage to get their message of God across to the locals? Hardy will be in attendance for a special Q&A session.

The kid with a bike

The Cabin in the Woods

Le Havre

Director: Drew Goddard

Director: Aki Kaurismäki

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Richard Jenkins, Bradley Whitford, Kristen Connolly, Jesse Williams, Josh Lyman, Released: 13 Apr Certificate: 15

Starring: André Wilms, Kati Outinen, Blondin Miguel, Jean-Pierre Darroussin, Little Bob Released: 6 Apr Certificate: PG

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Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s deliriously entertaining homage to horror cinema takes a format as old as the hills – teens run into trouble at a secluded, creepy getaway spot – then twists, subverts and plain shatters any and all genre tropes with such affection and glee that it’s difficult not fall in love with it. As becomes clear very early on, this is no ordinary spooky retreat. The environment is manipulated to put the nubile fodder in harm’s way by mid-level office drones (played by Richard Jenkins and Bradley Whitford) from a mysterious fortified bunker. It’s a delightful concept, exploited to full comic effect by some whip-smart dialogue, wry set-pieces and beautiful performances from two smashing character actors; Whitford in particular impresses with a sleazing-up of his Josh Lyman from The West Wing. Not an effective horror film in itself, despite some outrageous blood-letting in the third act, but there’s plenty for non-genre fans to enjoy and the hardened fright aficionado will have a scream with its reference points. [Chris Fyvie]

Le Havre is Aki Kaurismäki’s first film made in France since 1992’s La Vie de Bohème, and it acts as a kind of loose sequel to that picture, with André Wilms again taking on the role of a character called Marcel. A shoeshiner quietly drifting through his mundane life, Marcel finds his world upended by two unexpected events. First, his wife (Kati Outinen) falls ill, leaving him alone and bereft, and then he encounters an African boy (Blondin Miguel) who has entered the country illegally, whom he decides to protect from the authorities. This premise could easily be the basis for a dark thriller, but in Kaurismäki’s hands Le Havre is an optimistic lark, fueled by the Finn’s typically deadpan humour and eye for absurd details. It offers nothing that we haven’t seen from Kaurismäki before, but entering his world is always such a pleasure, and by offering a film that’s simply about decent people trying to do the right thing it feels like a breath of fresh air. [Philip Concannon]

Opens Dundead II at the DCA, Dundee 5 Apr. Released nationwide 13 Apr by Lionsgate

www.artificial-eye.com

Damsels in Distress

The Divide

Director: Whit Stillman

Director: Xavier Gens

Starring: Greta Gerwig, Adam Brody, Analeigh Tipton, Hugo Becker, Ryan Metcalf, Taylor Nichols Released: 27 Apr Certificate: TBC

Starring: Michael Biehn, Lauren German, Milo Ventimiglia, Rosanna Arquette, Michael Eklund Released: 20 Apr Certificate: 18

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Chief damsel in Whit Stillman’s long awaited filmmaking return following some Malickesque downtime is Violet (Gerwig), an aggressively altruistic college student hellbent on improving her peers. And boy, do they need her help: B.O. is rampant in the last dorm to go coed; suicide attempts from the roof of the campus’s (two-storey) library have seen student maimings skyrocket; one poor frat boy has made it all the way to tertiary education without learning the colours. Problem is, Violet’s the most distressed of the lot, torn as she is between her cheating meathead boyfriend and an enigmatic 'playboy operator' (Brody).

Stillman’s screenplay zings – you’ll find more zippy lines in Damsels than on Charlie Sheen’s coffee table. And despite being shot cheap on HD, the movie is luminous: its pastel frocks, expressionistic lighting and sporadic dance numbers blended with frat house hijinks suggests a Vincente Minnelli remake of Animal House. The casting of the adorkable Gerwig is key here; her screwball sass gives Stillman’s wryness some added spryness. [Jamie Dunn]

The title of Xavier Gens’ gristly post-apocalyptic survival movie works on a myriad of levels. Firstly, it refers to the heavy duty door that separates the basement of a 5th Avenue New York apartment and a handful of its residents from the unexplained firebomb that rips through the city in The Divide’s opening seconds.

It’s also what happens to the film’s clichéd band of survivors: they splinter and form alliances. So far, so every other claustrophobic B movie, right? Wrong. Gens’ film messes with genre conventions and fucks with our heads: heroes become villains, good people get horribly mistreated, mysteries are set up but never explained. Radiation floods the basement, slowly turning characters insane. You get the feeling the same has happened to the film itself – it’s schizophrenic. This brings us to the final divide: the one that splits the audience. Gens’ nihilism will be too toxic for some, but those open to the Frenchman’s sledgehammer bravura will find a haunting, blackly comic take on humankind’s inhumanity. [Jamie Dunn] The Divide plays at Dundead II at DCA, Dundee, 6 Apr. Released nationwide 20 Apr

The Monk

This Must Be the Place

Director: Dominik Moll

Director: Paolo Sorrentino

Starring: Vincent Cassel, Déborah François, Sergi López, Geraldine Chaplin Released: 27 Apr Certificate: 15

Starring: Sean Penn, Frances McDormand, Judd Hirsch, Kerry Condon Released: 6 Apr Certificate: 15

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Legendary orator and pillar of the church Ambrosio (Vincent Cassel) has his devotion to God thrown into question by the arrival of Valerio (Déborah François), a young woman masquarading as a chap to get closer to him, at his monestary.

An encounter with the lovely Antonia (Joséphine Japy) furthers his crisis of faith, and the respected monk becomes increasingly debauched.

Matthew Lewis’s bawdy Gothic classic has been crying-out for a suitably baroque adaptation, but, unfortunately, Dominic Moll’s film isn’t it. With Cassel onboard as loopy Ambrosio, everything was set up for a full-throttle, nutso reading of Lewis’s text, but the director has stripped it down, eschewing some of the more overtly supernatural and OTT elements to leave something quite slight; the motivation behind the monk’s ultimate fall is never satisfactorily rendered.

An overwrought atmosphere, some nice aesthetic nods to classic horror cinema and the ever-watchable, if oddly subdued, Cassel aside, there’s little to dispel thoughts of this as a missed opportunity. [Chris Fyvie]

The most satisfying thing about This Must Be the Place is that it proves that, even after three decades of remarkable performances, Sean Penn still has the capacity to surprise. Reclusive ex-rock star Cheyenne is a shambling, high-voiced figure quite unlike anything Penn has attempted before; what could have been a loopy caricature is made into something compelling – even oddly touching – by the actor’s total conviction. Alas, he’s the only one hitting the right notes in this wayward, indulgent film from the talented Paolo Sorrentino. His Englishlanguage debut is made with all of the visual élan we’ve come to expect, but the pacing is leaden and the film lacks a sense of purpose. What, if anything, does Sorrentino have to say about America, the Holocaust or washed-up rockers? The cameo from Harry Dean Stanton only reminds us that Wim Wenders has been down this road before to better effect, while the manner in which Sorrentino wastes Frances McDormand is simply criminal. [Philip Concannon]

56 THE SKINNY April 2012

www.trinityfilm.co.uk/films/this_must_be_the_place

Wicker tree

Between 13-15 April the Filmhouse in Edinburgh is hosting nine films as part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival. Examining what it means to be human, the selection aims to encourage debate, as well as being a weekend of great films. From classic mad scientist movies like Frankenstein and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, to trashy 80s sci-fi like Robocop, to contemporary think-pieces such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and eXistenZ, there is something for everyone.

The 'biggest pop-up film festival of its kind', Future Shorts Festival arrives at the CCA on 6 April, fresh after its success at the inaugural event in January. The festival, which has travelled the world, showcases a selection of some of the finest short films around, including Nash Edgerton’s Cannes and Sundance success Bear, and the latest work from Spike Jonze. Attendees can expect live performance to be included in the event, which promises to be an interesting and entertaining one.

Bear

There’s a chance to revisit happy childhood memories at the Cameo this month, with three trips down memory lane being screened. On 13 April Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is showing, reminding audiences what they wish a day off school was really like, followed by The Goonies a week later, and Raiders of the Lost Ark a week after that. The Goonies, starring a young Sean Astin and Josh Brolin, sees a group of kids go on an epic adventure, while guests can see Indiana Jones uncover the truth behind one of the greatest legends ever, in his first onscreen appearance.

Goonies

Finally, there are two vampire movies to see this month – Terence Fisher’s Dracula, starring Christopher Lee, at the DCA in Dundee on 7 April, and Martin, showing at the GFT on 1 April as part of Mark Millar’s Geek Night series. The latter, a low budget gem from George A Romero, was chosen

by Scottish crime writer Ian Rankin, who will be attending for a Q&A session. [Becky Bartlett]

CORMAN’S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL

DVD REVIEWS

LE GRANDE ILLUSION

CROWS ZERO

DIRECTOR: JEAN RENOIR

DIRECTOR: TAKASHI MIIKE

STARRING: ROGER CORMAN, MARTIN SCORSESE, JACK NICHOLSON RELEASED: OUT NOW CERTIFICATE: 15

STARRING: ERICH VON STROHEIM, JEAN GABIN, PIERRE FRESNAY RELEASED: 23 APR CERTIFICATE: U

STARRING: SHUN OGURI, KYOSUKE YABE RELEASED: 9 APR CERTIFICATE: TBC

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DIRECTOR: ALEX STAPLETON

It seems ironic that a filmmaker famed for his zero pretence, zero budget exploitation flicks should have such starry disciples, with Jack Nicholson and Ron Howard among those paying tribute in the opening minutes of Alex Stapleton’s career-spanning documentary. Corman’s World nimbly traces its subject’s path from lowly script-doctor to one-man studio with hundreds of producing and directing credits – some fondly regarded (The Wild Angels), others less so (the ‘It’ of It Conquered the World takes cheap and cheerful to its limits). Lively and illuminating, Stapleton both plays up to and challenges Corman’s low critical cache, fondly romanticising terrible movies (Woman was made for man… to hunt!) while simultaneously encouraging a re-evaluation of anomalously serious works like race-drama The Intruder. Peppering proceedings with nice anecdotal detail (a Blaxploitation Mean Streets?), Corman’s World makes a strong case for a cinematic legacy that extends far beyond drive-thru schlock and Piranhaconda-style TV fare, with rubbery tentacles infiltrating Hollywood at every level. [Chris Buckle]

Perhaps the most striking thing about Jean Renoir’s Le Grande Illusion – released in a restored version to mark its 75th anniversary – is its faith in a common humanity at a time when Europe was only two years from WWII. The cross-border romance which closes the film is presented as a vision of reconciliation between warring nations, which, in retrospect, seems naïve.

But it is Renoir’s humanism which gives such depth to the main story of French POWs trying to escape during WWI. Although there are tunnelling scenes which would inspire the makers of The Great Escape, the director is less interested in the mechanics of escape than in the men and the bonds which grow between them. These are sketched with great warmth and humour. Best of all is Von Stroheim’s perfectly controlled performance as the Prussian camp commandant, an aristocratic throwback with a neck brace and a silver knee cap.

[Keir Roper-Caldbeck]

rr Suzuran Senior High School for Boys is notorious as ‘the toughest in the nation’, an educational establishment where the droog-like pupils indulge in perpetual ultra-violence and the unrestrained use of hair-gel.

New boy Genji Takiya, the son of a local yakuza boss and all-round troubled soul, has had himself transferred so that he can achieve what no-one else has – conquer the school and become its uncontested leader. But first he will have to tackle Tamao Serizawa, the school’s ‘own third year monster’.

Hardest-working-man in Japanese cinema Takashi Miike directs this manga adaptation with his usual gusto – the twelve minute pre-credit sequence has more going on than the whole of The King’s Speech.

But if watching these petulant, preening teenagers beat the crap out of each other initially has a certain appeal, as the film drifts through its more than two hour running time, we soon realise that we don’t care about any of them. [Keir Roper-Caldbeck]

ENCOUNTERS

A MIDNIGHT CLEAR

MOTHER AND CHILD

DIRECTOR: LLOYD RECKFORD, ANDY MILLIGAN, BILL DOUGLAS, PETER DE ROME

DIRECTOR: KEITH GORDON

DIRECTOR: RODRIGO GARCÍA

STARRING: ETHAN HAWKE, GARY SINISE, KEVIN DILLON, PETER BERG RELEASED: 16 APR CERTIFICATE: 15

STARRING: ANNETTE BENING, NAOMI WATTS, SAMUEL L JACKSON, KERRY WASHINGTON RELEASED: 9 APR CERTIFICATE: 15

STARRING: RELEASED: OUT NOW CERTIFICATE: 18

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This new collection from the BFI presents four classic short films of gay cinema, rescued from obscurity, cleaned up and given some love.

The 1960s and 70s were challenging times for filmmakers tackling LGBT themes while trying to dodge the censors. But taken out of context, and presented here bare-bones to a modern viewer, the value and meaning of the filmmakers’ achievement is lost. A lavish booklet does present some analysis of each film, but the disc itself is a missed opportunity. A short interview with writer/director Lloyd Reckford (Dream A40) gives an all-too-brief glimpse of what might have been.

The most traditional film, Vapours, set in a sleazy New York bath house, and the Orwellian Dream A40 are the most successful, but the others fall short. Without commentary or a more in-depth documentary, ten minutes of naked hippies rubbing each others’ backsides in a warehouse remains just that. [Scotty McKellar]

rrr Although perhaps not the cult classic that the accompanying publicity would like us to believe it is, A Midnight Clear is a worthwhile watch, not least for the presence of so many actors who have become familiar faces in the two decades since the film was made. They give uniformly good performances in this WWII story of an intelligence unit sent to occupy a remote farmhouse on the French-German border. Once there, they encounter German soldiers who seem to have things other than fighting for the Fatherland on their minds.

Director Keith Gordon handles the development of a brittle trust between the two sides effectively, balancing the Americans’ suspicions against their desire 'to make something good out of this', and uses the bleak, wintry landscape to suggest the spiritual exhaustion that has overtaken the soldiers as the war comes to a close. Less successful is the heavy-handed symbolism that sometimes threatens to overwhelm the plot. [Keir Roper-Caldbeck]

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Mother and Child steps into the lives of middle-aged Karen (Annette Bening), once a teen mother, her estranged, solitary, and fiercely independent daughter Elizabeth (Naomi Watts), and Lucy (Kerry Washington), an adopter looking for a child. Exploring a raft of relationships – played out through fleeting affairs, run-ins with over-nurturing parents, and awkward meetings – director Rodrigo García casts an observant eye across intertwining lives. Almost a series of vignettes, what he creates is a slow-burning, often moving series of relationships, exploring the effects of breaks in the reproductive chain. Mothers and children, present or absent, echo throughout the lives of complex characters. Never rushing, García gives his subjects plenty of room to breathe. His steady, practiced gaze highlights the effects of lost time and connections and brings out a host of great performances. Slowmoving but ultimately rewarding, it’s a rare and tender character study that’s richer for taking its time. [Nicola Balkind]

EDINBURGH INTERNATIONAL SCIENCE FESTIVAL 30 MARCH – 15 APRIL Add some science to your (social) life!

This year the Science Festival is presenting a vibrant programme that celebrates ideas and embraces discovery, innovation and creativity in all walks of life. Join us as we coax science and scientists out of the lab and combine them with everyone from authors and artists to philosophers and politicians to create all sorts of new and unexpected experiences.

Discover more: www.sciencefestival.co.uk

Online booking: www.sciencefestival.co.uk

Booking hotline: 0844 557 2686

APRIL 2012

THE SKINNY 57

ART

PREVIEWS

BEN ROBINSON, DEATH PAINTS RED DAUBINGS

UNTITLED (ELBA BLACK,GREY, GREEN), 2012

SCOTT MYLES DCA, 7 APR – 10 JUN

It seems only right that artist Scott Myles’ first major solo show in the UK would take place at Dundee Contemporary Arts. A Dundonian himself, Myles graduated from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design some 15 years ago.

Now represented by The Modern Institute in Glasgow, Myles has recently been making great big document folders that look like Claes Oldenburg decided to satirise the Stasi’s inclination to file surveillance intelligence. Amusingly sinister, the larger than life stationery forces us to consider our own dimensions and in turn our depressing finitude.

Alongside the outsized office paraphernalia, Myles will show Analysis (Mirror) – a new sculpture made up of two upturned bus shelters, one on top of the other, covered in graffiti and vandalism. It will function as a kind of indoor pavilion, reflecting the surrounding gallery and exhibition visitors on its

damaged surface.

Referencing his years as a Dundonian youth, going around the city on his skateboard, Myles will create a new sculpture that references the urban environment and the derelict space once used by the young Myles as an unofficial skate park, that came to be redeveloped into DCA. Displaced Façade (for DCA) will be three brick wall segments that look like a complete, unbroken wall from a particular angle, giving the impression of an illusory wholeness – perhaps a subtle critique of Dundee’s gentrification in the 90s when Myles was a youth and DCA was first conceived.

Also an interesting printmaker, Myles will exhibit a new series of prints called STABILA (Black and Blue).

The work reproduces evidence from a court case where a STABILA branded spirit-level was used as a weapon. Normally utilised as a tool for achieving balance, Myles explores how this very balance can quite easily tip into chaos. [Andrew Cattanach] WWW.DCA.ORG.UK

THE SHAPE GENERATOR PROJECTS, UNTIL 15 APR

You’re in safe hands with Generator Projects. The gallery’s inclusive ethos is so anti-scenester it deserves a medal. And it’s no coincidence that this haven of the weird and wonderful would have its home in sunny Dundee – the Scottish seat of everything creepy and abject.

Generator’s current exhibition The Shape brings together artists Lachlann Rattray, Darren Banks and Ben Robinson to reflect on chance and determinism in European horror cinema, presenting new multimedia installations. Going by Robinson’s predilection for all things dark and sinister, and Rattray’s twisted comic book-surrealism, the show is a dead-cert freak fest.

Rattray makes unsettling pictures that incorporate elements of popular culture. In the past, he has

depicted Homer Simpson melting and Bugs Bunny vomiting a rainbow. Amusingly, he often collages the faces of cats over the faces of actual people to surprisingly unsettling effect.

Ben Robinson – Skinny writer and Yuck ‘n Yum editor – unveils his new film Death Paints Red Daubings, which draws inspiration from the Italian genre of cinema called Giallo that marries aspects of thriller with the modern slasher horror.

Darren Banks makes sculptures built from old furniture and monitors showing found footage, as though a mad man with an obsession for scary movies has barricaded himself in a bed-sit. For The Shape, Banks exhibits Bloody Dreams, Visions and Tourism, exploring recurring horror motifs by isolating and looping horror movie tropes. [Andrew Cattanach] WWW.GENERATORPROJECTS.CO.UK

ADVERTISEMENT FEATURE

GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF VISUAL ART The mammoth festival of visual art is upon us, offering audiences the chance to immerse themselves in the party spirit of the Glasgow art scene

GLASGOW INTERNATIONAL Festival of Visual Art kicks off this month, and it’s safe to say nothing else in Scotland quite has its breadth and diversity.

The two-week art extravaganza showcases some of the finest contemporary artists working in Europe and abroad, including Jeremy Deller, Wolfgang Tillmans and Flokert de Jong.

As well as attracting big-name artists to our northern climes, Glasgow International supports lots of home-grown talent, with excellent exhibitions by Glasgow-based artists to be shown at some of Glasgow’s new and established artist-run spaces, including The Mutual, Transmission, David Dale Gallery, The Duchy and the Glue Factory.

In their main space on Duke St, The Duchy will exhibit Pio Abad’s solo show, Dazzler. Soon to graduate from the MFA programme at The Royal Academy in London, Abad is interested in the relationship between Disco and militarism, decorating the gallery with a particularly jazzy camouflage wallpaper lent dark undertones.

The Duchy will also host a large-scale off-site exhibition at the Lighthouse, showing new work by Rachel Adams, Nicolas Party, Amelia Bywater and Alan Stanners. The exhibition encourages artists to show ambitious work and will be the first of a yearly event, showcasing emerging artists.

David Dale Gallery and Studios will be exhibiting new work by Kilian Rüethemann and Kate V Robertson. Both artists will be responding directly to the gallery’s brand new spaces after a recent move to a new venue. Robertson will be exploring the futility inherent in making and showing work

in an art environment that seems already to have exhausted every possibility, while Rüethemann will likely be altering the very fabric of the space.

Transmission will be showing six works of art by different artists, encouraging viewers to interpret the pieces for themselves. The show, according to the gallery’s description, ‘establishes a scenario where the provenance of an artwork is demoted to make space for more irreverent interpretations.’

Which, in translation, encourages us viewers to stop listening to galleries’ convoluted descriptions and start understanding the works for ourselves.

The Mutual, perhaps one of the few Glasgow art organisations with no permanent residence, will introduce the third installment of their WIKI exhibition. The pop-up exhibition will include work by artists Carla Easton, Marlena Morris and Shelton Walker.

The Glue Factory will, as ever, host a show exhibiting pretty much everyone in the world, including Cara Tolmie, Nicolas Party, Conal McStravick, Aileen Campbell and Rory Middleton.

A fantastic big space, we anticipate the opening night will be as raucous as ever, and the show as chaotic as we’ve come to expect.

Glasgow International is the most exciting art event on the Scottish calendar and is not to be missed. Make sure you get yourself along to as many of the openings as possible, getting a real sense of the party atmosphere. We all know that artists know how to have a good time (and it’s certainly not all about stroking your chin), so get in amongst it, and make the most of this special occasion.

PIO ABAD O LION! O BUTCHER! O PIT DWELLER!, 2011, DIGITAL PRINT ON SILK TWILL

Galleries across Scotland are members of the Own Art scheme. By offering interestfree loans of £100-£2,000 through Own Art, buying an original piece of quality contemporary art or craft couldn’t be easier. For more information about Own Art and a list of participating galleries see the Own Art website: www.ownart.org.uk Look for the pink logo. (representative 0% APR)

58 THE SKINNY APRIL 2012

Offer subject to age and status. Terms and conditions apply.

You will need a UK bank account that can handle direct debits, proof of identity and address, and you will also need to be over 18. Own Art is operated by ArtCo Trading Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Arts Council. Registered address: Arts Council England, North East, Central Square, Forth Street, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3PJ

249 West George Street Glasgow G2 4QE

BOOKS

REVIEWS WE THE ANIMALS

IMAGINE: HOW CREATIVITY WORKS

TALLULA RISING

BREATHLESS

BY GLEN DUNCAN

BY ANNE SWARD

BY JUSTIN TORRES

BY JONAH LEHRER

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An autobiographical account of a childhood in upstate New York, We The Animals tells the story of three mixed-race brothers born to very young parents, growing up in a volatile household with little money and less stability. Torres’ words sear through the pages, bringing to life the crunch of boots through snow, the tension that envelopes every member of the family when a parent is stressed, the narrator’s private fears about his own difference, and the giddiness to be found in moments when the boys hit back at their unfair surroundings. The most significant moments of the young storyteller’s life are anchored by a switch from first to third person and from past to present tense, as if they continue to be replayed on film somewhere, having happened to someone else.

The reader, like the narrator, can never tell when somebody will snap, when an account of carefree playing will turn into violence, and yet the boys come back up for air time and time again, fighting each other and fighting to survive. This is a devastating, heartbreaking, beautifully written debut, one that somehow, through its painful vignettes, still manages to shine with love. [Nine]

First, the good news: there’s no such thing as a creative type. Next, the best news: we’re all creative types. As modern science uncovers the mysteries of the imagination, the myth that only a talented few have the capacity to create is being emphatically debunked. Jonah Lehrer’s book underlines just how much we’ve learned about the brain’s creative properties. One startling revelation concerns the section of grey matter that controls impulse. It’s this chunk of tissue that stops us suddenly stripping down to our undies on the 8.15 to East Kilbride. When artists, such as jazz musicians, learn to manage the impulse constraint, they can enter a state of controlled craziness, better known as improvisation. Sometimes, Lehrer wanders into self-help territory, with snappy one-liners like: ‘You break out of the box by stepping into the shackles.’

But he’s by no means condescending, and avoids subjecting the reader to a jamboree of jargon.

Using stories from commerce, education and the arts, Lehrer demonstrates that creativity relies as much on people power as on brain power. Ideasharing is vital, he says, in a world where complex problems need creative solutions: ‘Once we know how creativity works, we can make it work for us.’

[James Carson]

Tallula Rising is the middle book in Glen Duncan’s werewolf trilogy, the sequel to the critically-acclaimed The Last Werewolf. Tallula is not only the last of the lycanthropes, but pregnant and on the run from both vampires and supernatural-hunting government officials who want her or her future child for equally dangerous purposes. However, these enemies may have underestimated the tenacity of an angry werewolf, even with the odds stacked against her. Tallula’s first-person narrative is unapologetically bold, brutal, and thrillingly carnal; precise and bloody detail of her victims’ deaths chopped in with darkly humorous observations on her nature and newly explicit world view. ‘God is dead, irony rollickingly alive.’ She is a brilliantly fierce anti-heroine: murderer, mother, whore and lover all at once. Duncan’s sharp, assertive prose drags the reader beside her at pace on her journey and down into immorality, complicit in the crimes and guiltily sympathetic to her nature. Monster she is, but also totally, dynamically alive, free from the inhibitions which hold most of us (thankfully) back.

Duncan updates the canon without radicalising it, making this a must for fans of grown-up, realist supernatural writing. Twi-hards will faint from shock. [Alice Sinclair]

OUT NOW. PUBLISHED BY GRANTA. COVER PRICE £12.99 HARDBACK

RELEASE DATE: 19 APR. PUBLISHED BY CANONGATE. COVER PRICE £18.99

RELEASE DATE: 5 APR. PUBLISHED BY CANONGATE. COVER PRICE £16.99 HARDBACK

Anne Sward’s Breathless is told from the perspective of Lo, who in looking back on her childhood examines a relationship she has been unable to escape. When she first meets Lukas she is only six years old, while at thirteen he is coming into adolescence. Now an adult, Lo has moved away from the isolated, rural environment she and Lukas made their own and leads a nomadic life, forever changing cities, jobs and partners. The genesis for this is traced back to the events of her fifteenth birthday; a night during which her relationship with Lukas is changed forever. However, this gives some idea of the main problem with the novel, which is that Lo is defined by her relationships with men. Removing her from these contexts we find there is very little left of her and such a two-dimensional female protagonist feels archaic in a modern novel. Translated from its original Swedish the writing is adequate to the story, but the poetry fails to come through, if it was ever there. Possibly interesting flourishes, such as the referencing of Godard’s film from which the novel takes its title, fail to resonate with the themes in the way that they should do. [Ryan Rushton]

OUT NOW. PUBLISHED BY MACLEHOSE. COVER PRICE £12.99

REVIEW

TECH

If content is ready by the time the game is done, it should be included, right?

SSX (2012) EA SPORTS, PS3, XBOX 360, £39.89

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NOT PLEASED WITH EXTRA COSTS

DOWNLOADABLE CASH COWS When add-on content is just a penalty for skint gamers WORDS: ALEX COLE

BITE-SIZED TECH NUGGETS WITH ALEX COLE

THE FEED

TIME WAS when a games publisher wanted to continue a franchise, they published what my grandpappy called a sequel. That’s one o’them holdovers from when people still thought of games like movies, and figured that the game you bought was everything they had time to make. A simpler time, where men and women could buy a game without ever worrying whether their edition had all the good bits in it.

Now, though, the ugly spectre of downloadable content is rearing its ugly head, meaning that publishers can use the games engine to make sell

new parts to an existing game. Just shell out some cash, download a neat little add-on, and suddenly your game has a whole new bit of playability to it. A great idea, sure, so long as it’s generally understood that any DLC is the result of work done after the game is released. After all, if content is ready by the time the game is done, it should be included, right?

Yeah, not so much. Recently, Bioware and EA have been in a lovely little debacle over so-called Day 1 DLC, where the added content was available on the game DVD you just bought, but

only accessible by paying more to unlock it. It’s like buying a car and getting told that a back seat will be available later to buy, only to find it’s right there in the car already, you just can’t unlock the door to it.

This is in contrast to the previous entry, where the DLC introduced brilliant little sub-stories like Project Overlord which changed the gameplay just enough to keep things interesting and worthwhile, without diluting the main game. The worst thing a DLC can do is make you feel like you’re getting less of a story than your rich friends.

Every publisher has their own relationship with DLC, trying to balance the needs of their bottom line profits with keeping their fans interested and well-rewarded for buying. Valve, for example, famously released a whole new set of levels for Portal 2 free of charge, while in the case of the venerable game Team Fortress 2, they kept releasing content and add-ons, and made the core game free.

Games at their best are stories, ones you progressively reveal as you play. Any DLC should add some new experiences and side-stories to that one big narrative, and make it richer, but never crucial to the story. And when those experiences are artificially held back just to earn a bit of extra cash, the game is just product again.

EA Sports have released the fifth instalment in the SSX franchise and it pulls off the biggest trick yet, a solid improvement over previous entries on the PS2 which had only a handful of riders, less than 15 slopes and got by on novelty alone. This instalment sees SSX fully matured, with those original riders developed and over 100 tracks to race or trick to your heart’s content.

SSX was never known for realism and with every version the realism has only been included where it makes the game more fun. It feels great to pull off such incredible moves, while the mountain reminds you of your limits.

Story mode in the game is the first thing introduced right off the bat to get you used to the controls and give provide a nemesis to compete against. Having an antagonist gives a lot of purpose to pursue the career mode giving a reason to tackle every mountain. Offline play gets your characters built up and ready for online play, so give it a good few hours before going straight online, which is a natural evolution from single player.

The multiplayer aspect lacks a local split screen, which was probably the most played feature on my version of the original SSX for having mates over; it’s sorely missed this time round.

Every turn, twist, jump, grab or shout has obviously been finely tuned for this version of an old favourite.

EA Sports have been known to release an updated version of each franchise every year, but SSX is a great example of why giving a few years between each title can equal greatness. [James Noonan]

NEW IPAD JUST CALLED ‘NEW IPAD.’ GREAT, THERE GOES ALL MY IPAD XL3000 STICKERS • MEGAUPLOAD FOUNDER’S RAID RULED ILLEGAL, TURNS OUT COPS JUST PIRATED SEARCH WARRANT • PIRATE BAY LOOKING TO PUT UP SUB-ORBITAL DRONE SERVERS. ARREST ME NOW, BRO • IPLAYER NOW ON XBOX, WHICH MEANS YOU CAN MULTITASK CALL OF DUTY AND MASTERCHEF • APPLE PLANNING TO USE £70BN CASH TO BUY BACK SHARES, AND NOT START A SPACE PROGRAMME

APRIL 2012

THE SKINNY 59

Photo: Ingrid Mur

THEATRE

The Steamie Since its debut twenty-five years ago, The Steamie has become a Scottish classic: even a young turk like Johnny McKnight picked it as one of his favourite plays during the National Theatre of Scotland’s Staging the Nation series of readings. For this anniversary production its writer Tony Roper – well known as Jamesie off Rab C Nesbitt – has been enlisted to direct.

Despite being one of Scotland’s most recognisable comedy actors, Roper is disarmingly honest and friendly. He laughs off suggestions that he had a special reason for returning to The Steamie, insisting that he had no idea that it was the twentyfifth anniversary until the producer got in touch, and is self-deprecating about his success.

A subsequent television version popularised The Steamie – Roper has heard estimates that 8 million people have seen it, and that a Finnish company perform it every year – and its story of women getting their washing done on New Year’s Eve has become emblematic of a specific slice of Scottish history.

Yet Roper admits that the female heavy cast was not designed as a statement, but from practicality. “It was purely logical: the company who commissioned me were touring round community halls. I knew that the people who went were mostly pensioners – so I figured if I was going to write something, it would be something for the majority of the audience.”

Roper’s stratregy paid off: even an anniversary tour like this is less an exercise in nostalgia than a welcome reminder of Scotland’s populist theatre tradition. [Gareth K Vile] Dundee Caird Hall, 3-7 Apr 01382 434940 www.dundeebox.co.uk Edinburgh Festival Theatre, 10-14 Apr, 0131 529 6000 www.festivaltheatre.org.uk Inverness Eden Court, 16-21 Apr, 01463 234234 www.eden-court.co.uk Aberdeen His Majesty’s Theatre, 24-28 Apr, 01224 641122 www.boxofficeaberdeen.com Glasgow King’s Theatre, 30 Apr-5 May, 0844 871 7648 www.ambassadortickets.com/glasgow Perth Theatre, 8-12 May, 01738 621 031 www.horsecross.co.uk Stirling Macrobert, 14-19 May, 01786 466 666 www.macrobert.org http://player.stv.tv/programmes/the-steamie/

PREVIEWS

Scottish Ballet – A Streetcar Named Desire In what promises to be a fruitful combination Scottish Ballet Artistic Director Ashley Page has paired contemporary choreographer Lopez Ochoa with theatre and film director Nancy Meckler to create a new full length work which combines drama with dance.

A Streetcar Named Desire was one of three potential stories initially discussed between Lopez Ochoa and Meckler. Streetcar, written by American playwright Tennessee Williams, was the first story Lopez Ochoa read. “I didn’t have to read the other two books; I knew this was the story,” she says. “It’s very intricate, it’s beautiful, there’s a lot of detail and it’s very human. Blanche gets rejected by the village that she was born in and then at the end of the piece she gets rejected by her own family; her sister.

That’s the only thing she has left, that is so painful.”

Just as this production combines dance with drama, Streetcar further combines contemporary dance with ballet. “I’m using both techniques in this piece because Blanche DuBois is a character that doesn’t fit into the society she was born in. So we

put her on pointe shoes at the beginning of the ballet and it’s very elegant and polite. And as she comes into emotions and into New Orleans it’s all very grounded, on the floor, hair loose, women throwing themselves on men and that sort of thing.”

Ochoa Lopez identifies herself as a contemporary choreographer who’s happy to explore the aesthetic of classical lines. But a theatrical language infuses her contemporary work. “I always dreamt I would do my first full length work with a director and now that I’m working with a director I think I should always do it with a director. They see storytelling in such a different way from a choreographer; they’ve learned it and I have learned to make movements in space so we really become a force together.” [Susannah Radford] Theatre Royal, Glasgow, 11-14 Apr, tickets from £10 Festival Theatre, Edinburgh, 18-21 Apr, tickets from £12 Sadler’s Wells, London, 26-28 Apr His Majesty’s Theatre, Aberdeen 2-5 May, tickets from £13.50 Eden Court, Inverness, 9-12 May, tickets from £17 Grand Opera House, Belfast, 16-19 May www.scottishballet.co.uk

DIY punk theatre strikes a chord

EL

Cirque du Soleil – Alegria @ SECC Cirque du Soleil, despite having become the circus equivalent of Coldplay, began in 1984 as a group of street performers. Their evolution into a touring phenomenon, able to fill the SECC and building a large repertoire that includes a tribute to Michael Jackson, not only encouraged a generation of circus performers to approach a more theatrical aesthetic but developed a unique style.

Alegria – dubbed a baroque ode to youth and grace – has the distinctive appearance of a classic Cirque production: costumes and acts that have roots in traditional circus given a balletic luxury; a custom composed soundtrack, performed live, a huge cast and an allusive, mercurial narrative. This combination has seen the company move firmly into the mainstream. They showcase the technical excellence of each act, ranging from a fire-knife dance

60 THE SKINNY April 2012

to the synchronised trapeze, while using characters like ‘the white singer’, ‘the black singer’, nymphs and ‘nostalgic old birds’ to tie the individual moments of spectacle into an atmospheric, evocative show.

The modern production values, polished choreography and epic scale of Alegria reflect a vision that company founder Guy Laliberte first saw in the street performers of Quebec in the 1980s: as circus moved away from animal acts, the emphasis on human excellence and the possibilities of using acrobats in the same way as trained dancers allowed Cirque du Soleil to find a niche. By transplanting the carnival energy into a grandiose theatricality, Alegria’s high concept frames the acts’ athleticism in a vivid staging. [Phil Gatt] SECC, 11-16 Apr, various prices www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/welcome.aspx

Playwrights, poets, story tellers, stand-up comics, actors, musicians, filmmakers and stage magicians - experienced and fresh-faced - gather together and present the fruits of their collective labour to an audience of peers and art-lovers at Sunday night’s Three Chord Theatre. “We foster a friendly and comfortable environment, giving new talent a place to shine and perform alongside established practitioners,” says Sonic Boom Theatre Company founder Kenny Boyle, who co-founded the company with Clare Sheppard after meeting at a theatre studies class.

Sonic Boom acclimatised themselves to The Flying Duck last year with a risqué re-rendering of A Midsummers’ Night Dream. Thus, it was with a hint of sentimentality that the duo hatched Three Chord Theatre in the same setting, “We jumped on the opportunity to collaborate with [The Flying Duck owner] Craig Tannock on his exciting new idea.”

Embracing a grassroots punk ethic, where a show that aims to offer something for everyone

can be done on a low budget and a minimal set-up, each Three Chord Theatre platforms several booked acts for 15 minute performances, alongside “wild cards” who simply turn up on the night. It’s an eclectic crowd too.

“People aren’t divided by age, we have 18 year old college students and one of our regulars is almost 70! They all love performance and offer incredible support to one another.

“It’s is a little different from your average open mic where it can feel strange getting up to perform a monologue between musical acts and the occasional comedian... we actively encourage all kinds.

The audience is thinking ‘the wilder the better.’ It’s such a positive vibe.”[Anthony Sammeroff] Visit Three Chord Theatre’s Facebook page for the latest news on upcoming events at Facebook.com/ pages/Three-Chord-Theatre-at-The-Flying-Duck http://www.facebook.com/pages/ThreeChord-Theatre-at-The-Flying-Duck

COMEDY

An extra hour in the day means even more time to waste for lazy people. Exciting new comedian (and Olympic-standard timewaster) Eleanor Morton offers some tips Photo: Nick Milligan

From ballet, contemporary and jazz to musical madness, aerial and disco

summer12

The Expert Guide To Procrastination

Courses, drop-in classes and workshops for everyone 16 April – 29 June I Bookings open Sat 31 Mar dancebase.co.uk I 0131 225 5525 14 –16 Grassmarket, Edinburgh EH1 2JU

Charity no: SC0022512

Gravel Snowmen This fun game can be played all year round. Brighten up any porch with your handcrafted Gravel Men, Women and Children, which you can accessorise with hats, gloves and bits of tinfoil. Gravel is much harder to work with than snow, but that’s what makes it all the more rewarding. If you do not personally own any gravel, why not take some from your neighbour, the local park or a Crematorium rockery? After all, gravel shared is gravel halved!

Newsnight Drinking Game Self-explanatory.

The usual rules apply: drink whenever Paxman scoffs at the soul of another human being, and whenever you hear ‘just answer the question minister!’, but you can make it more exciting by drinking every time an interviewee looks likes they’ve managed to stop themselves before saying something racist, and when you can see the space between Paxman’s socks and trousers. iPhone sunglasses Two iPhones. Two eyes.

Some sellotape. (Take a picture of each eye to have on the screens so it looks like you can still see. You can’t see). You’ll be on the screaming edge of cool.

Doris Day Day Curl up in a pointy bra and watch all the classics – Calamity Jane, Tea for Two, and the other one she did with the goat.

Pluck out all of your eyebrow hairs one by one and then carefully stick each individual hair back – on the wrong eyebrow. Alas, I cannot play this as I have one long blonde monobrow. But others assure me it’s a wheeze.

It’s Michael Gove! Have you ever wanted to punch Michael Gove full in the face? Well now you can! All you need is your fist, a member of the public and the unyielding belief that they are Michael Gove.

Brontastic Relive the classic stories of the Brontë sisters. Spend the day crying in a Yorkshire accent, staring into middle distance and wandering around your back garden drunk. Whenever you meet anyone (say, the postman or your

Have you ever wanted to punch Michael Gove full in the face? Well now you can!

Eleanor Morton

hairdresser) clasp their hands in yours and whisper ‘I know now we cannot meet again, for your love is poisoning my soul and every waking moment is an arrow in my cold heart’.

Paint My Painting. Do you have a painting on your wall you reckon needs sprucing up? Add a couple of coats of Dulux and transform a classic.

If you have a Picasso, you can repaint the eyes on the right side of the face.

Radiator Fun. Doing some baking? Oven seems too conventional? Simply hold the cake mix against the radiator until it is cooked for that delicious, slightly metallic taste.

Zoo Race. Have a race with the animals in the zoo. Most of them will not be able to go beyond the five-metre perimeter of their enclosure for fear of electrocution. A great game to prove why HUMANITY WINS AGAIN. Neurotic troubador Eleanor Morton is rapidly becoming one of Scotland’s most in-demand comics.

Keep an eye on listings for her next gig near you twitter.com/EleanorMorton

April 2012

THE SKINNY 61

COMPS

Win Tickets to Win Tickets to Stag & Knockengorroch Dagger and Free Scran World Ceilidh at The Captain’s Rest Festival

Festival season is upon us. For those of a certain disposition the sound of tents being unfurled each springtime is as pleasing as the bleating of newborn lambs. With that in mind, we present the chance to win a pair of tickets to the Knockengorroch World Ceilidh Festival from 31 May to 3 June.

What's more, the winner will receive a backstage tour and enjoy a drink with Knockengorroch host and festival founder Simon Holmes! This kind of thing CANNOT be bought and is a Skinny EXCLUSIVE. The Knockengorroch World Ceilidh is the longest running independent festival in Scotland. Starting in 1998, it paved the way for the Scottish festival scene as we know it today. Family run, it remains an intimate gathering of good souls, brilliant music and a rocking party in an eye poppingly beautiful mountain river valley plain. Through the years many

62 THE SKINNY APRIL 2012

a great weekend has been spent hanging with the coos and enjoying the moosic.

To enter go to www.theskinny.co.uk/competitions and answer the following question: Q. Which of the following is not a real ceilidh dance?

A. The Gay Gordons B. Strip the Willow C. Flash Gordon Competition closes Mon 30 April.

Winners will be notified on the day of closing and will be required to respond within 72 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. For full terms and conditions, go to www.theskinny.co.uk/ about/terms

For festival fans not willing to give up home comforts like running water, air conditioning and concrete, Stag and Dagger returns to the streets of Glasgow on Saturday 19 May with a line up of great bands and none of that ‘country air’ smell.

Now in its fourth year, the festival will bring over 50 bands and DJs to Glasgow’s venues, including Skinny favourites Django Django and The Phantom Band. One ticket will get you in to all seven venues and allow you to hop your way across the city, catching bands as and when you choose.

However, you’re going to need to fuel up for a day of this magnitude, so as well as offering two passes for the festival and two queue jump wristbands, PCL and The Skinny will send you to The Captain’s Rest for a pre Stag and Dagger burrito. Don’t say we don’t take care of you.

Win yourself a cracking day out by heading to www.theskinny.co.uk, or scanning our QR code, and answering the following question: Q: Django Django’s producer/drummer David Maclean’s brother was a member of which legendary Scottish band?

A. Deacon Blue B. The Beta Band C. The Blue Nile Competition closes Mon 30 April.

Entrants must be 18 or over and may be asked for I.D. Winners will be notified on the day of closing and will be required to respond within 72 hours or

the prize will be offered to another entrant. For full terms and conditions, go to www.theskinny.co.uk/ about/terms www.pclpresents.com

Glasgow music Tue 03 Apr

2:54 (Chelsea Wolfe)

Ben Montague (Lotte Mullan)

Alternative London rockers fresh from their appearance at SXSW 2012.

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £8

Toustle-haired acoustic singer/ songwriter blessed with an acute sense of melody.

Allen Stone King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £15

Young singer/songwriter hailing from the US-of-A, moving from classic soul to R’n’B as he goes.

Oh Yeah (Scott Logan, The Last of Us, McGabe) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Eccentric night of live music, art and dance.

Failsafe (Marvel Heights, Playdead) Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £7

Melodic alternative rock quintet hailing from Preston.

Agnieszka Opiola The Old Hairdressers, 19:30–23:00, Free

Live recital of Bach music played by Agnieszka Opiola, with projected visuals by Craig Hausman.

Wed 04 Apr Struggle Bloc+, 21:00–01:00, Free

Monthly punk and post hardcore selection from DIY collective Struggletown.

Slow Club King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10

Rather lovely alternative folkiness from the Sheffield duo of Charles Watson and Rebecca Taylor, roaming rather niftily between desolate songs and bumpy, playful musical explorations.

New Hellfire Club (Japan Four, Cairo, Broken Amps, Law of the Chord) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Indie, grunge, pop and rock handpicked by emerging new promotions collective Hellfire Club Glasgow.

Mad Dog McRae Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £6

Raggle taggle folk ensemble blending a unique mixture of rock, pop, gypsy jazz and bluegrass into their mix.

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £7

Fri 06 Apr Sensational David Bowie Tribute Band Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £10

Er, a David Bowie tribute act. We hear they’re sensational.

Lee Fields and The Expressions O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15

Deeply soulful mix incorporating old and new sounds, with Carolina-born Lee Fields headering his instrument-heavy soul collective, The Expressions.

MexicoFALLZ Classic Grand, 18:30–22:00, £6

The Kent quartet do their usual shambolic, pop-punk meltdown of a thing.

Thu 05 Apr Tinariwen Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £16

Tuareg musicians mixing electric blues and traditional Malian vocals, with lyrics rather hypnotically sung in French and Tamashek.

Fat Goth Bloc+, 21:00–01:00, Free

Ex-Alamos members in a new alternative guise.

Glasvegas Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £sold out

Boom-voiced James Allan and co play a sold-out Glasgow date, cue glacial guitars, heavyweight lyrics and mass audience singalongs.

Billy Lockett King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

Northampton singer/songwriter skilled on the ol’ piano, which he taught himself to play in a basement, aged 8.

Mayhem Underground (CEMTEX, Portion Fed, Crowned By Kings) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £6

Martin Stephenson and the Daintees King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £19.50

British rockers fusing elements of rockabilly, show tunes, and rootsypop into their mix.

Volcano the Bear Mono, 22:00–01:00, Free

Free after-gig for Counterflows Festival launch (at Saint Andrew’s in the Square), hosted by mash-up kings Volcano the Bear.

Various bands cherrypick songs from The Beatles iconic album, Revolver.

The Mouse That Ate The Cat (Seed, Digital Jones) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £7 adv.

Sydney-based indie quintet, mixing driving indie-folk sounds with dainty choral harmonies.

Massaker, Opaque, Ultimate Thrush Stereo, 21:00–03:00, £5

Full-on noise collision featuring unhinged Glasgow hellraisers Ultimate Thrush, amongst others. Part of Counterflows Festival 2012.

Josephine Foster, Sven-Ake Johansson, Trio Der Kreis des Gegenstandes, Kim DooSoo, Michael Hurley

Legendary British guitarist who did his time with John Mayal’s Bluesbreakers and the mighty Rolling Stones.

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £15

The former Felice Brothers man tours with his new live band.

Parkway Drive (The Ghost Inside, Miss May I, Confession)

Paris-born songstress taking in genres of pop, soul, urban and folk, all underpinned with a lingering sense of melancholy.

O2 ABC, 18:00–22:00, £14

The Byron Bay hardcore metal quintet bring the noise to Glasgow.

Toy (Sick Kids) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

The Korg Delta led five-piece launch their new single, which you can download for free from heavenlyrecordings.com.

Zion, Ded Rabbit, Broken Boy Soldiers Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, free

Alternative and indie stylings from a selection of emerging Glasgow artists.

Snarky Puppy (Little Fix) Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £tbc

With a rotating schedule of some 25 players, this US jazz-meets-rock straddling collective share their unique musical enthusiam.

Weatherbird 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £5

Indie-pop and rock offerings from the End of the Trail records signees.

Tue 10 Apr Angels and Airways O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £19.50

All-American band of alternative rockers led by Blink 182 guitarist and vocalist Tom DeLonge.

Electric Gardens (Knots & Crosses, Dosa) Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc

The Meatmen

Glasgow trio rockin’ the bluesflecked indie thing.

Counterflows Festival: Opening Night (Early Songs, Grouper, Michael Gira) Saint Andrew’s in the Square, 18:45–22:30, £15 (£12)

Barrowland, 19:00–23:00, £19

Maggie May’s, 18:00–20:00, Free

The Meatmen return with a mixed-up batch of rock’n’roll, country and skiffle covers and originals.

Some Velvet Morning (Paradigm Shift, Una Fiori, The Speak Easy) Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £5

London trio serving up some anthemic, jangling guitar rock.

Stone Axe, Stubb, Trippy Wicked and the Cosmic Children of the Knight The Old Hairdressers, 19:30–23:00, £tbc

Another Barrowland singalong with the Donegal Celtic rockers.

Showcase night of heavy riff rock for all your moshing needs.

The Monochrome Set (Wake The President, Casual Sex)

Sun 08 Apr

Stereo, 20:00–03:00, £10

The longstanding indie-pop outfit, marked by songwriter Bid’s laconic vocals and intelligent wit, kick off their new European tour, coinciding with their first release in over two decades.

Kevin McDermott Orchestra

Vagabond Social Club

Axwell

State Bar, 20:00–23:30, £4

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £18.50

The longstanding Scottish singer/ songwriter tours with his live orchestra, a trio of players on guitar, bass and drums.

O2 Academy, 19:30–22:00, £23.50

The Americana night returns, soundtracked by York troubadour Mark Wynn, eclectic Welsh roots collective Little Rumba and Glasgow singer/songwriter Martin McLaughlin.

One third of the Swedish House Mafia, DJ, remixer and record producer Axwell takes to the road solo, playing his inimitable blend of eletronic dance.

Fetus Christ, Plane Crasher, Clocked Out, Coffin Splitter

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £5

13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Hardcore showcase taking in the filthy grindcore offerings of Fetus Christ, amongst others.

Sat 07 Apr Katie Sutherland Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £8

Former Pearl and The Puppets local girl Katie Sutherland plays a warmup show for the long-awaited release of debut album.

The Doors Alive O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £12

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £8

Original heavy metal sounds from the Dumfries/Glagsow-based bunch, moving from riff-driven heavy metal to lengthy instrumentals.

Deathkill4000 (We Are The Physics) Bloc+, 22:00–01:00, Free

Industro-rock noise party with infamous local alternative pop superstars to boot.

Two Wings (Doug Tielli, Rob St John) Experimental ensemble born of a songwriting collaboration between singer/multi-instrumentalist/visual artist Hanna Tuulikki and guitarist/ singer Ben Reynolds.

Bekon’s Birthday Bash Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

The unrelentingly brutal Glagsow metal band celebrate their birthday.

Flipper Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £12.50

Longstanding San Franciscoan punk-rockers formed back in 1979 from the ashes of Sleepers and Negative Trend.

Sven-Ake Johannson Kinning Park Complex, 14:00–17:00, Free

Easter-themed Sunday afternoon session, headered by maverick oldschool dadaist Sven-Ake Johansson.

Part of Counterflows Festival 2012.

Margareth Kammerer, Bill Well’s National Jazz Trio of Scotland, Kazuki Tomokawa CCA, 18:45–22:00, £12 (£10)

Live gig event exploring international networks of underground music, featuring Aidan Moffat’s collaborative partner Bill Wells (accompanied by his live jazz trio). Part of Counterflows Festival 2012.

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

The Sunderland stalwarts play a special acoustic performance to promote their new acapella album.

Vocal harmonies a-go-go, then.

London-based heavy metal quartet who’ve made the genre a way of life; balls out and boozle-fuelled in their approach.

Turbyne (Ocean House, Rare Breed, Silvertrace)

Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, Free

USA pop-punksters Freshman 15 team-up with the UK’s The Bottom Line for their debut UK tour together.

Cue infectious pop choruses and crunching guitars.

Mick Taylor (The River 68’s)

Live gig event exploring international networks of underground music, as part of Counterflows Festival 2012.

Take A Worm For A Walk Week (Adam Stafford, GRNR)

Classic Album Night: The Beatles

Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £6

Thu 12 Apr Simone Felice Band

Orange Goblin

The Doors tribute act.

Our sub-editor says they're 'great'.

Feral Glaswegian noisemakers TAWFAWW unleash a final blast of discordant thrash upon your ass as they play what will be their last ever show.

Freshman 15, The Bottom Line

Mon 09 Apr The Futureheads

The Arches, 18:45–22:00, £15

Hardcore rammy of a night uniting Glasgow’s metal scene under one roof. Includes free entry to Cathouse.

Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £5 adv. (£6 door)

The longstanding Glagsow punk outfit make their live return, with a new album also set for release later in the year.

Boy & Bear

Living Under The Gun Live poetry and music benefit for upcoming cultural exchanges between Glasgow and its twin city Bethlehem, featuring poet and playwright Liz Lochhead and experimental folkie Alasdair Roberts, amongst others.

Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £5

Cottier’s, 19:30–23:30, £8

The Glasgow eight-piece do their inimitable thing, merging myriad instrumentation and John Blair Hunt’s trademark emotive vocals in one exquisitely-rounded whole.

Charlie and the Bhoys

CCA, 19:30–23:00, £13 (£10)

4 Past Midnight (Hateful, The Red Eyes)

Butcher Boy

The Glaswegian garage rock duo launch their new EP.

The Old Hairdressers, 19:30–23:00, Free

O2 Academy, 19:00–22:00, £24

Glasgow-based scamps making delightful electro-indie-pop that uses synths, samples, guitars and layered vocals.

Launch event for the new festival exploring international networks of underground music, featuring a live set from Early Songs (aka David Scott’s infectious tone poems).

Honeyblood

Orbital Brothers Paul and Phil Hartnoll show y’all how electronic dance should be done, touring their first new album in eight years.

Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £13

Marion (Exit Calm) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £13

Britpop ensemble formed in 1993, disbanded and then reformed in 2006, and again in 2011, now touring with the original line-up.

Fat Bicth, Battery Face, Shudder Pulps Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £4

Braincrusher of a bill, headered by rhythmical, math-rock trio (and thoroughtly unpronouncable), Fat Bicth.

Rabb Crosbie (Static Rock, Threerdos, Diabhul, Ashes of the Priest, Bareknuckle Execution) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Metal-styled singer/onsgwriter Rabb Crosbie gathers a collection of friends to launch his new album.

Pelican (The Little Mill of Happiness) Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £12

The thunderous post-instrumental outfit launch their new EP, which comes out the same day.

Emeli Sande Old Fruitmarket, 19:45–22:30, £15

Delilah O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £10

Cast The Net (Steady State Regime, 4 Day Weekend) Bloc+, 21:00–01:00, Free

Bi-monthly showcase taking in a handpicked selection of exciting new Scottish artists and bands.

Iain James and The Sound Classic Grand, 19:30–22:00, £5

Retro-styled fingerstyle guitar virtuoso Iain Forbes and co launch their debut LP.

Sea Of Bees King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £8.50

Experimental folk-meets-rock musical project of Julie Ann Bee, a Californian-based singer/songwriter and player of many a musical instrument.

Mayhem Underground (Witness the Fall, Falling Rain, Bloodthreat) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £6

Bloc+, 21:00–01:00, Free

English touring outfit with measured doses of clever guitars and big choruses.

Jagermeister Music Tour (Skindred, Therapy?)

O2 Academy, 19:00–22:00, £5

Welsh rockers Skindred headline the second ever Jagermeister Music Tour, joined by alternative metal legends Therapy?

Nneka King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £14

Nigerian-born Afro-German songstress doing her boom-voiced soul thing to dramatic effect.

We Should Be Spies, Anchor Lane Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £5

Fundraiser night, with quirky Glasgow indie-rockers Anchor Lane on the bill, plus DJ Hispanic Bob playing out.

Roy and The Devils Motorcycle 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Switzerland ensemble combining fuzzed-out wildman blues and a psyched-out nod to Spaceman 3.

1990s (Post, Casual Sex, Asian Babes) The Old Hairdressers, 19:30–23:00, £3

Free gig as part of GI Festival, headered by indie kids the 1990s.

Monoganon CCA, 20:00–22:00, £4

The Glasgow and Malmo-straddling musicians conclude their week-long CCA residency with a live performance, showcasing a selection of completely new material.

Sat 14 Apr Nearly Dan Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £14

The young blues guitarist does his acoustic one-man-with-a-guitar thing.

Stereo, 19:00–23:30, £5

Circus-themed night of live music, performance art, poetry, vaudeville acts, burlesque dancing and, er, Fergus the Great Magician!

Dave Alvin and The Guilty Ones The Arches, 19:30–22:00, £16

The American roots musican performs with his live band, with recent work marking a return to his rock upbringing.

Oli Brown

Esperi, Conn Harp, Calum Gilligan, Kieran Robinson Band Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Acre Records celebrate their first launch with a line-up of roster acts, including special guest Esperi.

Meshuggah The Garage, 19:00–22:00, £15 adv.

Sweden’s foremost tech-metal architects take to Glasgow’s Garage armed with their most recent LP, Koloss, a lead-heavy beast of an album.

Ian Anderson Theatre Royal, 19:30–22:00, From £11

Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £6

Occult rock outfit from Texas, fresh from their stint at SXSW.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £22.50

The soul maestro performs his own hits, alongside some Drifters classics.

Mon 16 Apr The Staves Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £8

Headline set from Communion Records all-female folk harmony trio.

The Kleptocrats (People Places Maps) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Tue 17 Apr The Blur man curates a unique tour for his latest LP, for which he’s inviting folk to nominate local bands to support him. Full info at grahamcoxon.co.uk.

Odonis Odonis Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £6

Surf-gaze, industrial, and punkstraddling outfit that began life as the solo project of multi-instrumentalist and filmmaker Dead Tzenos.

13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Poet and musician Ted Milton tours with his experimental jazz-rockers, Blurt.

The performance artist, composer and jazz saxophonist does his solo thing.

Marionettes (Dalzel, Dougsy, Hitchcock Blonde)

Wed 18 Apr

West Lothian heavy metallers headed by Alan Clarkson on bass and vocals.

Simian Ghost Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £6

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £tbc

Alessandro Bosetti The Old Hairdressers, 19:30–23:00, £4

Fri 13 Apr

SWG3, 14:00–21:00, £5 (£3)

Twilight Hotel

Andrew WK

Musical collaboration of Canadian singer/songwriter duo Brandy Zdan and Dave Quanbury, a distinctly roots-y project accompanied by a rotating door of junkyark percussionists.

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £10

London-based singer/songwriter, known mostly for her cover of The Calling’s Wherever You Will Go.

Dilated Bloc+, 21:00–01:00, Free

Retro hip-hop extravaganza for your Friday night pleasure.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10

The Dirty Cuts Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £5

Guitar-fuelled indie-pop of the catchy and seriously damn danceable variety.

Specialized (Esperanza, This Modern Youth, Big Fat Panda) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £5

A selection of acts take to the stage to perform one-off renditions of their favourite Specials songs. Raising funds for Teenage Cancer Trust.

Quickbeam (Endor, Washington Irving) The Tall Ship, 18:45–22:00, £7

Minimalist folksters Quickbeam launch their new single, with the night also acting as the official record label launch for Comets & Cartwheels.

The Green Door Weekender (1990s, Post, Casual Sex, Asian Babes) Stereo, 20:00–23:00, £5 weekend (or £3)

The Green Door Studio-curated weekender, featuring live music from a selection of local lovelies, plus films

by Gregor Johnstone.

10 year anniversary jam for the Flyin’ Jalapenos Crew, featuring hip-hop DJs, MC showcases and live dance battles.

The Garage, 19:00–22:00, £15 adv.

Mr Wilkes-Krier celebrates 10 years since the release of his debut album, I Get Wet, playing it live and in its bloody entirety.

The Green Door Weekender (Jacob Yates and the Pearly Gate Lockpickers, The Rosy Crucifixion, Black Jash, Future Glue) Stereo, 20:00–23:00, £5 weekend (or £3)

The Green Door Studio-curated weekender, featuring live music from a selection of local lovelies, plus films

by Gregor Johnstone.

The Meatmen Maggie May’s, 18:00–20:00, Free

The Meatmen return with a mixed-up batch of rock’n’roll, country and skiffle covers and originals.

Los Tentakills (The Reverb Syndicate, The Fnords) 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Glasgow-based noisemakers riding along on a lo-fi patchwork of psychedelia, garage and surf.

Sun 15 Apr Alyssa Reid O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £8

The Canadian songstress takes to the road, her Heart-sampling single well and truly in tow.

Sway (KOF) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10

Hard-hitting London rapper, aka Derek Andrew Safo, and a bit of a lyrical genius in our eyes.

Beartrap (Witch Cult, Horrors That You’ve Seen, HaroldxShitman, Wheelchair) (Witch Cult, Horrors That You’ve Seen, HaroldxShitman, Wheelchair) 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

The Masschusetts hardcore titans do their reliably noisy thing.

Kariss Andrew and Vickie Paxton (Matthew MacConell) Scottish singer/songwriter showcase, where both Kariss Andrew and Vickie Paxton will be launching their new EPs, offering big blues and folk sounds respectively.

Fri 20 Apr Christian Webb Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £8

Son of Jimmy Webb and formerly with The Webb Brothers, now branching out on his own.

Futures O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £8.50

Melodic rock quartet headered by Ant West.

Bloc+, 21:00–01:00, Free

Howard Jones

Aberdeen quintet doing a rather fine line in shouty indie-pop, gigging a selection of new material.

Charlene Soraia

The perennial psych-rockers return to Glasgow, touring in support of their new LP, the first single offa which you can download for free at dandywarhols.com.

Shake Appeal

Sebastian Arnstrom of Swedish post-rockers Aerial swaps sprawling guitar epics for frothy electronic pop sheen, and rather nice it is too.

Flyin’ Jalapenos Crew

The Dandy Warhols

Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:30, £4

The Garage, 19:00–22:00, £16.50 adv.

Ted Milton Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £7

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £6

The Garage, 19:00–22:00, £20 adv.

Ben E King

Graham Coxon

London experimentalist Guy Connelley brings his eclectic avant-pop ensemble Glasgow-way.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £9 adv.

Chicagoan progressive rock quartet rich with folky motifs, fingertapping and herky-jerky rhythms.

Hardcore rammy of a night uniting Glasgow’s metal scene under one roof. Includes free entry to Cathouse.

Digital W.I.N.C.H.

Clock Opera (The Hollows)

Maps and Atlases (Tall Ships, Trapped In Kansas, Alarm Bells)

Ancient Vvisdom

Glasgow indie rockers choc with driving rhythms.

Bloc+, 22:00–01:00, Free

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £7

The ska, punk and rap straddling Londoners take to the road to celebrate the release of their fan-funded album, Death To The One Trick Pony.

Mayhem Underground (WhatÕs The Damage?, Final Silence, Dog Tired)

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

The Twilight Sad and Take A Worm For A Walk Week DJs unleash a musical hurricane, at which y’all can expect nudity and broken furniture as standard.

Imperial Leisure (Mike Only, The Willie G Trio)

Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson plays an intimate acoustic set, playing the music of Jethro Tull along with some of his solo repertoire.

Dirty Rose (Rank Berry, Manta)

LA-based (by way of Manchester) rock quintet, currently gearing up for the launch of their fourth album.

Bear Makes Ninja (The Future Capital)

The former lead singer of Sheffield’s Little Man Tate does his solo thing.

Nights At The Circus (Natalie Pryce, Louise McVey and The Cracks In The Concrete, Miss The Occupier)

Wed 11 Apr Canadian six-piece of the indie-rock variety, layering their live sound with piano, video and cello.

Maggie May’s, 19:00–22:30, £6

Steely Dan tribute act.

Proud Mary (Alan Jeffrey, Fiction Faction)

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £10

Jon Windle (Goosedubbs, Ruby Culture, Papa Zita)

Hardcore rammy of a night uniting Glasgow’s metal scene under one roof. Includes free entry to Cathouse.

The Scottish singer/songwriter of the moment plays as part of her first headline tour.

Hey Rosetta!

The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £17.50

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £20

The synth-pop master plays albums Human’s Lib and Dream Into Action live and in their entirety.

Hugely-anticipated evening of hip shakers and neck breakers, combining everything from Buddy Holly to Motorhead.

Toyah Wilcox Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £19.50

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £8

80s icon Toyal Wilcox performs a selection of songs from her 1982 album The Changeling, released some 30 years ago.

Jay Brannan King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10

Bloc+, 21:00–01:00, Free

The NYC singer/songwriter does his lo-fi indie folk thing, which he self describes as like ‘the little mermaid on crack’.

Make Sparks

Above and Beyond

Teletextile Gorgeous, lush alternative pop from the big apple.

King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6

Well-crafted, hook-laden indie-pop from the Dundonian trio.

The Blueswater Collective 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Rockin’ Edinburgh 11-piece with an old-school R’n’B vibe and a threehorn brass section.

Greg Holden Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £5

Scottish-born, English-raised singer/songwriter known for his honest lyrics and folky, melodic soundscapes.

Thu 19 Apr Belmondo (Bovill and Harris Affair, Tommy Perman DJ)

Barrowland, 19:00–23:00, £20

Melodic trance trio made up of Jono Grant, Tony McGuinness, and Paavo Siljamaki, who also own record labe Anjunabeats.

The Rosy Crucifixion (Future Glue, The Electric Gardens) 13th Note, 20:30–23:00, £3

Glasgow garage-rockers offering a moody and atmospheric take on the genre.

Hector Bizerk Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Glasgow-based alternative hip-hop duo, made up of Louie and Audrey, MC and drummer respectively.

Sat 21 Apr

Bloc+, 20:00–01:00, Free

Little Comets

Skrillex

Kitchen sink-styled indie-rock quartet led by the somewhat dynamic Robert Coles.

EP launch night for the promising Glaswegian lo-fi pop champions.

O2 Academy, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

The American electronic producer (aka Sonny Moore) currently tearing up a dancefloor near you with his visionary mix of dubstep, electro and glitch.

Vulcano Classic Grand, 19:00–22:00, £10

The Brazilian heavy metallers take in Glasgow as part of their 30th anniversary tour, marking their first ever Scottish show, no less.

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £8.50

The New Piccadillys O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £8.50

Glasgow quartet taking their cue from the sounds of yesteryear, inspired by the 60s with a 70s punkrock sensibility.

Young Jeezy O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £25

American rap artist, aka Jay Wayne Jenkins, hard and raw in his snappy, verse-led style.

APRIL 2012

THE SKINNY 63

G lasgow music The Black Sheep Club Bloc+, 21:00–01:00, Free

Green Door Studios and New Life DJs present some of the best cutting edge underground acts around.

The Sunshine Underground King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £10

The self-proclaimed ‘party band’ take in Glasgow as part of their current UK tour, all beats, bleeps and rousing indie choruses.

Record Store Day: Holy Mountain, Adam Stafford (Phantom Band DJs) Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £6 adv.

Local musos come out to play for Record Store Day 2012, including the sludgy sonic assault of Glasgow duo Holy Mountain and Adam Stafford doing his ever-inventive solo thing.

Badmouth Battles 3 Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £5

Night of live ‘battle raps’, providing a veritable who’s who of Scottish hip-hop.

Miles Kane (Eugene) Barrowland, 19:00–23:00, £15

The non-Arctic Money half of the Last Shadow Puppets does his nostalgic Merseybeat thing.

Ultimate Thrush Vs Blue Sabbath Black Fiji, Silk Cut Vs Femme Bitch Nation, Palms, Smack Wizards Stereo, 20:00–23:00, Free

Free gig as part of GI Festival, which sees unhinged Glasgow hellraisers Ultimate Thrush lock horns with noise guitar duo Blue Sabbath Black Fiji.

RM Hubbert (Martin John Henry) The Arches, 20:30–22:30, £7

The Chemikal Underground instrumental guitar virtuoso tours his new album, which features all sorts of inspired collaborations to complement his intricate Flamenco guitar playing.

The Meatmen Maggie May’s, 18:00–20:00, Free

The Meatmen return with a mixed-up batch of rock’n’roll, country and skiffle covers and originals.

Emerald Black (The Mukaz, Juno and the Mook) Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £6

Airdrie singer/songwriter with a gritty rock vocal style.

The Murderburgers (Clocked Out, The Bucky Rage) 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Glasgow’s own pop-meets-punk princes The Murderburgers launch their new album, a reliably unique brand of upbeat bangers.

Sun 22 Apr Major Lazer (Unicorn Kid) O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £12

Mighty dancehall collaboration from DJ/producers Diplo and Switch, fronted by a cartoon zombie-slaying Jamaican soldier.

Dry The River King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £8

London-based quintet of the ‘stealth rock’ variety, so say they.

Thrashist Regime (Monheim, Circle Of Tyrants, Citizen Death) Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £5

Melodic thrash from the Glasgow hellraisers, launching their longawaited debut album on the night.

Uh Huh Her The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £12

The LA electro-pop duo (aka Leisha Hailey and Camila Grey) tour on the back of their second album, Noctures.

Necro Deathmort (Guanoman, Tangles) 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

London-based experimental metal duo made up of AJ Cookson and Matthew Rozeik.

Sir Richard Bishop Captain’s Rest, 20:00–23:00, £8

The composer, improviser and intrepid explorer on electric and acoustic guitar does his delightful solo thing.

Ken Vandermark and Paal The Old Hairdressers, 19:30–23:00, £6

Free sax and drums combo hailing from Chicago.

Remember Remember (How To Swim, Easy Tiger!)

E D I N B U R G H music

CCA, 20:00–23:30, £5

Mayhem Underground (The Self Titled, Deadly Inscription, Grader)

Culann (Fortune of Sorrow, Crafty Bison)

Musical brainchild of multiinstrumentalist Graeme Ronald, shot through with samples, keys, glockenspiels and loop pedals.

Hardcore rammy of a night uniting Glasgow’s metal scene under one roof. Includes free entry to Cathouse.

Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £6

Irvine-based rock quintet who’ve christened themselves as ‘folkressive’.

Mon 23 Apr

dBass Collective The Universal, 20:00–23:00, £5 (£4)

Various Cruelties

Pioneering jazz fusion collective fae Glasgow, launching their new EP.

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £8

Here Stands llithyia

London-based Liam O’Donnell takes his favoured indie and soul genres and moulds ‘em into something unique.

Professor Green O2 Academy, 19:00–22:00, £sold out

Simplistic electronic beats and paintby-numbers rapping is the order of the day, as the prof attempts to entertain the yoof.

Paradise Lost (Insomnium, Vreld) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £14.50

Longstanding gothic metal-styled hellraisers hailing from the fiery furnace of Yorkshire.

Fostercare (Machines In Heaven, Asthmatic Astronaut) The Art School Union, 20:00–00:00, £5

Versatile and challenging electronic artist guaranteed to destroy the Art School’s dancefloor.

Tue 24 Apr Simon Fowler Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £15

The Ocean Colour Scene frontman takes to the road with his new solo album.

The Used King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £16.59

Utah-based alternative rockers currently based in sunny LA.

Wed 25 Apr JT and the Clouds (The Raw Kings) O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £10

Chigago-based indie and soul ensemble, their bittersweet tales of loss and longing rich with haunting melodies and sharp lyrics.

Gomez O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £17

Exploring genres of rock, blues and electronica in their own inimitable way, Gomez tour on the back of their seventh studio album, Whatever’s On Your Mind.

LAID Bloc+, 21:00–01:00, Free

Gig-in-a-club night offering up an ever-impressive live line-up of bands within one egg-themed whole.

Lostprophets O2 Academy, 19:00–22:00, £22.50

The Welsh emo-mongers take their new album to the road, playing their first UK headline tour in two years.

Russian Circles (Deafheavem) Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £11

The talented noise-masters allow their sound to evolve outwith the quiet/loud template, taking it to some contemplative new places, mores the joy.

The Tea Offensive (Tia Malo) 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £3

Glasgow romanticism in delightful wee pop song packages.

Thu 26 Apr Bow Wow Wow O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £14

Malcolm McLarens 80s new-wave ensemble, originally created to promote Vivienne Westwood’s New Romantic fashion lines, playing their first tour in 30 years.

Cast The Net (Thousand Suns) Bloc+, 21:00–01:00, Free

Bi-monthly showcase taking in a handpicked selection of exciting new Scottish artists and bands.

Legendary Shack Shakers King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £13.50

The American goth rockers bring the rammy, led by hellraiser of a frontman JD Wilkes.

Bright Young Nights Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc

All-rockin’ Radleigh crew.

64 THE SKINNY APRIL 2012

Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £tbc

Post-hardcore-meets-metalcore quintet hailing from the fiery furnace of Lanarkshire, built from the ashes of In Search Of Ignorance.

Organs Of Love, Tut Vu Vu, If You Lived Here You’d Be Home by Now Stereo, 20:00–23:00, Free

Free gig as part of GI Festival, with Glasgow-based Optimo Music signees Organs Of Love riding along on a veritable behemoth of lo-fi weirdness.

Ryan Adams Royal Concert Hall, 20:00–23:00, From £25

The Jacksonville country rocker and former Whiskeytown mainman plays a large-scale Scottish set, following the release of his 13th studio album.

Man Made Origin (Clarke, The Falling Rain, Kevin McCormack, No Fear) Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £4

Dundee-based progressive metal quintet.

The Wrong Boyfriends (Dirty Red Turncoats, The Party Time Martyrs) 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £3

Scottish outfit specialising in damaged gutter punk, lo-fi schizophrenia, head torches and gothic tendencies. That do ye?

Organs Of Love (Tut VuVu, If You Lived Here You’d Be Home By Now) The Old Hairdressers, 20:00–23:00, Free

Free gig as part of GI Festival, headered by Glasgow-based Optimo Music signees Organs of Love.

Fri 27 Apr Kudos Classic Grand, 18:30–22:00, £6

Energetic rockers hailing from the fiery musical furnace of East Kilbride.

Ian Prowse King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £8

The Cheshire singer/songwriter, who also fronts Pele and Amsterdam, does his solo thing.

Latecomers Lauries Bar, 20:15–23:00, Free

Acoustic pop loveliness from the Glasgow-based outfit.

Close Lobsters Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £9

The indie-pop outfit play Glasgow as part of their first set of live gigs in their original format since their 1989 NYC gig.

12 Dirty Bullets Maggie May’s, 20:00–22:30, £6

Dunfermline quintet who specialise in a self-styled brand of dirty rock’n’roll.

Secta Rouge, Low Sonic Drift, We Ate Them Off The Floor, Your Energy Is Ours, The Downs 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £4

Crushing night of some of Glasgow’s finest purveyors of doom, postmetal and stoner grooves.

Cry Parrot: 5th Birthday (Silk Cut, Dam Mantle, Auntie flo, Sacred Paws, Black Sabbath Black Fiji, The Rosy Crucifixion) The Glue Factory, 21:00–02:00, £5

DIY nurturers of a wealth of leftfield talent, Cry Parrot celebrate five glorious years of being, with purveyors of pure anaolgue joy, Silk Cut, headering a rather fine bill.

Sat 28 Apr Drive By Argument Bloc+, 22:00–01:00, Free

Ayrshire micro-legends make a longawaited comeback

Hip Parade (Radio Arcade, Versus Versus) King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £7

Glasgow pop-meets-rock quartet, playing a special hometown gig to showcase their new album.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 19:30–23:00, £tbc

Outskirts Festival (Vashti Bunyan, Club Wakaka, Aidan Moffat, Play Station, The Light Installation, Future Pilot AKA) Platform, 15:30–22:30, £6 (£10 with food/under 12s free)

The new multi-art-form festival debuts with a dynamic array of artists, including Vashti Bunyan, Aidan Moffat, and Future Pilot AKA, alongside various art installations.

Chris T-T (She Makes War, Lovers Turn To Monsters) The Admiral, 19:00–22:00, £6 adv.

The Brighton-based troubadour launches his new EP, a tragic (made up) tale of a divisive genius TV presenter, a violent island uprising and the last surviving Fraggle.

Sonic Hearts Foundation The Glasgow Art Club, 20:30–22:30, £5

The atmospheric indie-rockers launch their new single.

Best of Barrowland 2 (All She Knows, Molitov, The Modests, Dirty Hearts, Crafted, Frontline, Nothing Artificial) Barrowland, 19:00–23:00, £12

Showcase night featuring the best Barrowland 2 has to offer.

Sun 29 Apr The Carpet Crawlers O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15

Genesis tribute act.

Kobi Onyame King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £6.50

Ghanaian/UK based hip-hop artist and producer, infusing his sound with a mix of his life’s influences and circumstances.

Breadcrumb Trail (What The Blood Revealed, Bellow Below, The Paradigm Complex) Pivo Pivo, 19:30–23:30, £3

Monthly experimental and progressive night featuring a line-up of acts known for blending electronic and guitar-driven tracks with accessible, effortless vocal hooks.

Dan Mangan (Zeus) Stereo, 19:00–22:30, £7

Canadian singer/songwriter touring on the back of his latest LP, an alternative folk meets occasional brass fanfares joy of a thing.

Found On The Floor (The Gastric Band) 13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £tbc

Wed 04 Apr

8-Track Stereo

Sectioned, The Bowery

Lanark quartet of the good ol’ indierockin’ varity.

Henry’s Cellar, 19:00–22:00, £4

Metal showcase, as noisy and clattering as they come.

Spanglish (Orkesta Simbolika, Pellizco Flamenco) Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, £4

Tropical night of flamenco fusion and techno-rumba-hip-hop, whatever that may be.

Thu 05 Apr Easter Egg of Rock (Vantage Point, Metaltech, Coholic, Engines Of Vengeance) Studio 24, 19:00–23:00, £5 adv. (£6 door)

Edinburgh metallers Vantage Point and Engines Of Vengeance team-up to headline this all-rockin’ Easter night.

David MacGregor Voodoo Rooms, 20:00–23:00, £6 adv.

Scottish virtuoso solo finger style guitarist, with talent in abundance.

Vladimir Henry’s Cellar, 19:30–23:30, £5

Oran Mor, 19:00–22:00, £10

Camden town indie kids out on their own headline tour after opening on the NME tour.

Lonsdale Boys Club King Tut’s, 20:00–23:00, £7

The Cathode Ray (Sam Barber and the Outcasts, Begbie Boyle) Citrus Club, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv. (£7 door)

Songwriting collaboration between singer and multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Thomas and former Josef K frontman Paul Haig, touring with their full band line-up.

Folk Weekender (Rock, Salt and Nail, Skerryvore, Ewan Robertson Trio) Usher Hall, 19:30–22:00, £15 (£13)

Usher Hall play host to a selection of Scotland’s finest folkies over the course of the weekend.

The Banshee Labyrinth, 20:00–23:00, £5 adv.

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £6 adv.

Heartmelting indie-pop from the chap who’s just finished recording his new EP with Keane’s Tim Rice-Oxley and Jesse Quin.

Amy Duncan Presents The Third Door, 20:00–23:00, £3

Folk chanteuse Amy Duncan welcomes a selection of special guests for her atmospheric acoustic session.

Tango In The Attic Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Sunshine-filled melodies from the Glenrothes quartet, taking in some noisier soundscapes of late.

Fri 06 Apr Scabies and James Citrus Club, 19:00–22:00, £10 adv. (£13 door)

Rat Scabies and Brian James (of The Damned) reunite for an evening of classics.

The Doors Alive HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:00, £13

The Doors tribute act.

Tinariwen Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:00, £16

Tuareg musicians mixing electric blues and traditional Malian vocals, with lyrics rather hypnotically sung in French and Tamashek.

Folk Weekender (Manran, Rura, Lori Watson and the Rule of the Three) Usher Hall, 19:30–22:00, £15 (£13)

Usher Hall play host to a selection of Scotland’s finest folkies over the course of the weekend.

Voodoo Rooms, 19:30–23:00, £5

Tribes

Sat 07 Apr

Thomas J Speight (The Blind Dog)

The Trilogy (Loki, Mog, Louie)

Mon 30 Apr

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £4 (£3)

Showcase night giving young performers between the age of 14 and 19 a chance on the live stage.

The Japanese War Effort (Ten, Convex Mancave)

Limbo (Edinburgh School for the Deaf, Chris Devotion and The Expectations, Blank Canvas)

Stairway, 19:00–22:30, £6

Hit The Road (Nettles, Herculean, Seams)

Noisy indie-rock ensemble from Dundee, headered by Ross Murray.

Irish quintet currently to be found mashing up genres of metal and punk, with catchy choruses ahoy.

Three Scottish emcees - Loki, Mog and Louie - combine their talent over the course of the evening.

Bongo Club, 19:00–22:00, £6

Beloved gig-in-a-club night, this time heralding the return of fuzzy noise-popsters Edinburgh School For the Deaf.

Pussy Whipped (Rauberhohle, Ste McCabe, Scragfight) Wee Red Bar, 20:00–22:30, £2

New pro-queer, pro-female band night for Edinburgh, this time headered by electro-pop riot grrrl legend Rauberhohle.

Indie Funday Friday (Cancel The Astronauts, The Cosmonauts, Fishing For Seagulls, Astronaut Head) Henry’s Cellar, 19:00–22:30, £3

One half of Conquering Animal Sound, Jamie Scott, delivers a trademark set of Buckfast-themed chaos, with a free two-track EP for all ticket-holders.

The Monochrome Set Voodoo Rooms, 19:30–23:00, £12

The longstanding indie-pop outfit, marked by songwriter Bid’s laconic vocals and intelligent wit, kick off their new European tour, coinciding with their first release in over two decades.

Palms, North American War Henry’s Cellar, 19:00–22:00, £5

Local music blogger Song, By Toad hosts two bands he just bloody wants to see on the same bill, drifting from borderline psychobilly to lo-fi garage, via epic noise and shoegaze.

The Mighty Cream (Tisoki, Hangman, IamDino, Fragile Chaos) Studio 24, 19:00–22:00, £4

The Edinburgh dubstep duo launch their new EP, Triple Whipped.

The OK Social Club (Hattie Murdoch, L’il Zee) Bongo Club, 19:00–22:00, Free

Original Sauce TV film a trio of acts for inclusion in their brand new online music show, headered by genre-hopping Edinburgh trio The OK Social Club.

Plum Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £5

Eclectic musical project from songwriter and producer Shona Maguire, aka Plum, launching her new album on the night.

Sun 08 Apr The Smiths Night Citrus Club, 19:00–22:00, £6

A night paying tribute to all things Smiths and Morrissey, with your ticket price including entry into a prize draw to win the newlyremastered Smiths box set.

Edinburgh Youth Orchestra Usher Hall, 19:30–22:00, £15 (£12)

The Edinburgh Youth Orchestra play their annual spring concert, with young Edinburgh cellist Philip Higham making a special appearance.

The Waterboys Festival Theatre, 20:00–22:30, From £24.50

A gig of two parts; the first taking in vintage Waterboys classics and the second featuring tracks from new album, An Appointment With Mr Yeats.

Too-cool-for-school Londoners with a penchant for beat-driven guitars, oft to be found penning tunes in their self-built studio.

Monthly indie-pop night where a selection of, er, indie-pop acts play in aid of local charities.

Boxes

2012 Anarchy Tour

Mon 09 Apr

Henry’s Cellar, 22:30–03:00, £5

Black International (Bear Makes Ninja)

Indie-styled electro popsters hailing from south east London, all colliding melodies and messed-up synths.

Tribute to the Sex Pistols, The Clash and the Heartbreakers, as performed

by Bodies, Babylon Dub Punks and the Chinese Jocks.

Chris Murray (EFA Supertramp, Elvis 56, BMR)

The Rising Souls (Majestic Dandelion, Naledi)

The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £7

13th Note, 20:00–23:00, £6

Chris Murray does his one-manska-band-with-an-acoustic-guitar thing.

The Caves, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv. (£8 door)

Acoustic rockers Rising Souls launch their debut album, supported by label mates Majestic Dandelion and singer/ songwriter Naledi.

Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £4 (£3)

Post-punk duo from Edinburgh, formed in late 2006 by ECA graduates Stewart Allan and Craig Peeble.

Turn It Up I Can’t Hear The Words The Third Door, 19:00–23:00, £3

New monthly showcase where each band plays their own work and a cover of a famous lyricist: who this month will be a certain Mr Bob Dylan.

Wed 11 Apr Charlene Soraia The Pleasance, 19:30–21:00, £10

London-based singer/songwriter, known mostly for her cover of The Calling’s Wherever You Will Go.

Jammin’ at Voodoo Voodoo Rooms, 21:00–23:00, Free

Monthly live jam session playing lounge grooves from myriad genres.

The Rustle Of The Stars (Jasper TX, Matthew Collings) Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £7 (£6)

Showcasing the very first live performance of The Rustle Of The Stars, a dark collaborative work from Glissando’s Richard Knox and Farewell Poetry’s Frederic D Oberland.

United Fruit, Shudder Pulps, Fat Bicth Henry’s Cellar, 19:00–22:00, £5

Energised post-hardcore in the shape of Glasgow’s United Fruit, Shudderpulps and the utterly unpronounceable Fat Bicth.

Lewis Floyd Henry Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £6 adv.

Crazy one-man band plucked from busking obscurity, to be found dressed as a leprechaun and covering Wu-Tang Clan classics with an acoustic guitar.

Snarky Puppy Bongo Club, 19:00–22:00, £10 adv. (£12 door)

With a rotating schedule of some 25 players, this US jazz-meets-rock straddling collective share their unique musical enthusiam.

Simone Felice Band (Simi Stone, William Douglas) Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

The former Felice Brothers man tours with his new live band.

Thu 12 Apr

Sat 14 Apr Closure In Moscow (The Elijah, The Murder of Angels, Greywood Manor, Academy Strangers) Studio 24, 18:30–22:00, £6

The Australian progressive rockers make their first trip to Edinburgh, fresh off their tour with My Chemical Romance.

Oceansfall (Edward and the Itch)

Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £4

Instrumental Edinburgh-based quartet, currently writing and gigging new tunes.

Earl Grey and The Loose Leaves

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5

The Edinburgh quartet take it to another level, with their bearded frontman unleashing his beastly bluesman’s voice on the unsuspecting.

The Stagger Rats

The Third Door, 19:00–23:00, £5

Tight psychobilly indie-rock from the Edinburgh-based quintet.

The Rolled Up 20’s (Jack Rowerberry, Town, Vinyl Jacket)

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £5 adv.

Slick riffs a-plenty from the Edinburgh rock quartet, heavily influenced by British rock’n’roll.

Bruncheon!

Out of the Blue Drill Hall, 11:00–14:30, Free

Brunch and live music event in the Drill Hall cafe, featuring local musical talent.

Butcher Boy

The Pleasance, 19:30–23:30, £8

The Glasgow eight-piece do their inimitable thing, merging myriad instrumentation and John Blair Hunt’s trademark emotive vocals in one exquisitely-rounded whole.

Sun 15 Apr

Queen’s Hall, 19:30–22:00, From £9.50

Marionettes

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra explore the musical riches of three great German cities: Hamburg, Dresden and Leipzig. Pre-concert talk with conductor Richard Egarr (6.30pm).

Napier Live Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£4)

Live band showcase night hosted by Napier talent and their respective bands, plus other acts they reckon are worth a look in.

Absolute Bowie The Caves, 19:00–22:00, £14

David Bowie tribute act.

Fri 13 Apr Nearly Dan Voodoo Rooms, 19:30–23:00, £14

Steely Dan tribute act.

The Fnords, The Reverb Syndicate, Preston Pfanz and the Seaton Sands Henry’s Cellar, 19:00–22:00, £5

Mixed showcase of noise, headered

by Edinburgh and Glasgow-born female-fronted garage punk trio, The Fnords.

Oli Brown The Caves, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

The young blues guitarist does his acoustic one-man-with-a-guitar thing.

Minds Of Montage (Eat Dr Ape, Kings and Cowards, Endeavour) Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5

Edinburgh and Kirkcaldy-straddling rap rockers, featuring a rapping drummer, a rapping guitarist and plenty o’ bass.

The Architects (Rolo Tomassi) The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £12

Hardcore Brighton foursome, mixing a pummeling concoction of postmetalcore, metal and progressive.

Tue 10 Apr

The Gillyflowers Alternative country faves featuring the daughter of the late, great Skids and Big Country guitarist Stuart Adamson.

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £6

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £8

The Edinburgh-based 80s tribute act present a special night featuring some of the very best music from the era.

SCO: Baroque Greats

Bwani Junction (Crow Road) Edinburgh’s own Afro-experimentalists showcase their wares.

Party Fears Three

The Third Door, 19:00–23:00, £4

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5

Aberdeen quintet doing a rather fine line in shouty indie-pop, gigging a selection of new material.

Northern Diversions, Donnie Willow, The Rich, Benefit of Sins, Blackmail Lettering Electric Circus, 18:30–22:00, £5 adv.

Showcase night of young Edinburgh bands, two doing their first out-ofschool gigs, no less.

Mon 16 Apr Fuzzy and the Peaches (The Loungers, November Orchid) Henry’s Cellar, 19:30–23:30, £4

Four guys from around East Lothian playng good ol’ bluesy rock with a bit of funk.

Discopolis (Academy Strangers)

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5

Experimental Edinburgh trio who rather wonderfully sum up their sound as “like digital fucking.” Nice.

Splash Macadam, Scarletins (Steve Heron, Miasma, Something Illustrated) Bannerman’s, 20:00–23:00, £5

Double headliner tour for two French bringing their indie wares to the UK for the first time.

Graham Coxon

The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £16.50

The Blur man curates a unique tour for his latest LP, for which he’s inviting folk to nominate local bands to support him. Full info at grahamcoxon.co.uk.

Tue 17 Apr Red Kites (Andy Ruddy)

Henry’s Cellar, 19:30–23:30, £5 (£4)

Folk rock ensemble hailing from Guildford.

The Library Tapes (Thverfellshorn, Poppy Ackroyd, Hiva Oa) The Third Door, 19:00–23:00, £7

Sweden’s David Wenngren and band tour their new album, supported by more lush ambience and dreamy atmospherics from near unpronounceable fellow Scandinavians.

E D I N B U R G H m u s i c G l a s g o w CL U B S Wed 18 Apr

The Hollies

Skrillex

The Manchester-formed rockers celebrate some 50 years on the circuit, tight pop harmonies as present as ever.

Corn Exchange, 19:00–22:00, £16 adv.

The American electronic producer (aka Sonny Moore) currently tearing up a dancefloor near you with his visionary mix of dubstep, electro and glitch.

The Lemonheads HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:00, £15

Evan Dando et al play their classic album, It’s A Shame About Ray, live and in its entirety.

Spanglish (Orkesta Simbolika, Pellizco Flamenco) Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, £4

Tropical night of flamenco fusion and techno-rumba-hip-hop, whatever that may be.

Thu 19 Apr The Retrophones (Banned for Life) Voodoo Rooms, 19:30–23:00, £5

Edinburgh-based funk outfit built on female vocals and a full on horn section.

Julien Pearly, Architect Of Glass, Craig Souter Henry’s Cellar, 19:00–23:30, £4

Ragged Music showcase night taking in smoky French songwriting, acoustic electrical soundscapes and husky voiced pop-rock.

Click Clack Club The Third Door, 20:00–23:00, £3

Occasional experimental music club bringing the good times with their Beefheart-inspired experimental funk.

Vic Galloway Presents (Profisee, Madhat McGore, Silvertongue) Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £7 adv.

Vic Galloway returns for his showcase slot, offering up a night of Scottish hip-hop for your aural delectation.

Fri 20 Apr Bombay Bicycle Club Corn Exchange, 19:00–22:00, £17.50

Expect the usual damaged affectations of indie from the London-based four-piece, led by frontman Jack Steadman.

Scottish Ensemble Queen’s Hall, 19:30–22:00, £10

Unique string concert starting in 1969 and going back in time continuously, finishing with Bach.

RSNO: Jarvi Conducts Sibelius One Usher Hall, 19:30–22:00, From £11

Conductor Laureate Neeme Jarvi leads a special orchestral programme, including a forgotten gem from Borders-born Sir John Blackwood McEwan.

RM Hubbert (Yusuf Azak, Rory Sutherland) Henry’s Cellar, 19:00–23:00, £5

The Chemikal Underground instrumental guitar virtuoso tours his new album, which features all sorts of inspired collaborations to complement his intricate Flamenco guitar playing.

Kyla La Grange (Edinburgh School For The Deaf, Radials) Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £7 adv.

New singer/songwriter of the moment in possession of a heartstopper of a pop vocal.

The Black Seeds The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

The New Zealand reggae-funk heavyweights return to the Northern Hemisphere to showcase their new album, Dust and Dirt.

The Cosmic Dead The Third Door, 19:00–23:00, £4

Usher Hall, 19:30–22:00, From £21.50

Big Fat Panda, Urang Matang, Sea Bass Kid Voodoo Rooms, 19:30–23:00, £7

Live ska night raising funds for the Sick Kids Friends Foundation, headered by mash-up ska locals Big Fat Panda.

We Luv Musik (Little Doses, Callum Beattie, The Caravan Club, The Future Capital) Voodoo Rooms, 19:00–23:00, £5

Monthly live music night featuring a rota of new and established acts.

Reverend Rift, Sister Bitch, Universal Thee Henry’s Cellar, 19:00–22:00, £5

Bainbridge Music showcase, with Edinurgh ensemble Sister Bitch adding their post-punk musings to the mix.

Duke Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5

Young Aberdonian trio doing their own distorted rock thing.

Record Store Day: Star Wheel Press Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £3 adv.

Avalanche Records-curated Record Store Day showcase, headered by rather fine Aberfeldians who build their sound around Ryan Hannigan’s languid storytelling and Craig Milton’s sparsely-played banjo and guitar.

Sun 22 Apr The Osmonds Usher Hall, 19:30–22:00, From £27.50

The longstanding band of brothers play as part of their final tour.

Anderson, McGinty, Webster, Ward & Fisher Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5

Showcase of Dundonian talent pooled from a selection of Dundee’s local bands – The Law, Luva Anna and Magdalen Green.

Wed 25 Apr Placebo HMV Picture House, 19:00–22:00, £sold out

Brian Molko and his band of alternative rockers play their sold out Edinburgh date, with tickets the equivalent of actual gold dust.

Trembling Bells and Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy (Muldoon’s Picnic) Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:00, £18

Those kings and queens of modern folk, Trembling Bells, treat our earlugs to a special set, playing, singing and duelling with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy to perform tracks from their glorious new collaborative album.

Boo Hewerdine and Brooks Williams Voodoo Rooms, 19:00–23:00, £12.50

English songwriter and lead singer of Bible, Boo Hewardine, tours in support of her new album with US slide guitar wizard Brooks Williams.

Thin Livi (The Gastric Band) Henry’s Cellar, 19:30–23:30, £5

Thin Lizzy tribute act.

Communion: Three Blind Wolves (Cafe Le Bon, Saul Ashbury, Sam Airey) Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £7 adv.

Ben Lovett (of Mumford & Sons) brings his touring night Edinburghway, with a headline set from Glasgow’s singalongable alternative countryesque chaps, Three Blind Wolves.

Thu 26 Apr

Glaswegian space rockers par excellence.

SCO: Benedetti performs Vivaldi’s Four Seasons

Bwani Junction (The Little Kicks, The Mirror Trap)

Virtuoso violinist Nicola Benedetti continues with her exploration of Vivaldi’s repertoire.

Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £7 adv.

Edinburgh’s own Afro-experimentalists showcase their wares.

Sat 21 Apr SCO: A Cold Spring Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:00, From £9.50

Unique chamber concert taking in Helen Grime’s contemporary concerto, A Cold Spring, amongst others.

Usher Hall, 19:30–22:00, From £9.50

Found On The Floor, Sufferinfuck Henry’s Cellar, 19:30–23:30, £5

Crust punk showcase courtesy of the House Of Crust.

Bleeps ‘n’ Beats The Third Door, 19:30–23:00, Free

New electronic-styled open mic night, where all you need do is bring your laptop and join the jam.

Fri 27 Apr

Tue 03 Apr

Old Skool

RSNO: Naked Classics

Reprisal

Connoisseur’s mix of vintage jazz, funk and soul.

Usher Hall, 19:30–22:00, £10

Conductor Adrian Prabava follows in Felix Mendelssohn’s footsteps for a symphonic special taking in the great composers Symphony No. 3.

The Soul Foundation Voodoo Rooms, 19:30–23:00, Free

Quality soul covers, playing close reference to the originals. They will play Stevie Wonder.

Napier University Showcase (Becky Gowans, The Sunset Clause, The Aspect, Laura Morrod) Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £tbc

Live music showcase from that talented lot at Napier University.

Remember Remember (M.O.T.O., Kill The Waves) The Third Door, 19:00–23:00, £6 (£4)

Musical brainchild of multiinstrumentalist Graeme Ronald, shot through with samples, keys, glockenspiels and loop pedals.

The Mike Kearney Ka-Tet (The Horndog Brass Band) Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £5

Blues and funk five-piece, with added horns.

Sat 28 Apr Phil Bancroft: Small As The World Queen’s Hall, 19:00–22:00, £15 (£12)

The longtime Scottish jazz composer showcases his latest project, a collision of music, visual image, humour and communication technology.

Shambles Miller (Sebastian Dangerfield) Wee Red Bar, 19:00–22:00, £4 (£3)

Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

New Tuesday nighter manned by DJ Mythic, who’ll be playing the best in rock, metal, punk and ska.

Wild Combination Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Kilmarnock’s hairy disco legend, David Barbarossa, digs out some vinyl gems.

Killer Kitsch Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Electronic music of all ages, for all ages.

Junk Disco The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 £4)

Hotch-potch night of chart anthems, a live video feed, dress-up and karaoke in the wee room.

25 Years of Sub Club: I AM (Blawan) Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £5

Percussive maestro Blawan graces the I AM decks. We’ll do the screaming.

Wed 04 Apr Subversion

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–22:00, £5

The Farm (James Brown Is Annie) The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £16

The Liverpudlian ensemble reform, playing a series of special shows at which they’ll peform their best-selling album, Spartacus, in its entirety.

Nina Nesbitt Electric Circus, 19:00–22:00, £6.50 adv.

Half-Swedish, half-Scottish singer/ songwriter in posession of a fine technical agility and emotive style.

Sun 29 Apr

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

An unabashed mix of 80s pop, electro and nu-disco. They will play Phil Collins.

Different Strokes Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Shed Saturdays

Blitz!

Andy Robertson and Del spin a frothy mix of commercial pop and cheese classics.

Mixed bag of indie, rock, underground hip-hop and chart classics.

Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Queercentric night with its focus firmly on 90s-inspired new romantic and danceable pop hits.

Slabs of the Tabernacle: 4th Birthday

La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £7

The Slabs lads celebrate their 4th birthday, with Clone Records associate Pametex and close friend John Heckle joining ‘em.

Benny Benassi

The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £16

The Grammy award-winning Italian DJ/Producer plays dance hits a-plenty.

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

25 Years of Sub Club: Optimo Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

JD Twitch and JG Wilkes resurrect their beloved Optimo for one night only.

Badseed

Garage Wednesdays

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Chart and classics with yer man Andy R, plus weekly live movie showings.

Thu 05 Apr O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)

Boom Boom Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Considered mix of garage, post-punk and girl groups, presented by Adele of Sons and Daughters and the Sophisticated Boom Boom.

Taking Back Thursdays Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Slouch, 23:00–03:00, Free

Badass mix of indie, rock and electro.

Fridays @ The Shed

Pop and dance classics with Andy Robertson in the main room, plus hip-hop hits in the Red Room.

Rumours

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

New monthly residency with the Rumours residents, special guests and extra bass bins.

Hot Contact

The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, Free

Craig Thomson spins a danceable mix of electro and disco tunes.

Sat 07 Apr Love Music

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11.30)

Emo, pop-punk and rock, plus extreme death metal in the back bar.

Saturday night disco with Gerry Lyons and guests.

Misbehavin’ Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Deathkill4000 (We Are The Physics)

Rave Or Die

Industro-rock noise party with infamous local alternative pop superstars to boot.

Monthly mish-mash of electro, dance and dirty pop with DJ Drucifer.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

The Garage’s infamous raver’s night returns, complete with a rave room, bouncy castle and UV paint.

Luska La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Residents Jack Swift and Dara take to the decks for their weekly house and techno sweatbox.

Up The Racket Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Bloc+, 22:00–01:00, Free

Absolution

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5

Metal, industrial and pop-punk over two floors.

Nu Skool

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Nick Peacock spins a fine selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

Cathouse Saturdays

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

DJ Paddy plays the newest in indie, rock, disco and pop. You do the dancing.

Punk, rock and metallic beats with DJs Billy and Muppet.

Feel My Bicep

Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £4 (£2 members)

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Philanthrobeats

With the kind of minimal techno that makes us want dance ourselves into a zombified state, Matthew Dear plays a set with his all-new live band.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

New midweeker in the capable hands of Duncan Harvey and guests, playing a distinctly vintage selection of sounds.

Queen’s Hall, 20:00–22:00, £19.50 (£17.50)

Sneaky Pete’s, 19:00–23:00, £10 adv.

DJ Jopez plays a choice selection of indie, rock, blues and funk.

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£7 after 11)

Chambre 69, 23:00–03:00, £4

New monthly club where promoters raise funds for the charity of their choice, with Mount Heart Attack and Mia Dora taking to the decks for the launch.

Fri 06 Apr Propaganda O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Voodoo

Rock, metal and indie night for the under 18s.

I Heart Garage Saturdays The Garage, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance, funk to chart, and anything else they damn well fancy.

Freakbeats

Flying Duck, 21:00–03:00, £5

Mod, soul, ska and groovy freakbeat 45’s, with DJs Jamo, Paul Molloy and Gareth McCallum.

20 Years of Slam (Laurent Garnier, Ben Klock) The Arches, 22:30–04:00, £18

Melting Pot The Admiral, 23:00–03:00, £8

Melting Pot play host to Funktifeyeno and Piacentini for an Easter Sunday special, playing tribute to influential night The Paradise Garage.

Quids In Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £1

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Pick’n’mix of rock, metal, punk and old school hip-hop with DJ Quarterback.

90s Night Cathouse, 23:00–01:00, £4 (£2)

The I AM crew take it back in time, with old-timer Michael Kilkie spinning some hay day rave.

Maggie May’s, 20:00–03:00, £5

Rock, indie and punk classics, in an Easter Sunday mash-up special.

Nae Danger Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

New grime night manned by the motley crew of Jinty, I Hate Fun, Megamegaman and Kid Robotik.

Tayo’s Tracksuit Party (Boddika) Chambre 69, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

The kitsch celebration of sports casual makes its way to Glasgow for the evening. Whip out the nylon, pronto.

La Rocha (Organs Of Love, Casper C, ISAN) The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, £7

Bank holiday Sunday special of the new weekly night featuring regular live guests, with Glasgow-based Optimo Music signees Organs Of Love amongst ‘em.

Mon 09 Apr Burn Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

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

Space Invader The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Andy R plays chart hits and requests, past and present.

Flux Pavilion The Arches, 19:00–22:00, £8.50

Dubstep producer and DJ Joshua Steele (aka Flux Pavilion) takes to the decks.

Tue 10 Apr Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

New Tuesday nighter manned by DJ Mythic, who’ll be playing the best in rock, metal, punk and ska.

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

New midweeker in the capable hands of Duncan Harvey and guests, playing a distinctly vintage selection of sounds.

Garage Wednesdays The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Chart and classics with yer man Andy R, plus weekly live movie showings.

Olympico (Mount Heart Attack) Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Bi-weekly night of ear-exercising disco, cosmic, electronic and techno, with the residents and pals.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)

Harsh Tug

Taking Back Thursdays

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

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 £4)

Saturday night disco with Gerry Lyons and guests.

Osmium

DJs Blair and Gary play Italo, disco, synthpop, funk and a whole bunch of other danceable stuff for your shape-pulling pleasure.

Digital W.I.N.C.H.

The Twilight Sad and Take A Worm For A Walk Week DJs unleash a musical hurricane, at which y’all can expect nudity and broken furniture as standard.

Absolution

Metal, industrial and pop-punk over two floors.

Wrong Island

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

The legendary Teamy and Dirty Larry spin some fresh electronics for your aural pleasure.

Boom Thursdays

Nu Skool

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Chart and indie classics, plus a live Twitter feed where you can log your tune requests (#Garagelive).

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Nick Peacock spins a fine selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

Cathouse Saturdays

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Luska La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Residents Jack Swift and Dara take to the decks for their weekly house and techno sweatbox.

Up The Racket Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

DJ Paddy plays the newest in indie, rock, disco and pop. You do the dancing.

Feel My Bicep Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Cosmic and sweaty mix of 80s sleaze, house and disco.

A Love From Outer Space The Berkeley Suite, 22:00–03:00, £7

Andrew Weatherall and Sean Johnston’s London night takes a trip north for a new bi-monthly residency.

Punk, rock and metallic beats with DJs Billy and Muppet.

Voodoo

Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £4 (£2 members)

Rock, metal and indie night for the under 18s.

I Heart Garage Saturdays The Garage, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance, funk to chart, and anything else they damn well fancy.

030 (Levon Vincent) Stereo, 23:00–03:00, £8

NY resident Levon Vincent spins a three-hour set of techno-heavy beats.

Back Tae Mine

Flying Duck, 21:00–03:00, £5

House-party styled night, with a group of rotating DJs alongside regular guests DJs. Plus free toast for all.

Fri 13 Apr Propaganda O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Mixed Bizness

Damnation

UK bass and house stars Roska and T Williams join the Mixed Bizness crew for the night.

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5

Alternative rock, metal, punk and ska.

La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £10

Mental Theo

The Arches, 21:00–03:00, £20

Kino Fist Genre-spanning mix of 60s psych, leftfield pop and Krautrock with resident Charlotte (of Muscles of Joy).

Old Skool Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Killer Kitsch

Hotch-potch night of chart anthems, a live video feed, dress-up and karaoke in the wee room.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11.30)

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels, with the residents manning the decks.

Junk Disco

Sat 14 Apr Love Music

Emo, pop-punk and rock, plus extreme death metal in the back bar.

Cathouse Fridays

The Rock Shop

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Bag and the gang bring you a free dirty hip-hop party.

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Dirty Basement

Bloc+, 22:00–01:00, Free

Thu 12 Apr

Wild Combination

Electronic music of all ages, for all ages.

Fridays @ The Shed

Blackfriars Basement, 23:00–03:00, £3

Connoisseur’s mix of vintage jazz, funk and soul.

Kilmarnock’s hairy disco legend, David Barbarossa, digs out some vinyl gems.

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

Different Strokes

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Reprisal

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

Eclectic mix of power mixing from across the spectrums of soul, funk, bass, techno and electro.

Chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer.

A Riot in the Rock Shop

Jamming Fridays

Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Jellybaby

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £8

Underground mix of techno, house and electro, with live sets from MOS records boss Aroy Dee and Glasgow native-cum-synth master Carlos Nilmmns.

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Easter Sunday: Alice In Clubland The Garage celebrate Easter with mash ups, requests, a bubble machine, and UV face paint – as you do.

Tribute (Aroy Dee, Carlos Nilmmns)

Pop and dance classics with Andy Robertson in the main room, plus hip-hop hits in the Red Room.

Nostalgic night playing everything pop and rock from the 90s.

David Barbarossa’s Thing

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £4

Sun 08 Apr

Ladyhawke (She’s All That)

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

I AM: 90s Rave

Alternative pop from the 80s and 90s, with a bit of industrial dance and classic rock thrown in.

Alternative rock, metal, punk and ska.

Two floors of punk-rock, reggae and classic disco, with local scallywag David Barbarossa.

The Arches, 19:30–00:00, £4

Scotland’s first club night for people with learning disabilities.

Subversion

Two of techno’s biggest players take to the decks to mark the 20th anniversary of the Glaswegian duo DJing in the fabled club.

The Liquid Room, 19:00–22:00, £13.50

LATE

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Dance music special from the Thunder Disco Club resident hellraiser.

Damnation

The introverted New Zealander delights with her 80s-inflected pop grooves and propelling bass beats.

Old Fruitmarket, 19:45–22:30, £15

The Scottish singer/songwriter of the moment plays as part of her first headline tour.

Jube

Mon 30 Apr

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5

Emeli Sande

Wed 11 Apr

Take It Sleazy

Cosmic and sweaty mix of 80s sleaze, house and disco.

Matthew Dear

Slouch, 23:00–03:00, Free

Hail Destroyer

The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain The all-plucking orchestra take in Edinburgh as part of their current world tour.

Rip This Joint

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

Alternative pop from the 80s and 90s, with a bit of industrial dance and classic rock thrown in.

Chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer.

Edinburgh-based foursome with their own take on early punk, mixed with a good dose of swagger.

Booty Call

Subculture host a rather special three-hour set from the Innervisions man.

Electro, funk and disco soundtrack, plus a chance to win the door fees.

Sylosis (Hang the Bastard, Chapters, Xerath)

The Seven Deadly Sins (The Litigators, Thank You So Nice, Richard Cobb)

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels, with the residents manning the decks.

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £12

Jamming Fridays

Jellybaby

Studio 24, 19:00–22:00, £12 adv.

Cathouse Fridays

25 Years of Sub Club: Subculture (Dixon)

Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Acoustic Glasgow singer/songwriter of the folk-meets-punk variety.

The UK metal quartet return to Scotland for a headline set post their full European tour.

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Booty Call The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Mixed bag of indie, rock, underground hip-hop and chart classics.

Common People

The Dutch happy hardcore DJ makes his long-awaited Arches debut. We hear he’s mental.

The Rock Shop

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

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

25 Yeas of Sub Club: Subculture (Omar S) Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £12

At long last, Subculture welcome Detroit’s Omar S into the fold. This has been a long time coming, y’all.

Rip This Joint

Slouch, 23:00–03:00, Free

DJ Jopez plays a choice selection of indie, rock, blues and funk.

Shed Saturdays

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£7 after 11)

Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £5

Celebration of the 90s, with hits aplenty and a pre-club bingo session.

Andy Robertson and Del spin a frothy mix of commercial pop and cheese classics.

APRIL 2012

THE SKINNY 65

EDINBURGH CLUBS

Glasgow CLUBS Jube

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Dance music special from the Thunder Disco Club resident hellraiser.

Matador

Chambre 69, 23:00–03:00, £10

The latest member of Richie Hawtin’s label, Matador, plays as part of Minus’ special 11-hour marathon of a club night.

Andrew Symington

The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, Free

The man responsible for steering GSA’s soul, funk, reggae and jazz extravaganza, Divine, takes to Berkeley Suite.

Sun 15 Apr Quids In

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £1

Electro, funk and disco soundtrack, plus a chance to win the door fees.

Hail Destroyer

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Pick’n’mix of rock, metal, punk and old school hip-hop with DJ Quarterback.

Sunday Roaster

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Resident Wee Cheesy throws in mash-ups, chart-attacks and more mayhem than should really be allowed on the Sabbath.

Highlife (Auntie Flo, Extra Special Afro)

MILK (Tango In The Attic, Cancel the Astronauts)

White Noise

The rather ace gig-in-a-club plays host to Tango In The Attic’s sunshinefilled melodies and Cancel The Astronaut’s hook-friendly indie-pop.

Plus the usual milk cocktails, free biscuits and 75p cider.

Live launch for the new techno night on the block, playing host to a twohour set from Wave Form.

Flat 0/1, 21:00–03:00, £4

Thu 19 Apr Jellybaby

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)

Chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer.

The Rev Up

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

A night of pure vinyl grooving, of the heel-stomping 50s and 60s garage type.

Taking Back Thursdays

La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £5 adv. (£8 door)

Jamming Fridays

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

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

25 Years of Sub Club: Sensu (Seth Troxler) Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £14

One of electronic music’s most memorable personalities makes his Sub Club debut, sans the afro, sadly.

Boom Thursdays

Pop and dance classics with Andy Robertson in the main room, plus hip-hop hits in the Red Room.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Up The Racket

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

DJ Paddy plays the newest in indie, rock, disco and pop. You do the dancing.

The Rock Shop

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

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

25 Years of Sub Club: Subculture’s Residents’ Special Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £10

Long-running house night with all five residents taking to the booth.

DJ Jopez plays a choice selection of indie, rock, blues and funk.

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Balkanarama (Destroyers) Chambre 69, 22:30–03:00, £8

All-singing, all-dancing Balkan orgy, with Balkan fusion band the Destroyers headlining, plus belly dancing, live visuals and free brandy.

We’re sold.

Slouch, 23:00–03:00, Free

Shed Saturdays

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£7 after 11)

Andy Robertson and Del spin a frothy mix of commercial pop and cheese classics.

Jube

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Dance music special from the Thunder Disco Club resident hellraiser.

Numbers (Joy Orbison, Jackmaster)

Chambre 69, 23:00–03:00, £10

Numbers Joy Orbison and Jackmaster go back-to-back, all night long.

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Deep Groan

Afro-beat, house and party music from the furthest reaches of the world.

The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, Free

Ian Crawford and Jim McKinven serve up some sextronica and future pop tracks of the unexpected.

Mon 16 Apr Burn

Sun 22 Apr

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

Quids In

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Tue 17 Apr Reprisal

New Tuesday nighter manned by DJ Mythic, who’ll be playing the best in rock, metal, punk and ska.

Wild Combination

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Kilmarnock’s hairy disco legend, David Barbarossa, digs out some vinyl gems.

Killer Kitsch

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Feel My Bicep

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Cosmic and sweaty mix of 80s sleaze, house and disco.

Fri 20 Apr

Electronic music of all ages, for all ages.

Propaganda

Junk Disco

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 £4)

Hotch-potch night of chart anthems, a live video feed, dress-up and karaoke in the wee room.

I Am

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £4

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa joined by a variety of local talent, playing the usual mix of electronica and bass.

Wed 18 Apr Subversion

Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Alternative pop from the 80s and 90s, with a bit of industrial dance and classic rock thrown in.

Not Moving

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

South African house, grime, jungle, R’n’B and hauntology. A tropical mix, ayes.

Different Strokes

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

New midweeker in the capable hands of Duncan Harvey and guests, playing a distinctly vintage selection of sounds.

Garage Wednesdays

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Chart and classics with yer man Andy R, plus weekly live movie showings.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Argonaut Sounds Reggae Soundsystem (Miss Dlove)

Blackfriars Basement, 23:00–03:00, £3

Sat 21 Apr Love Music

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11.30)

Saturday night disco with Gerry Lyons and guests.

Absolution

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5

Alternative rock, metal, punk and ska.

Black Tent

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Indie, electro and anything inbetween with Pauly (My Latest Novel), and Simin and Steev (Errors).

Old Skool

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Connoisseur’s mix of vintage jazz, funk and soul.

Cathouse Fridays

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Nu Skool

Nick Peacock spins a fine selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

Cathouse Saturdays

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Punk, rock and metallic beats with DJs Billy and Muppet.

Voodoo

Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £4 (£2 members)

Rock, metal and indie night for the under 18s.

I Heart Garage Saturdays The Garage, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels, with the residents manning the decks.

Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance, funk to chart, and anything else they damn well fancy.

Booty Call

Singles Night

Mixed bag of indie, rock, underground hip-hop and chart classics.

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

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Lock Up Your Daughters (Simonotron, Prince Mog) Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

It’s a case of east side versus west this month, as Edinburgh’s Simonotron (of gay disco Hot Mess) pays a visit.

66 THE SKINNY APRIL 2012

Flying Duck, 23:00–03:00, £5

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Bi-weekly night of ear-exercising disco, cosmic, electronic and techno, with the residents and pals.

Thu 26 Apr

Wild Combination

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

Kilmarnock’s hairy disco legend, David Barbarossa, digs out some vinyl gems.

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Fri 27 Apr O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

Fantastic Man

Live DJ night featuring a rotating schedule of talent.

Damnation

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5

Alternative rock, metal, punk and ska.

Beta and Kappa team up with the Frogbeats residents for a night of tribal and jungle beats.

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Favourited student midweeker playing house, electro and hippity-hop, spilling over into the Annexe space.

Shake Some Action

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £2

The Evol crew banish the Wednesday blues with their chirpy selection of indie grooves.

Thu 05 Apr Octopussy

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Music Please (Paul Thomson, Hushpuppy)

The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, Free

Shed Saturdays

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£7 after 11)

New night uniting the worlds of music and clubbing with Franz Ferdinand’s Paul Thomson joining forces with Hushpuppy for a rich mix of jungle drums, new wave, foreign disco and funk.

Andy Robertson and Del spin a frothy mix of commercial pop and cheese classics.

Sat 28 Apr

Pollok Ex-Servicemens Club, 20:00–01:00, £5

Love Music

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 11.30)

Saturday night disco with Gerry Lyons and guests.

Full On Ferry (Aly & Fila, Bart Claessen, David Forbes, Willian Daniel) O2 Academy, 21:00–03:00, £21

Dutch trance producer Ferry Corsten, aka alias Systen F, brings his live club night to Scotland for the first time, with a series of guests playing back-to-back.

South Side Soul (Fraser Dunn, Felonious Munk, Alan McKenzie)

All-vinyl mix of soul, motown and R’n’B from the 60s and 70s.

Jube

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Dance music special from the Thunder Disco Club resident hellraiser.

Let’s Go Back... Way Back

The Berkeley Suite, 23:00–03:00, £5

Residents Bosco and Rob Mason bring acid-house, techno and rave back to the dancefloor.

Sun 29 Apr

Old Skool

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, Free

2.8 Hours Later: Official Afterparty

Classic Grand, 22:30–03:00, £5

The Thunder Disco Club residents churn out the 90s house, techno and disco hits.

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £1

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Mix of rock, metal and punk for the official after-bash of the Glasgow leg of zombie chase game, 2.8 Hours Later.

Cathouse Fridays

Nu Skool

Rock, metal, punk and emo over two levels, with the residents manning the decks.

Nick Peacock spins a fine selection of vintage disco, soul and funk.

Slide It In

Cathouse Saturdays

Booty Call

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Cult rock hits from the 70s, 80s and 90s.

La Cheetah Club pull out the big guns with a live set from electro and techno bastion Lory D.

Pressure (DJ Sneak, Steve Rachmad)

The Arches, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Mighty deep house and techno monthly, coming together for an epic celebration of electronic sound with resident DJs Slam and their special guests.

HMV Picture House, 22:00–03:00, £4

A Thai-styled beach party in the surrounds of HMV Picture House.

Yes, really.

Mansion

Thunder Disco Club

La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £10

Wed 04 Apr Full Moon

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Electro, funk and disco soundtrack, plus a chance to win the door fees.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

Selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of garage, dubstep and bassline house with the Attic Kings and Blackwax DJs.

Metal, industrial and pop-punk over two floors.

Cathouse, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

I Love Hip-Hop

Witness

Tearin’ it up with 60s psych-outs and modern sleaze, provided by Rafla and Andy (of The Phantom Band).

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Fresh mix of funk, soul, disco and hippity-hop from the Soul Jam Hot DJs.

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, £1 (£3 after 11)

Quids In

Connoisseur’s mix of vintage jazz, funk and soul.

Soul Jam Hot

Midweek student favourite of chart and cheese classics.

Absolution

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Alternative anthems, cherry-picked from genres of rock, indie and punk.

Bangers & Mash

The Hot Club

Junk Disco

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £4

Slouch, 23:00–03:00, Free

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

La Cheetah Club: Lory D

I AM Vs Frogbeats

More heavyweight selections from Mungo’s Soundsystem and their chosen guests.

DJ Jopez plays a choice selection of indie, rock, blues and funk.

Boom Thursdays

Electronic music of all ages, for all ages.

Hotch-potch night of chart anthems, a live video feed, dress-up and karaoke in the wee room.

Rip This Joint

Chambre 69, 23:00–03:00, £6 adv.

Full-on mix of nu-metal and hard rockin’ tunes, with yer man DJ Muppet.

Mixed bag of indie, rock, underground hip-hop and chart classics.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 £4)

Mungo’s Hi Fi (Digitaldubs)

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Killer Kitsch

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£3)

Monthly DJ talent showcase, headered by the Subrosa residents.

Minimalist techno specialist Matthew Dear joins the ever reliable Andrew Weatherall for a very special night down’t Subbie.

Counterfeit

Mon 23 Apr

New Tuesday nighter manned by DJ Mythic, who’ll be playing the best in rock, metal, punk and ska.

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Sub Club, 23:00–03:00, £12

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Bloc+, 21:00–01:00, Free

Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Empty

25 Years of Sub Club: Subculture (Matthew Dear, Andrew Weatherall)

Emo, pop-punk and rock, plus extreme death metal in the back bar.

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Reprisal

Shed, 22:30–03:00, Free (£6 after 11)

Pop and dance classics with Andy Robertson in the main room, plus hip-hop hits in the Red Room.

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

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

Taking Back Thursdays

Rammy of a night that started life as a flat party on a certain street in the West End.

Tue 24 Apr

Fridays @ The Shed

The Rock Shop

The Danse Macabre regulars unite those two happiest of bedfellows, goth rock and, er, classic disco.

Propaganda

Andy R plays chart hits and requests, past and present.

Slouch, 23:00–03:00, Free

Badass mix of indie, rock and electro.

Antics

La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £8

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Da Dungeon

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Badseed

Tue 03 Apr

New garage and house-styled night, featuring sets from Whistla and King Thing.

Danse Macabre

Cosmic and sweaty mix of 80s sleaze, house and disco.

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

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

Feel Good

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £3 adv. (£5 door)

Resident Wee Cheesy throws in mash-ups, chart-attacks and more mayhem than should really be allowed on the Sabbath.

Burn

Maggie May’s, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5/£3 student after 12)

Chart, disco and party tunes. Can’t say fairer.

Feel My Bicep

Flat 0/1, 23:00–03:00, Free

Jamming Fridays

Jellybaby

Sunday Roaster

Space Invader

Damnation

Olympico (Let’s Go Back)

DJ Paddy plays the newest in indie, rock, disco and pop. You do the dancing.

Bottle Rocket

Nice ‘n’ Sleazy, 23:30–03:00, £3

Chart and classics with yer man Andy R, plus weekly live movie showings.

Pick’n’mix of rock, metal, punk and old school hip-hop with DJ Quarterback.

Metal, industrial and pop-punk over two floors.

Indie dancing club, playing anything and everything danceable.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Up The Racket

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

Roots reggae, dancehall and rocksteady in original soundsystem style, with guest selecter Miss Dlove.

Garage Wednesdays

Hail Destroyer

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

New midweeker in the capable hands of Duncan Harvey and guests, playing a distinctly vintage selection of sounds.

Electro, funk and disco soundtrack, plus a chance to win the door fees.

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Andy R plays chart hits and requests, past and present.

Different Strokes

Chart and indie classics, plus a live Twitter feed where you can log your tune requests (#Garagelive).

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £1

Space Invader

Classic Grand, 23:00–03:00, £3

Alternative pop from the 80s and 90s, with a bit of industrial dance and classic rock thrown in.

Rip This Joint

Slouch, 23:00–03:00, Free

Wed 25 Apr Subversion

New night manned by Simon Stokes and Unique, this time welcoming Sleaze Records’ boss and native Glasgow wonderkid, Mr Hans Bouffmyhre.

Badass mix of indie, rock and electro.

Fridays @ The Shed

Chart and indie classics, plus a live Twitter feed where you can log your tune requests (#Garagelive).

La Cheetah, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£7 after 12)

Badseed

Cathouse, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£2)

Emo, pop-punk and rock, plus extreme death metal in the back bar.

System

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £6

Cathouse, 23:00–01:00, £4 (£2)

Punk, rock and metallic beats with DJs Billy and Muppet.

Sunday Roaster

Voodoo

Resident Wee Cheesy throws in mash-ups, chart-attacks and more mayhem than should really be allowed on the Sabbath.

Cathouse, 16:00–21:00, £4 (£2 members)

Rock, metal and indie night for the under 18s.

I Heart Garage Saturdays The Garage, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Student superclub playing everything from hip-hop to dance, funk to chart, and anything else they damn well fancy.

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Mon 30 Apr Burn

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Frisky

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Chart, dance and electro fare, plus punter requests all night long.

Salsa Buena (Lubi)

Jam House, 20:00–01:00, £6 (£4)

Salsa night featuring a guest slot from DJ Lubi, and the amazing dance routines of Yamil Ferrera.

No Globe (Afrikan Boy)

The Caves, 22:30–03:00, £8 (£6)

World beats from the eponymous Edinburgh University-based party collective, featuring London-based grime artist Afrikan Boy.

Dapper Dan’s

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Disco, house and party classics from Picassio and D-Fault, with Decks FX and OSX.

Zzzap (Lapalux, Grobbie) The Annexe, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

Inimitable future electronic and bass party, offering an underground selection of live guests - this time care of Lapalux and his decontructed pop.

Indigo

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£1)

Indie, pop and alternative favourites with a danceable beat, from LCD Soundsystem to The Ting Tings.

The Hoodoo

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £3

Monthly electro-swing night from Sheffield party-starters Swank ‘n’ Jams.

Fri 06 Apr The Big Cheese

Potterrow, 21:00–03:00, Free (£3-£6 after 10)

Selection of party tunes down’t Potterrow Union.

Planet Earth: Do You Remember The First Time

Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Distinctly retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

Buff Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Bandioke

Back Tae Mine

Space Invader

Live band karaoke session. Also gets you free entry to retro after-club, Planet Earth.

House-party styled night, with a group of rotating DJs alongside regular guests DJs. Plus free toast for all.

Andy R plays chart hits and requests, past and present.

Flying Duck, 21:00–03:00, £5

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

The Garage, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Citrus Club, 19:30–22:00, £4

Go-Go

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £3

Brand new mix of anything your ears want to hear, from resident DJ Gentleman Jonny.

EDINBURGH CLUBS Misfits

The Hive, 21:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms.

Hot Mess

Wee Red Bar, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)

DJ Simonotron hosts the gay disco party like no other, playing disco, house and acid on vinyl only.

Jackhammer (Ben Sims, Surgeon) The Caves, 10:30–03:00, £tbc

The Jackhammer crew provide our dose of all things techno, with an Easter weekend special.

Pulse (Cari Lekebusch) Studio 24, 22:30–03:00, £8

Brand new techno night on the block, with Swedish techno pioneer Carl Lekebusch launching his new album.

Bootleg

Trade Union

Frame

Gasoline Dance Machine

Kicking out the biggest tech, house, techno and prog beats for your pleasure.

Anything goes trade night with Beefy and Wolfjazz (and their pals), relocating to the Liquid Room’s Annexe post-Cab Vol’s closure.

Live gig-in-a-club, with a selection of live bands kicking off the night, followed by an alternative indie DJ soundtrack.

Re-housing party for the classic Italo and straight-up boogie night, allied with contemporary house and disco.

Gem of a club playing folk world fusion and electro swing.

Betamax

Rewind

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Spare

Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Volume: Final Party!

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3

Having fulfilled our dubstep needs for the last five years, Volume unite the full crew (that’d be Termite, Paranoise, G-Mac, Brian D’Souza, Profisee, Ema and Krish) for one final party.

The Annexe, 22:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Tue 10 Apr Antics

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Alternative anthems, cherry-picked from genres of rock, indie and punk.

Big ‘N’ Bashy

Soul Jam Hot

Mighty mix of reggae, grime, dubstep and jungle.

Fresh mix of funk, soul, disco and hippity-hop from the Soul Jam Hot DJs.

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Steampunk Night

I Love Hip-Hop

DJ Orev Deniker acts the ringmaster for a mix of styles to entertain the most discerning of steampunk afficionado.

Selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Four Corners

Musika (Visionquest)

Balkan beats featuring tunepicker DJ Radulovich and chums.

Soulful party fodder, from deep funk to reggae beats with your regular DJ hosts Simon Hodge, Johnny Cashback, Astroboy and Wee-G.

Innovative Detroit DJ collective Visionquest (aka Ryan Crosson, Seth Troxler, Shaun Reeves and Lee Curtiss) take over Musika for the night.

This Is Music

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Indie and electro from the Sick Note DJs.

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Teviot Underground, 22:00–03:00, £5

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £15

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

Balkan Boom

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £4

Wed 11 Apr Bangers & Mash

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, £1 (£3 after 11)

Midweek student favourite of chart and cheese classics.

Skake Yer Shoulders

Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

Mixed genre night of minimal, electro, techno and D’n’B.

Witness (Nadastrom)

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular welcomes Nadastrom into the fold for the evening, keeping it sizzling up-to-date with the latest underground tracks.

Mansion

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Favourited student midweeker playing house, electro and hippity-hop, spilling over into the Annexe space.

New monthly night placing its focus on bass-orientated beats.

Hideout

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 11)

Friday night party with seasoned Edinburgh DJs Mastercaird and Stevie C playing anything danceable.

Evol

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £8

The Jackhammer crew provide our dose of all things techno, joined by longtime Andy Weatherall collaborator Keith Tenniswood in his solo guise.

Speaker Bite Me

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £4 (£5 after 12)

New night from the Evol DJs that values all kinds of pop music, as long as it’s got bite.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Minimal and techno for cool kids, with Gabriel Kemp and pals.

Zzzap

The Annexe, 22:30–03:00, £5

Inimitable future electronic and bass party, offering an underground selection of live guests.

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£1)

The Egg

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£4 after 12)

Art School institution with DJs Chris and Paul playing the finest in indie, garage, soul and punk.

Girl’s Night

Voodoo Rooms, 20:00–01:00, £5

New female-orientated gay night with the Ministry of Sound’s Rebecca Vasmant playing house, techno, funk and jazz.

Dr No’s

Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Danceable mix of the best in 60s ska, rocksteady, bluebeat and reggae.

Easter Sunday special with guests a-go-go, including a two-hour set from Irish trance specialist John O’Callaghan.

Qabalala (Rudi Zygadlo, Auntie Flo)

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Planet Mu’s Rudi Zygadlo and Huntley & Palmer’s Auntie Flo headline a bank holiday clubber’s delight.

Mon 09 Apr Mixed Up

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics.

Nu Fire

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Moving from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

The Annexe, 22:30–03:00, £8 (£6)

Back-to-basics underground house beats.

Hideout

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 11)

Coalition (Roska)

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)

Dubstep, breaks and bassline night, playing host to workaholic bass titan Roska for the evening.

Mon 16 Apr

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £5

An all-female DJ line-up celebrate all that is great about pop, new and old.

Sat 14 Apr

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Moving from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

Trade Union

Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Distinctly retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top. Citrus Club, 19:30–22:00, £4

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £3

Brand new mix of anything your ears want to hear, from resident DJ Gentleman Jonny.

Misfits

The Hive, 21:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms.

Bass Face (Drumsound & Bassline Smith, Bar9, Funtcase, Sigma, Brookes Brothers, Original Sin, Kromestar, Dub Phizix, Taz Buckfaster, Blackwax, Sparky) Potterrow, 21:00–03:00, £18 adv.

Bass spectacular featuring a host of established artists from across the scene, all pumped-out through the mighty Electrikal Sound System, plus live drawing from the Too Much Fun Club.

Zzzap

The Annexe, 22:30–03:00, £5

Inimitable future electronic and bass party, offering an underground selection of live guests.

Indigo

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£1)

Indie, pop and alternative favourites with a danceable beat, from LCD Soundsystem to The Ting Tings.

Fri 20 Apr Planet Earth: Do You Remember The First Time Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Citrus Club, 19:30–22:00, £4

Live band karaoke session. Also gets you free entry to retro after-club, Planet Earth.

Go-Go

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £3

Brand new mix of anything your ears want to hear, from resident DJ Gentleman Jonny.

Misfits

The Hive, 21:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms.

Creeque Alley (Praire Rose and The Wildwoods, Lord Rochester, The Phar’i-sees) Voodoo Rooms, 19:30–01:00, £6

New gig-in-a-club night featuring the fiddletastic Lord Rochester and DJs playing a mix of 50s rock’n’roll, Americana and roots.

This Is Music

Fever

Indie and electro from the Sick Note DJs.

Eclectic selections from DJs Fisher & Price.

Substance

Xplicit Vs Wax:On (Annie Mac)

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Fresh from the mighty Jeff Mills rockin’ the show, Substance welcome Detroit electro chap DJ Stingray to the fore.

Hideout

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 11)

Friday night party with seasoned Edinburgh DJs Mastercaird and Stevie C playing anything danceable.

Evol

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £5

Edinburgh institution mixing indiepop, alternative cuts, retro classics and new found sounds.

Cream Soda

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, £12

Xplicit & Wax:On join forces once again to bring Radio 1’s Annie Mac back to the capital.

Bixon (Youandewan)

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £6

New house night with slick party collective Bixon, joined by various live guests.

Pop Rocks

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

Pop and rock gems, taking in motown, 80s classics and plenty of danceable fare (well, the Beep Beep, Yeah! crew are on decks after all).

Sun 22 Apr The Sunday Club

Sat 21 Apr

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop requests you can think of.

Tease Age

Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

Propaganda

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Coalition

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Dubstep, breaks and bassline house from AF Meldrum and a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs.

Mon 23 Apr

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Mixed Up

Bubblegum

Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics.

The Hive, 21:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Handpicked weekend mix of chart, dance and retro 80s classics.

The Egg

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£4 after 12)

Art School institution with DJs Chris and Paul playing the finest in indie, garage, soul and punk.

Karnival (Guy Gerber)

Corruption Live! (Archy, Shaun McLean, Welshie)

Kapital play a bit of venue-hopping post-Cabaret Voltaire’s closure, heading up Potterrow with Israeli DJ Guy Gerber playing a full live show.

Dance, trance, electro, house, hard style and old skool for all your dancing needs.

Potterrow, 21:00–03:00, £12 (£10)

The Annexe, 22:30–03:00, £8

An all-female DJ line-up celebrate all that is great about pop, new and old.

Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£5 after 12)

The Annexe, 22:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Nu Fire

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Moving from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

Trade Union

The Annexe, 22:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Anything goes trade night with Beefy and Wolfjazz (and their pals), relocating to the Liquid Room’s Annexe post-Cab Vol’s closure.

Tue 24 Apr Antics

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Alternative anthems, cherry-picked from genres of rock, indie and punk.

Soul Jam Hot

Anything goes trade night with Beefy and Wolfjazz (and their pals), relocating to the Liquid Room’s Annexe post-Cab Vol’s closure.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Fresh mix of funk, soul, disco and hippity-hop from the Soul Jam Hot DJs.

Tease Age

Tue 17 Apr

I Love Hip-Hop

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

Antics

Selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Propaganda

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Bubblegum

Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, £5

New electronic night from Edinburgh Tekno Cartel, covering everytihng from breakcore to gabber and back again. Discount for folk dressed as post-apocayptic mutants.

The Green Door: 3rd Birthday Studio 24, 22:30–03:00, £2 (£5 after 11)

The Green Door host a rock’n’roll birthday party to celebrate three years of shakin’ up the dancefloor, with free cake for all!

Studio 24 Rawks

Studio 24, 22:30–03:00, £2 (£5 after 11.30)

Rock, metal and alternative playlists, offering up a few surprises along the way.

Bass Syndicate

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)

Alternative anthems, cherry-picked from genres of rock, indie and punk.

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £3

New monthly offering up electronic dance music of all types and stripes, be it underground or otherwise.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Wed 25 Apr Bangers & Mash

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, £1 (£3 after 11)

Selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Midweek student favourite of chart and cheese classics.

Wed 18 Apr

Witness

Bangers & Mash

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of garage, dubstep and bassline house with the Attic Kings and Blackwax DJs.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, £1 (£3 after 11)

Strip Club

Witness

New club night getting down and dirty on the dancefloor, this month featuring live music from Ded Rabbit and Little Birds.

Midweek student favourite of chart and cheese classics.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of garage, dubstep and bassline house with the Attic Kings and Blackwax DJs.

Mansion

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Favourited student midweeker playing house, electro and hippity-hop, spilling over into the Annexe space.

Thu 19 Apr Octopussy

Soulsville

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £5

Rack and Ruin

Soul Jam Hot

The regular Edinburgh breaks and bassline Manga crew takeover.

Swinging soul spanning a whole century with DJs Tsatsu and Red-6, plus live dancers a-go-go.

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, Free

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

I Love Hip-Hop

Elements (John O’Callaghan, David Forbes)

Handpicked weekend mix of chart, dance and retro 80s classics.

The glam techno and electro night celebrates three glorious years, with the usual bizarre themed shenanigans.

Fundraiser night with music ranging from live double bass to old-school breaks, plus live musical interlude from Adam Holmes.

Studio 24, 21:00–03:00, £5

ETC04: Post Apocolyptic Mutants (Stevoid, Morphamish, Toxicologist, Vinyl Vandal)

Go-Go

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £12

Art School institution with DJs Chris and Paul playing the finest in indie, garage, soul and punk.

In Your Chop

Souloco

Danco and Kami play some hench beats. Nuff said.

Bandioke

Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£4 after 12)

Confusion Is Sex: 3rd Birthday

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£7 after 12)

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

The Egg

Planet Earth: Do You Remember The First Time

Live band karaoke session. Also gets you free entry to retro after-club, Planet Earth.

The Hive, 21:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Indie and electro from the Sick Note DJs.

Wee Red Bar, 22:00–03:00, Free (£3 after 12)

Distinctly retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

Fresh mix of funk, soul, disco and hippity-hop from the Soul Jam Hot DJs.

Dubstep, breaks and bassline house from AF Meldrum and a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs.

Bubblegum

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Mad Caravan

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop requests you can think of.

The Hive, 21:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

This Is Music

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Handpicked weekend mix of chart, dance and retro 80s classics.

Bandioke

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Studio 24, 21:00–03:00, £4 (£6 after 12)

Monthly club bringing the spirit of the psychedelic trance dance ritual to the floor.

The Sunday Club

Fri 13 Apr

Coalition

Propaganda

Cosmic

Sun 15 Apr

Animal Hospital

Tease Age

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

The Caves, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£8 after 12)

Riddim Tuffa nice-up the dancefloor with some heavyweight dubplates and a massive selection of digital reggae, raggamaffin and some serious 90s dancehall.

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

Easter Sunday special over two rooms, with a selection of DJs playing progressive house and tehcno in one room and tech house in the other.

Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

The Jackhammer crew provide our dose of all things techno, joined by German DJ Heiko Laux.

The Caves, 22:30–03:00, £10 (£8)

Cream Soda

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop requests you can think of.

Sat 07 Apr

Dancehall (O.B.F, Riddim Tuffa, MC Dangerman, MC Ras Ista)

Jackhammer

Chart, dance and electro fare, plus punter requests all night long.

Cream Soda

District, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£7 after 12)

Retro pop stylings from the 50s to the 70s.

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Indie, pop and alternative favourites with a danceable beat, from LCD Soundsystem to The Ting Tings.

An all-female DJ line-up celebrate all that is great about pop, new and old.

The legendary 90s night is revived, offering up its inimitable mix of reggae, ska, dub and early ragga.

Nu Fire

The Sunday Club

Backlash: Easter Sunday Party (One Dollar Dave, Sean Laird )

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

Edinburgh institution mixing indiepop, alternative cuts, retro classics and new found sounds.

Indigo

Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

Beep Beep, Yeah!

Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

Frisky

Sun 08 Apr The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Rude

Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics.

Edinburgh institution mixing indiepop, alternative cuts, retro classics and new found sounds.

The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £5

Journey back through the ages, digging out anthemic gems from the last 40 years.

Evol

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

The Annexe, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£7 after 12)

New wave, disco, post-punk and a bit o’ synthtastic 80s with your host Chris and pals.

Mixed Up

Octopussy

49Hz: Launch Party (Pasteman)

Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

The Annexe, 22:30–03:00, £6

Friday night party with seasoned Edinburgh DJs Mastercaird and Stevie C playing anything danceable.

Thu 12 Apr

Jackhammer (Keith Tenniswood) (Radioactive Man)

Wee Red Bar, 19:00–03:00, £7

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Frisky

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Chart, dance and electro fare, plus punter requests all night long.

City Café, 20:00–01:00, £4

Turn It Up

Wee Red Bar, 22:30–03:00, £3

Reggae, dancehall and R’n’B from the Dread Brothers.

Robigan’s Reggae

Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, Free (£5 after 12)

Dub, reggae and dancehall clubbing spectacular.

The Too Much Fun Club: 3rd Birthday

Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

The TMFC celebrate their third year on the Edinburgh club scene with a big team art battle, set to the tunes of some of the city’s best hip-hop DJs and producers.

Balkanarama (Destroyers) Studio 24, 21:30–03:00, £8 (£9 after 10)

All-singing, all-dancing Balkan orgy, with Balkan fusion band the Destroyers headlining, plus belly dancing, live visuals and free brandy.

We’re sold.

Studio 24 Rawks

Studio 24, 22:30–03:00, £2 (£5 after 11.30)

Rock, metal and alternative playlists, offering up a few surprises along the way.

Wasabi Disco

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)

Mansion

The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Favourited student midweeker playing house, electro and hippity-hop, spilling over into the Annexe space.

Thu 26 Apr Octopussy

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£4)

Chart, indie and electro student favourite, with a bouncy castle an’ all.

Frisky

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Heady bout of cosmic house, punk and upside-down disco with yer man Kris ‘Wasabi’ Walker.

Chart, dance and electro fare, plus punter requests all night long.

Messenger

Ride

Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£7 after 12)

Sweet reggae rockin’ from the original sound system.

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Ride girl’s Checkie and Lauren play hip-hop and dance, all night long.

APRIL 2012

THE SKINNY 67

E dinburgh CLUBS Zzzap

VEGAS!

The Annexe, 22:30–03:00, £5

Voodoo Rooms, 20:30–01:00, £5

Indigo

50s-themed fun night, with Frankie Sumatra, Bugsy Seagull, Dino Martini, Sam Jose and Nikki Nevada. Plus Vegas showgirls a-go-go, natch.

Inimitable future electronic and bass party, offering an underground selection of live guests.

The Liquid Room, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£1)

Indie, pop and alternative favourites with a danceable beat, from LCD Soundsystem to The Ting Tings.

Fri 27 Apr Planet Earth: Do You Remember The First Time Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

Distinctly retro selection from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

Bandioke Citrus Club, 19:30–22:00, £4

Live band karaoke session. Also gets you free entry to retro after-club, Planet Earth.

Go-Go HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £3

Brand new mix of anything your ears want to hear, from resident DJ Gentleman Jonny.

Misfits The Hive, 21:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Chart, electro, indie-pop and alternative anthems over two rooms.

Stitch Up Wee Red Bar, 22:30–03:00, £tbc

New weekly night for the Wee Red, playing hip-hop and then switching to techno from 12.30am.

Soundburger Henry’s Cellar, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 after 12)

New night specialising in rare funk, rock, psych and jazz on vintage 45s.

Karnival (Butch) The Caves, 22:00–03:00, £10

Kapital play a bit of venue-hopping post-Cabaret Voltaire’s closure, heading up The Caves with funky techno maestro Butch.

The Underground (Wuillie Buchan) Studio 24, 22:30–03:00, £2 (£5 after 11.30)

Punk, new wave, ska and other such alternative sounds.

Riot Control Studio 24, 22:30–03:00, £5

Handpicked playlists of hip-hop, gypsy, disco, hardcore and rave, plus live art from the Too Much Fun Club.

Numbers (Redinho) Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £5 (members free)

The one-man-show that is Numbers’ Redinho takes over the decks, serving up keys, synths, beats, and talkbox vocals in one shiny-like-thefuture electro whole.

Xplicit Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £tbc

Heavy jungle and bass-styled beats from the inimitable Xplicit crew.

Retro Catz The Annexe, 22:30–03:00, £4 (£5 after 12)

New night with a cast of all-female DJs working their way through some sexy retro, complete with disco balls.

Hideout The Liquid Room, 22:00–03:00, Free (£5 (£3) after 11)

Friday night party with seasoned Edinburgh DJs Mastercaird and Stevie C playing anything danceable.

Cream Soda Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £3 (£4 after 12)

An all-female DJ line-up celebrate all that is great about pop, new and old.

The Egg Wee Red Bar, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£4 after 12)

Art School institution with DJs Chris and Paul playing the finest in indie, garage, soul and punk.

Papi Falso Henry’s Cellar, 20:00–03:00, £5

Sci-fi pop, outsider folk, soulful R’n’B, machine funk and a whole lot more with DJs from bETAMAX, The Gentle Invasion and FOUND, amongst others.

Wed 04 Apr Onsind (Eric Ayotte, Davey Nolan, Tragical History Tour) Drouthy’s, 19:30–22:00, £4

Acoustic DIY pop-punk duo from Durham, full of singalong activist punk-rock bangers and quiet introspection in equal measure.

Thu 05 Apr MexicoFALLZ (Yeah Detroit) Dexter’s Bar, 19:30–23:00, £5

The Kent quartet do their usual shambolic, pop-punk meltdown of a thing.

Blue Rose Code Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £6

London post-folk musician big on the Celtic lullabies and Caledonian soul.

Taste of Eden (The Other Tribe, The John Langan Band, The Kennel Wages, Gelvis Paisley and the Contraband)

The Mouse That Ate The Cat (Sunrise in Shanghai, Copper Lungs, Ally Cats)

The Caves, 21:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

Glasgow-based scamps making delightful electro-indie-pop that uses synths, samples, guitars and layered vocals.

Eden Festival present Taste of Eden Festival in an indoor setting; cue bands, DJs, burlesque and maybe a bit o’ fire breathing, if you’re lucky.

Studio 24 Rawks

Beat Generator Live!, 19:30–23:00, £5 adv.

Fri 06 Apr

Studio 24, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4)

Los Palmas 6

Rock, metal and alternative playlists, offering up a few surprises along the way.

Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £10 adv. (£12 door)

Lucky 7 Studio 24, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£5 after 11.30)

Ska, 2-Tone and early reggae from the Go Go’s Tall Paul and Tony ‘2-Eyes’.

Playdate Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, £3 (members free)

House specialists Stewart and Steven play, er, some special house.

Mumbo Jumbo Bongo Club, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£7 after 12)

Party soundtrack of funk, soul, disco and house from Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin.

Heavy Gossip Vs Ultragroove The Annexe, 22:30–03:00, £8 (£6)

The heavyweights of Scottish house join forces with resident Craig Smith back from his tour of the US, alongside and messeurs Sommerville, Yuill and Herd.

Beat Control The Third Door, 23:00–03:00, £5

The Evol crew launch their latest indie-pop adventure.

Magic Nostalgic Electric Circus, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£6 after 12)

Hotch-potch of tracks chosen by a spinning wheel. Expect anything from 90s rave to power ballads, and a lot of one-hit wonders.

Madness tribute act.

The Murderburgers (Uniforms, The Day I Snapped, The Kimberly Steaks) Kage, 19:30–22:30, £4

Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £5 (£3)

Aberdeen quintet doing a rather fine line in shouty indie-pop, gigging a selection of new material.

Fri 13 Apr Catfish and the Bottlemen (Lincoln Rime, Havoc!)

Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £6 (£3)

Rock’n’roll quintet full of guitars and songs about love an’ that.

Sun 22 Apr

A Piece Danced Alone

3–7 Apr, times vary, prices vary

The OK Social Club (The Fear)

Artist, performer and choreographer Alexandra Bachzetsis presents her most recent work, an open-ended suite of solos that are passed from one performer to the other. Part of GI Festival.

Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £6 (£3)

The Edinburgh trio take to Dundee for the evening, their myriad influences – from 50s girl groups to 70s punk-rock – all well and in place.

Sat 14 Apr

Miles Kane

Threshold Sicks (Man Made Origin, Image Aurora)

Fat Sam’s, 19:00–22:00, £15 adv.

Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £8

Raggle taggle folk ensemble blending a unique mixture of rock, pop, gypsy jazz and bluegrass into their mix.

The Doghouse Open Jam

Three Blind Wolves

Kelvin Hall International Sports Arena

Doghouse, 18:00–23:00, Free

Drop in jam session, where you essentially just bring an instrument and join the rammy.

Thu 19 Apr

Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £6 (£4)

More singalongable, dancealongable alternative countryesque tunes from the Glasgow lads, fresh from their trip to SXSW 2012.

RM Hubbert Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £6 (£3)

The Chemikal Underground instrumental guitar virtuoso tours his new album, which features all sorts of inspired collaborations to complement his intricate Flamenco guitar playing.

Fri 20 Apr Whitsnake Beat Generator Live!, 19:30–23:00, £7

Doghouse, 20:00–23:00, £5

Upbeat and catchy indie-pop from the Scottish four-piece. Can’t say fairer.

The Grand Theft Anger Tour (Kill All Celebrities, Violent Relapse) Beat Generator Live!, 19:30–23:00, £tbc

Hardcore showcase of grind and death metal.

Whitesnake tribute act.

DUNDEE CLUBS Fri 06 Apr

Transmission

Mixed Bizness (Tayo)

Indie, pop and hardcore with DJs Wolfie and The Girl.

Reading Rooms, 22:30–03:30, £5 (£7 after 12)

Breakbeat DJ Tayo joins Boom Monk Ben for a special live set, alongside live visuals from Dunc4n.

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4

SellOut

Beat Generator Live!, 23:00–03:00, £5

Big Muff Kage, 23:00–02:30, £4

Mighty celebration of all things grunge, raising funds for Make-ThatA-Take Records. Also perhaps the best-named club night of our month.

Sun 29 Apr The Sunday Club

Ultimate mix tape night playing rock, pop and hip-hop beats.

Dubstep, breaks and bassline house from AF Meldrum and a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs.

Mon 30 Apr Request-driven night of pop-punk, chart, indie and good ol’ 90s classics.

Beartrap Eclectic mix of art-rock, indie and punk.

Beat Generator Live!, 23:00–03:00, £5

Sat 07 Apr Spektrum (James Zabiela) Reading Rooms, 23:30–02:30, £tbc

Warping and twisting being his forte, James Zabiela layers diferent sounds with the aid of two Pioneer CDJ-2000s, a Pioneer EFX-1000, Korg Kaossilator, MIDI controller and a laptop.

Asylum Kage, 23:00–03:00, £5

Alternative selection of rock, metal and punk.

Carbon The Hideout, 22:30–03:00, £4

Nu Fire

Propaganda

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Moving from hip-hop to dubstep with a plethora of live MCs.

Fri 13 Apr

Trade Union The Annexe, 22:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

Anything goes trade night with Beefy and Wolfjazz (and their pals), relocating to the Liquid Room’s Annexe post-Cab Vol’s closure.

68 THE SKINNY APRIL 2012

7–8 Apr, 2:00pm – 5:00pm, Free

Bassorgy Soundsystem (Farfletched, Cornelius, Jam Factory) Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £5 (£7 after 12)

Full-on electro, D’n’B and dub orgy, complete with a massive soundsystem and live visuals over eight screens.

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £4 (£6 after 11.30)

Selection of DJs on rotation all night, covering genres of electro, disco, techno and anything else they damn well fancy.

Asylum

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £5

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £5

The Hideout, 22:30–03:00, £4

Alternative-styled club night, handpicking from genres of metal, industrial, rock, indie and anything else they damn well fancy.

Fri 27 Apr

Alternative selection of rock, metal and punk.

Ctrl.Alt.Defeat

Fri 20 Apr

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £8 (£10 after 12)

Bleep

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £8

Ear-bleeding electronic beats ‘n’ bleeps with residents Light Nights and WeAreNotRobots.

Felt

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4

Indie dancing tunes, from retro-pop to eclectic rock.

Rockabilly, doo-wop, soul and all things golden age and danceable with the Locarno regulars.

Girls Night 10–14 Apr, times vary, From £11

Five friends celebrate the past through the medium of girlie karaoke anthems. Joy.

Monkee Business 17–21 Apr, times vary, From £19.50

The hits of the Monkees soundtrack this madcap tale of four young lads and their dalliances with sexy Russiand spies, nuns and the like.

Rainy Days and Mondays 22 Apr, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, From £14

Musical theatre celebration of the music of Karen and Richard Carpenter.

The Steamie: 25th Anniversay Tour various dates between 30 Apr and 26 May, times vary, From £13

Special edition of Tony Roper’s washhouse comedy, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the much-loved play.

The Arches

11–14 Apr, times vary, prices vary

Inconsistent Whisper 7 Apr, 3:45pm – 5:00pm, £4

Glasgow-based German artist Torsten Lauschmann explores the limits of communication in an experimental performance installation in the derelict basement space of The Arches.

Beats 18–22 Apr, times vary, prices vary

New coming-of-age monologue piece written and performed by Kieran Hurley, with techno. Lots of techno.

Part of Behaviour Festival.

Physical performance exploring the notion of society and questioning the ability of someone to lead one. Part of Behaviour Festival.

White Rabbit, Red Rabbit 18 Apr, 20 Apr, 21 Apr, 7:15pm – 8:15pm, £11 (£8)

Iranian dramatist Nassim Soleimanpour’s unique performance piece, performed cold by a different actor in every show. Part of Behaviour Festival.

Collecting Fireworks 19–21 Apr, 5:30pm – 10:30pm, £6 (£4)

Audio installation of strangers’ whispered recollections of theatre events, showing every half hour between 5.30pm and 10.30pm. Part of Behaviour Festival.

Fatherland/Motherland 25–27 Apr, 7:00pm – 9:00pm, £11 (£8)

Two-part performance looking at place and belonging. Part of Behaviour Festival.

Theatre Royal Scottish Ballet: A Streetcar Named Desire Scottish Ballet celebrate Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play turning the grand old age of 65 with an inspired new production.

Tron Theatre September Songs

EDIN B URG H Bedlam Theatre Lingua Frank

19–20 Apr, 7:00pm – 8:15pm, £5

Comical tale about Mr Bollard’s Language school, where three golden rules exist: no phones, no eating, and don’t have sex with the students.

Edinburgh Playhouse South Pacific

3–5 Apr, times vary, prices vary

Reimagining of Rodgers and Hammersteins classic musical, featuring a 50-strong live orchestra,

Chicago

23–28 Apr, times vary, prices vary

Award-winning musical set in th 1920s, based around the tale of a nightclub singer, a double-murderess and a smooth-talking lawyer.

Dancing In The Streets

30 Apr – 5 May, times vary, From £17.50

Singalong celebration of the music that came from the heart of Detroit.

Festival Theatre Calendar Girls

23–28 Apr, times vary, From £14.50

The hit West End show makes its way to Edinburgh with, erm, a lot of nude woman in tow.

The Steamie

10–14 Apr, times vary, From £15

Special edition of Tony Roper’s washhouse comedy, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the much-loved play.

The Gruffalo

6 Apr, times vary, £13

Live theatre adaptation of Julia Donaldson’s picture book, featuring a cute mouse and a big and (not so) bad Grufallo.

17–21 Apr, 8:30pm – 10:30pm, £10 (£7)

A Streetcar Named Desire

Kin

Scottish Ballet celebrate Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play turning the grand old age of 65 with an inspired new production.

A one-woman cabaret starring Joyce Falconer, set to the music of composer Kurt Weill.

19–21 Apr, 8:00pm – 10:00pm, £10 (£7)

Exploring the emotions involved as middle-aged children negotiate the changes in their relationship with their parents, with testimonies from Alison Peebles, amongst others.

Gifted

18–21 Apr, times vary, From £21.50

Out of the Blue Drill Hall Oscar and the Quest for the Underground Princess 3 Apr, 11:00am – 11:50am, £4 (£2)

5–7 Apr, 7:30pm – 10:00pm, £7

Brand new producion from Tron Skillshops focusing on a gifted young protagonist.

Thumbelina

Weddings Can Be Murder

The Elf of Glenfern

13–14 Apr, 7:15pm – 10:00pm, £25 (including dinner)

Murder mystery-styled dinner set at a young couple’s wedding, with super-sleuth Sherbert Holmes your detective for the evening.

Doris Day Can Fuck Off! 13–14 Apr, 7:45pm – 10:00pm, £12 (£7)

Playful one-man opera performed with offhand conviction by Greg McLaren, who documents his attempt to live life as if in a Doris Day musical.

Waterproof/From Paisley To Paolo 18–21 Apr, 7:45pm – 10:00pm, From £7

Double bill of comedy dramas about lads, friendship and camping.

Nuff said.

4 Apr, 11:00am – 11:40am, £4 (£2)

4 Apr, 2:00pm – 2:40pm, £4 (£2)

Circus Cabaret

28 Apr, 8:00pm – 11:00pm, £10

Royal Lyceum Theatre The Marriage Of Figaro

various dates between 23 Mar and 14 Apr, 7:45pm – 10:00pm, From £14.50

Scottish playwright DC Jackson relocates Pierre Beaumarchais’s famous tale to the world of contemporary finance, set against a dodgy backdrop of expense scandals and big bonus payouts.

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4

Sat 28 Apr

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £5 (£7 after 12)

Musical favourite set in Oregan in 1850, following young Adam – the eldest of seven brothers – and his quest to get a bride for them all.

Unique exploration of the relationship between Shakespeare’s iconic power couple, Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

Forgotten classics from the seediest and most decadent dancefloors of the 70s, 80s and beyond.

Autodisco

Locarno

Singalong Abba fluff taking in all the usual hits.

25–28 Apr, times vary, From £7

Zazou

Ultimate mix tape night playing rock, pop and hip-hop beats.

Sat 21 Apr

24–28 Apr, times vary, From £10

Lady M: His Fiend-Like Queen?

Electro musings with a danceable beat, with Clouds and Ado sharing deck duty.

SellOut

Beat Generator Live!, 23:00–03:00, £5

The King’s Theatre

Eilidh MacAskill reimagines the 1901 event of the same name, complete with a historical cyclist parade, synchronised cycling, wacky races, live music from Zoey Van Goey’s Kim Moore and a competition for bestdecorated bike wheels.

18–22 Apr, times vary, prices vary

Carbon

Sneaky Pete’s, 23:00–03:00, Free

Cycling Gymkhana

Thatcher’s Children

SellOut

Coalition

various dates between 20 Apr and 12 May, times vary, prices vary

Thu 26 Apr

Sat 14 Apr

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop requests you can think of.

King Lear

Sun 15 Apr

Perth-based hellraisers churning out the metal, thrash and death grooves.

The Book Club (Is Kill, Diabetic)

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Citizens Theatre Arguably Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, with David Hayman returning to the Citizens in the title role, 33 years after his last appearance there.

Beat Generator Live!, 19:30–23:00, £5

Well-crafted, hook-laden indie-pop from the Dundonian trio.

Mad Dog McRae (Delilah and the Samsons)

25–26 Apr, 7:30pm – 9:30pm, £5 (£4)

The non-Arctic Money half of the Last Shadow Puppets does his nostalgic Merseybeat thing.

Sat 07 Apr

Sun 08 Apr

28–29 Apr, 12:00pm – 4:00pm, Free

Bryony Kimmings’ bold one-woman show investigating the link between alcohol and creativity. Part of Behaviour Festival.

Seven Brides For Seven Brothers

Little Kicks (Dolalay)

Rat Scabies and Brian James (of The Damned) reunite for an evening of classics.

Haircuts By Children

26–27 Apr, 9:30pm – 11:00pm, £11 (£8)

CCA

Dexter’s Bar, 19:30–23:00, £tbc

Beat Generator Live!, 19:30–23:00, £10

Alice Rocks

7 Day Drunk

Dancing Queen

Fri 27 Apr

Scabies and James (Diddums, Rabid Dogs)

GL A SG O W

Site-specific experience where a group of 10-year-old children test their hair-cutting skills on any willing participants. As in, real children.

Near your head. With scissors. Part of Behaviour Festival.

Make Sparks (Bear Arms, Mothers Ruin, Forget Moscow)

Long-running indie, rock and soul night.

Handpicked weekend mix of chart, dance and retro 80s classics.

Marionettes (Pilgrims Carnival, Alley Cats)

Live music all-dayer with a trio of stages scaling the noise levels: Loud as Fuck, Lively Loud and Acoustic. Bands include Billy Liar, WeCameFromWolves and Here Lies A Warning.

Glasgow’s own pop-meets-punk princes The Murderburgers launch their new album, a reliably unique brand of upbeat bangers.

Alternative-styled club night, handpicking from genres of metal, industrial, rock, indie and anything else they damn well fancy.

The Hive, 21:00–03:00, Free (£4 after 10)

Thu 12 Apr

Beat Generator Live!, 13:00–23:00, £8

Alternative selection of rock, metal and punk.

The Hive, 22:00–03:00, Free

Bubblegum

Irish hardcore thrash of a band, currently touring their arse off whilst writing their second album.

Beatdoon Festival

Kage, 23:00–03:00, £4

Tease Age

Student-orientated indie night with guest DJs dropping by.

Beat Generator Live!, 20:00–23:00, £5

Sat 21 Apr

Asylum

Mixed Up

HMV Picture House, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Visceral Attack (Drawn To Ruin)

Ultimate mix tape night playing rock, pop and hip-hop beats.

Sat 28 Apr Citrus Club, 22:30–03:00, £1 (£6 after 11)

T H E AT R E

DUNDEE MUSIC

Reading Rooms, 22:30–02:30, £8

Electro-funk, house and disco with your regular hosts Dave Autodisco and Dicky Trisco.

Asylum Kage, 23:00–03:00, £5

Alternative selection of rock, metal and punk.

For full listings go to www.theskinny.co.uk/listings or scan left

COMEDY The Lieutenant of Inishmore various dates between 21 Apr and 12 May, times vary, From £14.50

Gruesomely absurd comedy of Irish Republicanism, rural isolation and the love people have for their cats.

The Lieutenant of Inishmore: Preview 20 Apr, 7:45pm – 10:00pm, £5

Discount preview showing of the gruesomely absurd comedy of Irish Republicanism, rural isolation and the love people have for their cats.

Traverse A Play, A Pie And A Pint 24–28 Apr, times vary, £12

Afternoon session showcasing new work from a selection of UK playwrights, this time premiering Can You Look at the Camera Please.

Plus a pie and a pint, naturally.

Pass The Spoon 26–28 Apr, times vary, prices vary

David Shrigley’s mock TV cookery show where vegetable puppets mingle in a world where the cutlery have names, and there’s a dung beetle puppet operated by a walking turd in cowboy boots.

For Once 4–14 Apr, not 8, 9, times vary, prices vary

Through a series of interweaving accounts this darkly comic new play cuts to the heart of a family, and a community, turned upside down by tragedy.

White 11–14 Apr, times vary, £8 (£10 family)

Visual theatre production for little ‘uns aged 2-4 years, where everything gleams and dazzles.

The Artist Man and the Mother Woman 19 Apr, 7:30pm – 9:00pm, £5

Live rehearsal of Morna Pearson’s new play. Part of the Traverse’s new writing festival, Write Here.

Too Far Gone 21 Apr, 7:30pm – 9:00pm, £5

Unique chance to take a peek at a live rehearsal of Rob Drummond’s new play. Part of the Traverse’s new writing festival, Write Here.

Demos 24 Apr, 7:30pm – 9:00pm, £5

New verbatim play in which Tim Price presents an investigation of democracy that asks us to decide what sort of government is best.

Part of the Traverse’s new writing festival, Write Here.

Platform 18: New Work Award 25–28 Apr, 7:00pm – 9:00pm, £15 (£11/£6 unemployed)

Double-bill of award-winning productions in the Arches’ scheme for emergent directors, featuring Kieran Hurley’s Beats and Gary Gardiner’s Thatcher’s Children.

DUNDEE

GLASGOW

Sat 14 Apr

Fri 27 Apr

Sat 07 Apr

The Comedy Academy

Tue 03 Apr

The Saturday Show (Alistair Barrie, Janey Godley, Paul F Taylor, Joe Heenan)

The Friday Show (David Kay, Andrew Ryan, Eddie O’Dwyer, Michael Legge)

The Saturday Show (Tony Burgess, Lee Camp, Davey Connor, Fern Brady)

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9/£5 members)

A selection of up-and-coming comedic talent compete against the clock for stage time, gong show style.

Red Raw The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Wed 04 Apr Wicked Wenches (Wendy Wason, Fern Brady, Chloe Philip, Luisa Omelian) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£3 members)

All-female stand-up, with a suitably varied mix of headliners and newcomers. Hosted by resident funnywoman Susan Calman.

Thu 05 Apr The Thursday Show (Addy Van Der Borgh, Wendy Wason, Matthew Winning, Raymond Mearns) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7/£4 members)

Handpicked selection of headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 06 Apr The Friday Show (Addy Van Der Borgh, Wendy Wason, Matthew Winning, Raymond Mearns) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9/£5 members)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Sat 07 Apr The Saturday Show (Addy Van Der Borgh, Wendy Wason, Matthew Winning, Raymond Mearns) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes.

Sun 08 Apr Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1 members)

Chilled comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond.

Mon 09 Apr Improv Wars The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £4 (£2)

Improvised comedy games and sketches, with an anything-goes attitude.

Tue 10 Apr Red Raw The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Set on a remote island in the middle of the Atlantic, Zinnie Harris mixes fact and fiction to tell the story of a small community isolated from the world beyond the ocean.

Chilled comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond.

Mon 16 Apr Improv Wars The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £4 (£2)

Diverse offerings from the comedy spectrum, featuring stand-up, variety acts, sketches, musical comedy and magicians!

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7/£4 members)

Handpicked selection of headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 13 Apr The Friday Show (Alistair Barrie, Janey Godley, Paul F Taylor, Joe Heenan) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9/£5 members)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Sat 28 Apr The Saturday Show (David Kay, Andrew Ryan, Eddie O’Dwyer, Michael Legge) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes.

Sun 29 Apr

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes.

Festival Of The Spoken Nerd

Saturday Live Resident host Jojo Sutherland introduces some of the finest standup talent from across the UK, plus surprise guests dropping by.

Live comedy for the sci-curious, with geek songstress Helen Arney, science expert Steve Mould and stand-up mathematician Matt Parker. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.

Sun 08 Apr

Fri 13 Apr

The Sunday Night Laugh-In

The Friday Show (Jake O’Kane, Jeff Leach, Gus Lymburn, Jojo Sutherland)

The Shack, 20:00–22:00, £8

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1 members)

Chilled comedy showcase to cure your Sunday evening back-to-work blues.

Improvised comedy games and sketches, with an anything-goes attitude.

Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service

Whose Lunch Is It Anyway?

Tue 17 Apr

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1 members)

Chilled comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond.

Improvised lunchtime comedy favourite with cheeky chappies Stu & Garry.

Red Raw The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Wed 18 Apr Benefit for Amnesty International The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £7

Comedy fundraiser for Amnesty International.

Thu 19 Apr The Thursday Show (Tony Burgess, Anthony J Brown, Sean Grant, Scott Gibson, Raymond Mearns) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7/£4 members)

Handpicked selection of headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 20 Apr The Friday Show (Tony Burgess, Anthony J Brown, Sean Grant, Scott Gibson, Raymond Mearns) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9/£5 members)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Sat 21 Apr The Saturday Show (Tony Burgess, Anthony J Brown, Sean Grant, Scott Gibson, Raymond Mearns) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes.

Sun 22 Apr Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service Chilled comedy showcase with resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond.

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£4/£2.50 members)

Thu 12 Apr

24 Apr – 5 May, not 29 Apr, times vary, £8 (£5)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1 members)

Wed 11 Apr

The Thursday Show (Alistair Barrie, Janey Godley, Paul F Taylor, Joe Heenan)

Further Than The Furthest Thing

Michael Redmond’s Sunday Service

Fun Junkies

A Play, A Peh and A Pint Forfeit Evening session showcasing new work from a selection of UK playwrights. Plus a pie and a pint, naturally.

Sun 15 Apr

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1 members)

Dundee Rep 3–7 Apr, 9:00pm – 11:00pm, £10 (£8)

Packed bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes.

Tue 24 Apr Red Raw The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Wed 25 Apr Best Of Irish Comedy The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£6/£3 members)

Top comics from the contemporary Irish circuit.

Thu 26 Apr The Thursday Show (David Kay, Andrew Ryan, Eddie O’Dwyer, Michael Legge) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £8 (£7/£4 members)

Handpicked selection of headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

The Stand, 13:30–15:30, Free

Mon 09 Apr

Mon 30 Apr

Red Raw

Chris Ramsey: Offermation

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £9 (£8)

Join Ramsay on a journey into the offermation in his life: an annual round robin letter from unknown family members.

EDIN B UR G H Tue 03 Apr Wicked Wenches (Susan Morrison, Fern Brady, Chloe Philip, Luisa Omelian) The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£3 members)

All-female stand-up, with a suitably varied mix of headliners and newcomers. Hosted by resident funnywoman Susan Calman.

Wed 04 Apr Midweek Comedy Cabaret The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £4 (£2)

Midweek blues combatting comedy showcase, with four acts for four quid. Can’t say fairer.

Ball and Other Funny Stories Ghillie-Dhu, 20:00–23:00, £10 (£8)

Brian Labels’ quirky story of his struggle against cancer; inappropriate, salacious and honest, challenging the idea that cancer can’t be funny.

Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.

Thu 05 Apr The Thursday Show (Tony Burgess, Lee Camp, Davey Connor, Fern Brady) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £8 (£7/£4 members)

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £2

Fit O’ The Giggles City Café, 20:30–22:30, £3 (£2)

Keara Murphy hosts a selection of acts taking in sketches, stand-up, mime, musical comedy, poetry, magic, and, well, pretty much anything else they fancy.

Tue 10 Apr Alun Cochrane: Moments of Alun The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £12

Alun Cochrane does his thinking aloud, chatty style of stand-up. You do the laughing.

Sensory Dining Jam House, 20:00–23:00, £35 (including food)

Comedian Steve Mould looks at how other senses affect our taste buds over a five-course tasting menu.

Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.

Wed 11 Apr The Melting Pot The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£4/£2.50 members)

Comedy sketches picked by the audience and performed by a troupe of actors and musicians.

Robin Ince: Happiness Through Science The Stand, 17:30–19:00, £7

Robin Ince continues his comic exploration of the human condition, ahead of his stint at Edinburgh Science Festival later in the evening.

Science, Love and Betrayal National Museum of Scotland, 17:30–19:00, £8 (£6)

Handpicked selection of headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Witty event looking at why we fall in love and what exactly is going on when we do. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.

The Comedy Academy

The Maths Olympics

The Shack, 20:00–22:00, £3 (£2)

A selection of up-and-coming comedic talent compete against the clock for stage time, gong show style.

Bright Club: Bodies Ghillie-Dhu, 20:00–23:00, £10 (£8)

A selection of comedic academics do a stint of stand-up for your entertainment and enlightenment.

Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.

Fri 06 Apr The Friday Show (Tony Burgess, Lee Camp, Davey Connor, Fern Brady) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£9/£5 members)

Jam House, 17:30–19:00, £10 (£8)

Stand-up mathematician Simon Pampera introduces y’all to a new sport: maths. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.

Humour Me Jam House, 20:00–21:30, £10 (£8)

Funnyman Robin Ince and scientist Professor Robin Dunbar reveal why and how we laugh, while professor Richard Wiseman asks what’s so funny. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.

Thu 12 Apr The Thursday Show (Jake O’Kane, Jeff Leach, Gus Lymburn, Jojo Sutherland) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £8 (£7/£4 members)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Handpicked selection of headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Friday Live

Bright Club

The Shack, 20:00–22:00, £8

Resident host Jojo Sutherland introduces some of the finest stand-up talent from across the UK.

The Shack, 20:00–22:00, £3 (£2)

The Stand, 17:00–19:00, £5

A selection of comedic academics do a stint of stand-up for your entertainment and enlightenment.

Jam House, 20:00–23:00, £10 (£8)

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£9/£5 members)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Bright Club The Stand, 17:00–19:00, £5

A selection of comedic academics do a stint of stand-up for your entertainment and enlightenment.

Friday Live The Shack, 20:00–22:00, £8

Resident host Jojo Sutherland introduces some of the finest stand-up talent from across the UK.

Sat 14 Apr The Saturday Show (Jake O’Kane, Jeff Leach, Gus Lymburn, Jojo Sutherland) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

Thu 19 Apr

Fri 27 Apr

The Thursday Show (David Kay, Pete Cain, Barry Dodds, Richard Gadd, Fred MacAulay)

The Friday Show (Rob Rouse, Noel James, Danny O’Brien, Bruce Devlin)

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £8 (£7/£4 members)

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£9/£5

Handpicked selection of headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

The Comedy Academy The Shack, 20:00–22:00, £3 (£2)

A selection of up-and-coming comedic talent compete against the clock for stage time, gong show style.

The Friday Show (David Kay, Pete Cain, Barry Dodds, Richard Gadd, Fred MacAulay) The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£9/£5 members)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Friday Live The Shack, 20:00–22:00, £8

Resident host Jojo Sutherland introduces some of the finest stand-up talent from across the UK.

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes.

The Shack, 20:00–22:00, £8

Sun 22 Apr

Resident host Jojo Sutherland introduces some of the finest standup talent from across the UK, plus surprise guests dropping by.

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1 members)

Chilled comedy showcase to cure your Sunday evening back-to-work blues.

Sun 15 Apr

Whose Lunch Is It Anyway?

Whose Lunch Is It Anyway?

Improvised lunchtime comedy favourite with cheeky chappies Stu & Garry.

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5)

Susan Morrison chats about her obsession with the Titanic, which sank 100 years ago to the day.

Amused Moose Bongo Club, 19:00–22:00, £6

Scottish final for the 2012 laugh-off competition, with one comedian making it through to the big event in August.

Mon 16 Apr

The Stand, 13:30–15:30, Free

Mon 23 Apr The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Fit O’ The Giggles City Café, 20:30–22:30, £3 (£2)

Keara Murphy hosts a selection of acts taking in sketches, stand-up, mime, musical comedy, poetry, magic, and, well, pretty much anything else they fancy.

Tue 24 Apr

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £2

Electric Tales

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Fit O’ The Giggles City Café, 20:30–22:30, £3 (£2)

Keara Murphy hosts a selection of acts taking in sketches, stand-up, mime, musical comedy, poetry, magic, and, well, pretty much anything else they fancy.

Tue 17 Apr Jo Caulfield’s Comedy Collective The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£4)

A collective of comedians experiment with the medium of stand-up, under the watchful eye of Jo Caulfield.

Wed 18 Apr Benefit for Commando Spirit Appeal The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £7

Susan Calman hosts a comedy fundraiser for the Commando Spirit Appeal.

The Tron, 19:30–22:00, £7 (£5)

Improv comedy show in the vein of Whose Line Is It Anyway.

Sun 29 Apr The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£1 members)

Chilled comedy showcase to cure your Sunday evening back-to-work blues.

Whose Lunch Is It Anyway?

The Stand, 13:30–15:30, Free

Improvised lunchtime comedy favourite with cheeky chappies Stu & Garry.

Rock and Roll Ping Pong

Red Raw

Red Raw

Absolute Improv

The Sunday Night Laugh-In

The Sunday Night Laugh-In

Raise The Titanic

Saturday Live

The Saturday Show (David Kay, Pete Cain, Barry Dodds, Richard Gadd, Fred MacAulay)

The Shack, 20:00–22:00, £8

Improvised lunchtime comedy favourite with cheeky chappies Stu & Garry.

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes.

The Shack, 20:00–22:00, £8

Resident host Jojo Sutherland introduces some of the finest standup talent from across the UK, plus surprise guests dropping by.

The Stand, 13:30–15:30, Free

Sat 28 Apr The Saturday Show (Rob Rouse, Noel James, Danny O’Brien, Bruce Devlin)

Resident host Jojo Sutherland introduces some of the finest standup talent from across the UK, plus surprise guests dropping by.

Bright Club

Saturday Live

Resident host Jojo Sutherland introduces some of the finest stand-up talent from across the UK.

Sat 21 Apr

Saturday Live

The Stand, 17:00–19:00, £5

Friday Live The Shack, 20:00–22:00, £8

Fri 20 Apr

Packed bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes.

A selection of comedic academics do a stint of stand-up for your entertainment and enlightenment.

members)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£4)

Comedy meets storytelling, with the tease of a promise of robot badges.

We’re sold.

Wed 25 Apr Best of Scottish Comedy The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5/£3 members)

Top comics from the contemporary Scottish circuit, aye.

Bongo Club, 19:30–23:00, Free

The It’s Funtime jokers present a free, fun, table tennis evening, with dancing discs from DJ Ding Dong (ahem).

Mon 30 Apr Red Raw The Stand, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Fit O’ The Giggles City Café, 20:30–22:30, £3 (£2)

Keara Murphy hosts a selection of acts taking in sketches, stand-up, mime, musical comedy, poetry, magic, and, well, pretty much anything else they fancy.

Thu 26 Apr The Thursday Show (Rob Rouse, Noel James, Danny O’Brien, Bruce Devlin)

DUNDEE

The Stand, 21:00–23:00, £8 (£7/£4 members)

Sat 07 Apr

Handpicked selection of headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

The Comedy Academy The Shack, 20:00–22:00, £3 (£2)

A selection of up-and-coming comedic talent compete against the clock for stage time, gong show style.

Just Laugh Comedy Club (Gavin Webster, David Kay, Chris Conroy) Fat Sam’s, 20:00–23:00, £10

Monthly comedy showcase, hosted by yer man Bruce Fummey.

APRIL 2012

THE SKINNY 69

Art GLASGOW Collins Gallery George Wyllie

until 21 apr not sun or mon, times vary, free

Celebrating the life and work of George Wyllie, now in his 90th year. The exhibition will also mark the closure of Collins Gallery, after almost of 40 years.

David Dale Gallery and Studios Kilian Ruthemann and Kate V Robertson

20 Apr – 20 May, 12:00pm – 7:00pm, Free

New site specific installations

by Kilian Ruthemann and Kate V Robertson, intended to disrupt the viewer’s perception of space and its properties. Part of GI Festival.

Gallery of Modern Art Alasdair Gray: City Recorder

Glasgow School of Art The Immortals

21 apr - 7 may, not sun, times vary, free

Dutch artist Folkert de Jong presents a new installation of figurative sculptures. In the Mackintosh Gallery.

Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum 500 Years of Italian Art 6 apr - 12 aug, times vary, free

Summer exhibition showcasing the best of Glasgow Museums’ impressive collection of Italian art, taking in some 40 paintings dating from the late 14th to the 19th centuries.

It Is Is It

20 apr - 7 may, times vary, free

A group of young artists with disabilities explore, share and respond to the vast range of spaces and objects found at Glasgow’s Kelvingrove. Part of GI Festival.

1 Dec – 10 Jun, times vary, Free

Showcase of work from the celebrated Glasgow artist and playwright, focusing on his City Recorder series – a large body of work that Gray created as an ‘artist recorder’ for the City of Glasgow in 1977.

Alan Dimmick

until 13 may, times vary, free

Over 300 photographs from the archive of Glasgow-based photographer Alan Dimmick, focusing on his unique documentation of people, places and events that have contributed to Scotland’s reputation as a vibrant centre for the contemporary visual arts.

Glasgow Print Studio Observations: Jim Pattison and Murray Robertson

until 8 apr, not mon, times vary, free

Double-header exhibition offering a unique insight into the nature of art and science collaboration over recent years, contributing to the ongoing debate about the relationship between both areas of knowledge.

Project Ability Transportation

until 14 apr, not sun or mon, times vary, free

Group exhibition on the theme of transportation, which includes works from Project Ability’s Friday group as well as three Canadian organisations: Garth Homer, Indefinite Arts and Nina Haggerty Center.

Recoat Gallery Power Power II

until 8 apr, not mondays, times vary, free

Solo exhibition of original drawings and prints from London-based artist and illustrator Maya Wild, first shown in San Francisco in mid-2011, now making the trip Glasgow-way.

SWG3

The Common Guild

Self Portraits

#UNRAVEL

Wolfgang Tillmans

New collaborative project between FOUND and Aidan Moffat; a reactive sound installation through which the audience will attempt to unravel the truth about The Narrator’s life through playing records from his collection. Part of GI Festival.

Diverse overview of Wolfgang Tillman’s work, featuring an important group of works acquired by the Arts Council Collection alongside a number of new works selected by the artist.

Part of GI Festival.

Artist Arpita Shah – collaborating with various communities and organisations in the Southside of Glasgow – showcases a series of photographic portraits that celebrate faith, culture and identity.

20 Apr – 7 May, times vary, Free

Scotland Street School Museum The Glasgow Schools

20 apr - 6 may, not mon, times vary, free

New project by artist Ruth Ewan which explores Glasgow’s Socialist Sunday School movement, a secular alternative to church Sunday Schools.

Part of GI Festival.

Street Level Photoworks Wang Fu Chun

until 14 apr, not mon, times vary, free

Selection of work from the famed Chinese photographer, best know for his body of work Chinese on the Train – a project for which he produced nearly 10 thousand rolls of film tracing people’s lives on their journeys.

Chi Pen

until 14 apr, not mon, times vary, free

Young Chinese artist who playfully uses the medium of photography to create poetic narrative compositions that focus on the question of the individual and identity amidst the hyper development of 21st century China.

The Arches Blind Plotting

28 apr - 7 may, times vary, free

Group exhibition of installation and sculpture works concerned with theatricality as critical vocabulary.

20 Apr – 23 Jun, times vary, Free

The Hidden Noise Chromatropic

until 14 apr, various dates, times vary, free

First exhibition in Scotland of New York-based artist and musician Rose Kallal, shown alongside paintings

by Glasgow artist Victoria Morton and iconic works by Josef Albers and Anni Albers.

The Lighthouse High Street

various dates between 9 Dec and 17 Apr, times vary, Free

until 8 apr, not mon, times vary, free

The Making Of Us

20 apr - 6 may, times vary, free

Latest collaboration between theatre director Graham Eatough and visual artist Graham Fagen, combining elements of visual art installation and promenade theatre. Part of GI Festival.

Trongate 103 End of the Road

until 15 apr, not mon, times vary, free

Exhibition of photography created at the Red Road flats in North Glasgow, including work by Iseult Timmermans, who’s been working with the residents since 2004.

Though-provoking exhibition, created by Architecture and Design Scotland, charting the evolution of our High Streets, our changing shops and shopping habits and the impact this has had on us today.

E D INBUR G H

The Modern Institute

Axolotl present their final show before closing, a mixed show featuring new works by some old favourites, including Robert Springham, Paul Muzni and Asta Petkunaite.

until 11 apr, not sun, times vary, free

New exhibition of work from Derryborn artist Padraig Timoney, known for his use of differing media and materials.

Tramway London

until 8 apr, not mon, times vary, free

Rhianna Turnbull uses painting, drawing and collage to create unique works which focus on themes of lifestyle, attitude and identity, combining images from a vast array of archived magazine material to form her own fantasised narratives.

until 19 may, not sun or mon, times vary, free

Emerging talent showcase of graduate work from across the four Scottish Art College Degree Shows, spanning a wide variety of printmaking techniques, and including work from Skinny favourite Rachel MacLean.

Negativnights: Cru Servers 12 Apr, 6:30pm – 8:30pm, £5 (£4)

until 10 apr, times vary, free

Edd Davies presents an exhibition of his fictional movies posters based on iconic landmarks from Edinburgh and beyond.

Circus New York: Black and White until 30 apr, times vary, free

Colin Macdonald showcases a selection of photos taken in New York on his trusty 1954 Leica, all in retro black and white film.

Collective Gallery until 8 apr, not mon, times vary, free

The Hangzhou-based printmaking graduate showcases a brand new wall-based work, alongside three animations, for his first solo exhibition in Scotland.

Grace Schwindt

21 apr - 27 may, not mon, times vary, free

The German artist takes over Collective, premiering her new film, Tenant, which tells the story of a woman who rented a room in her Grandparent’s home during the Second World War.

Glass and Honey

22 Apr, 8:00pm – 9:00pm, Free

Grace Schwindt celebrates the opening of her new exhibition by staging a unique performance installation in the front window of Collective, where the audience watch from streetside seating.

Dovecot Studios Kurt Jackson: The Catacol Series

18 apr - 28 apr, not sun, times vary, free

New series of work from Kurt Jackson, known for using an extensive range of materials and techniques including mixed media, large canvases, relief work, printmaking and sculpture.

Edinburgh College of Art Celestial Grime

13 apr - 23 apr, times vary, free

ECA graduates Vangeli Moschopoulos and Chris Bryant – both teaching in the ECA print workshop – explore an individual understanding of space and form, refusing to adhere to the traditional boundaries of graphic art.

Sights and Sounds

Old Ambulance Depot LeithLate presents: Persevere

21 apr - 29 apr, times vary, free

Negativnights: Beagles and Ramsay

6 apr - 8 apr, times vary, free

26 Apr, 6:30pm – 8:30pm, £5 (£4)

The experimental film night par excellence welcomes inimitable artist duo Beagles and Ramsay, who’ll present a range of video work from throughout their career.

Embassy Gallery

Eddscape at the Cameo

St John’s Church

Exploration of the new territory between synthetic biology, art and design, with Alistair Elfick, Jane Calvert and Daisy Ginsberg. Part of Edinburgh International Science Festival.

10 Apr, 8:00pm – 9:30pm, £8 (£6)

Leith’s multi-arts event LeithLate brings you a mini taster of its larger event, with a new exhibition of work

by Bernie Reid, Liana Moran and Rabiya Choudhry.

Hazel Dowling

Cameo Bar

Creating With Creation

The experimental film night par excellence plays host to collaborative music/sound project Cru Servers, bringing together their music with specially-created new moving image and visual works.

Axolotl Gallery

Sun Xun: Undefined Revolution

70 THE SKINNY APRIL 2012

New Print Generation

Journey

until 7 apr, times vary, free

Padraig Timoney

Edinburgh Printmakers

31 mar - 15 apr, various dates, times vary, free

Fine Art graduate Hazel Dowling presents a body of new work produced as part of a residency exchange between Embassy and N/V_PROJECTS.

Fruitmarket Gallery Tony Swain

19 may - 1 jul, times vary, free

The Irish-born, GSA graduating, artist – best known for his paintings depicting complex private worlds painted over newspaper pages – presents a new body of work created specially for Fruitmarket Gallery.

Ingleby Gallery Roger Ackling

until 21 apr, not sun, times vary, free

Having graduated from St Martins School of Art back in the 60s, Roger Ackling has made all of his work by the same method: focusing sunlight through a magnifying glass to burn lines of tiny dots onto found and rescued materials.

Alec Finlay

until 21 apr, not sun, times vary, free

The talented artist, poet and publisher showcases his style-hopping work, which crosses a range of media and forms, from sculpture and collage, to audio-visual, neon and new technologies.

Callum Innes: Works on Paper

28 apr - 14 jul, not sun, times vary, free

*EELS

Mix of painting, drawing, sculpture, installation and film, with one work each from a selection of ten ECA Fine Art students.

Out of the Blue Drill Hall Jock Tamson: Bairns Exhibition

1–9 Apr, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free

Powerful photographic exhibition celebrating the contribution migrants make to Scotland’s cultural wealth.

Red Door Gallery David Fleck

5 apr - 3 may, times vary, free

Architect and illustrator David Fleck showcases a selection of portraits of city life, presented as a collection limited edition screenprints, digital prints and 3D models.

Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) RSA New Contemporaries 2012

17 Mar – 11 Apr, times vary, £4 (£2)

Now in its fourth year, New Contemporaries offers up the pick of last year’s degree shows, with works from the most promising graduates in fine art and architecture jostling for attention in the grand neoclassical gallery.

The 186th RSA Annual Exhibition

28 apr - 6 jun, times vary, free

Annual highlight featuring RSA Academicians and selected submissions from leading and emerging artists from across Scotland, this year with the theme of ‘The Artist’s Studio’.

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art The Sculpture Show

29 Apr – 19 May, not 2 May, 9 May, 16 May, times vary, Free

First solo exhibition from talented young artist Ellie Fraser, featuring oil colour and oil bar landscapes and cityscapes in a range of scales. All works will be for sale, with prints of other works available on request.

Stills La Nostra Terra

7 apr - 22 jul, times vary, free

Exhibition of Italian photography and video moving from the 1970s to present today.

Talbot Rice Gallery Alison Turnbull

until 5 may, not sun or mon, times vary, free

Collection of Alison Turnbull’s paintings and drawings, plus an interactive installation for which she has been exploring the mineral collection at the National Museums of Scotland and Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours.

Urban Outfitters L’equilibre

21 Mar – 28 Apr, times vary, Free

Photographer Meghan Giboin’s unique take on ballet, showcasing a body of images featuring ballet dancers in urban landscapes.

Whitespace Blue Grass

30 Mar – 5 Apr, not 1 Apr, times vary, Free

Photography exhibition from Edinburgh Collecge of Art collective, Fotocol, showcasing images from 21 artists on the theme of elemental investigation.

Stephen Thorpe

28 apr - 10 may, times vary, free

We liked the RSA’s batch of New Contemporaries for 2011 so much that we decided to give one of them a prize. And here is the fruits: a solo exhibition by artist Stephen Thorpe, displaying his beautifully vibrant oil on canvas works.

Dead Kitsch Twisted Beauty 9–12 Apr, times vary, Free

Selection of mysterious cityscapes by artist Sharon Woods, assembled as an installation of furniture and photography.

D UN D EE Centrespace Boris Gerrets: 3 Films

14 apr - 19 may, not sun, times vary, free

Showcase exhibition of Boris Gerrets’ award-winning experimental documentary, People I Could Have Been and Maybe Am, alongside a selection of previous film work.

The Edinburgh-born artist shows an exhibition of three new bodies of work in watercolour, pastel and gouache shown alongside selected works on paper from the past 25 years.

17 Dec – 24 Jun, 10:00am – 5:00pm, Free

Inverleith House

Scottish National Portrait Gallery

Scott Myles: This Production

Romantic Camera

First major UK solo show for Dundeeborn and educated artist Scott Myles, featuring a mix of new works including an expansive site-specific installation, new sculpture works and prints made in the DCA Print Studio.

Thomas Houseago: The Beat Of The Show

various dates between 30 Nov and 21 Jun, 10:00am – 5:30pm, Free

The first major outdoor exhibition of sculptures by British artist Thomas Houseago, comprising of new and recent large-scale works, mostly in bronze. Sculpture map available from Inverleith House reception.

Giving themselves over to sculpture in all it’s many forms, the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art host a sculptural showcase of works moving from the 1900s to present day.

30 Nov – 3 Jun, times vary, Free

Presenting their first exhibition since the grand re-opening, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery explore the highly charged relationship between romanticism and photography in Scotland.

Luke Fowler

Sierra Metro

Luke Fowler presents over 50 photographs from the Two Frame series, accompanied by the installation Ridges on a Horizontal Plane and the UK premier of All Divided Selves.

Richard Martin: Mock Up

until 29 apr, not mon, times vary, free

National Museum of Scotland Fascinating Mummies

26 Mar – 27 May, 10:00am – 5:00pm, £9 (£7.50/£6 children)

Marking the first major exhibition in the National Museum of Scotland’s new purpose-built space, Fascinating Mummies will feature ancient Egyptian treasures dating back as far as 4000BC.

until 8 apr, various dates, times vary, free

New large-scale installation from recent GSA graduate Richard Martin, exploring ideas of social hierarchy, looking at the tensions that exist between individuals and the larger structures of society.

Sofi’s Bar Bill Murray Exhibition until 1 may, times vary, free

A collection of coloured pencil drawings of Bill Murray by Megan Lindsay, served up with some cult classic movies in the projection room throughout the exhibition.

DCA 7 apr - 10 jun, not mon, times vary, free

Hannah Maclure Centre Charming Snakes

until 27 apr, not weekends, times vary, free

Photographer Ross Fraser Mclean shows some of his photographs taken while stranded in a tiny village in India, where he was a virtual captive of the Sapera Caste.

The McManus The Scottish Colourist Series: FCB Cadell

6 apr - 17 jun, times vary, free

The McManus play host to a selection of works from the highly-acclaimed FCB Cadell exhibition, organised by the National Galleries of Scotland.

MUSIC

Murdering Songs, CRYSTAL BAWS Reviving Television WITH MYSTIC MARK

Following its resurrection on BBC4, Trembling Bells’ Alex Neilson speaks in praise of The Singing Detective Words: Alex Neilson Illustration: Lucy Stein

“I feel that people are not dealing with the essential loneliness, alienation, sexual imperiousness, the maleness of manipulation, the commercial manipulation of our sexual feelings... I’d like to think of something that did show that you can be complex and you can involve the entire range of your emotions in a TV drama”.

- Dennis Potter, Desert Island Discs, 1988 BBC4 has continued its one-station crusade to counteract the increasing cultural vacuity that has beset television standards for the past decade or so. Like a lone ream of bog roll in a cesspit of Miltonic proportions, BBC4 routinely shows programs on such aneurysm-inducing subjects as the nature of infinity or a detailed appraisal of Britain’s canal systems (and that’s just on a Saturday night). But the series that has really caught my imagination is its rerun of Dennis Potter’s The Singing Detective.

The Singing Detective is the pinnacle of Potter’s dramatic achievements and combines many of his key themes – interconnected narrative strands, a merging of the parochial and the worldly, repressed sexuality festering like a boil at bursting point, the author using the actors as ventriloquist’s dummies to announce and obfuscate his own biographical desires in games of psychological hide and seek. Props to BBC1 for first airing it in 1986, but it is a measure of how far terrestrial television has slumped

into shrieking, populist candy floss that it’s inconceivable it would ever broadcast anything quite so cutting-edge again.

The Singing Detective is intelligent, violent, funny, sentimental and splenetic in equal measure. In my mind it’s an English equivalent to the first season of Twin Peaks in terms of its grinding psychological examination, black humour, an aficionados ear for vintage music, and graphic sexual violence all offset by genuinely surreal interludes. By its second series, Twin Peaks had dulled its edges by gaining a greater understanding of its innovations and glossing them, while contriving story lines that made El Dorado seem plausible. The Singing Detective feels all the more potent for compacting its lifespan into six episodes.

You’re left to forage for clues from the three narrative threads, all revolving around the lead protagonist, Philip Marlow. These involve him consigned to a hospital bed with a debilitating skin condition, flashbacks to his boyhood in rural Gloucestershire and the faux-noir thriller of The Singing Detective spilling out of his head. From here, the narratives lurch between reminiscence and hallucination until they collapse into the present during the final couple of episodes where Marlow is revealed as the omnipotent puppet master, manipulating each character with psychic strings. To get even more meta-textual on our asses, a fellow hospital patient called Reginald is reading a book called The

Singing Detective and commenting on how compelling but baffling the story is. It’s like a cross between Twin Peaks and Curb Your Enthusiasm, directed by Harold Pinter.

Of course, behind Marlow’s own diviners hand is Potter, who grew up in the Forest of Dean and suffered from the same illness.

Potter sheds some light on the connectedness of his psoriasis and his sensibilities in an interview: “There are characteristics in this condition of mine which match up with my deeper impulses and therefore it’s dangerous....I prefer to live in the point of tension. These things together make the illness seem an ally of certain things in me”.

So his psoriasis is experienced as a physical manifestation of certain sordid aesthetic/ psychological predilections and his work becomes a form of self analysis, to which end The Singing Detective is the most thrillingly demonstrative. This makes the filtering of voices in an attempt to identify the real author’s real voice more and more problematic. Is the misogyny from a deeply felt place or an examination of an idea? Does it matter if the results are this rewardingly inscrutable?

One thing that is clear is Potter’s profound appreciation for old time crooner music. The impregnable innocence of the music of that era is set in stark contrast to the unquenchable menace that writhes beneath the surface of the drama. This is another Lynchian device but it draws on a music that is peculiarly English and, in another context, too easy to dismiss as schmaltz. Here the songs offer contour to the intensity of the action without being deployed merely for the sake of irony.

They are used as sensory triggers to bridge the narrative strands, allowing Marlow to spool back to his childhood by placing a song in his father’s mouth or having his detective alter ego croon one in a nightclub.

They are sometimes used in the most amazing set pieces, as Marlow attempts to short circuit the monotonous indignity of his hospital stay by hallucinating elaborately choreographed dance routines involving the doctors miming to songs like Dem Bones and Accentuate the Positives. These are both light relief and knuckle gnawingly uncomfortable as it’s the kind of unashamedly exuberant performance you would only enact in your front room with the curtains closed.

Potter re-emphasises, not only the non-ironic, but the transcendental potential of this music in an interview: “The songs were of a direct line of descent from Psalms and they were saying, no matter how cheap, banal, syrupy or syncopated, that the world is other than it is. The world is better than it is.”

The music and multiple plot layers provide opportunity for Potter to flex many different modes of expression – from the innocent vernacular of his West Country upbringing, to the cockney vulgarities of the other patients, to the hard-boiled jive of his singing detective, to some genuinely beautiful poetic passages. The nastiness is genuine. The sentimentality is genuine. This is what makes it so compelling.

Trembling Bells' new album, The Marble Downs, in collaboration with Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy is released via Honest Jons on 9 Apr; they play Queens Hall, Edinburgh on 25 Apr Lucy Stein’s album artwork for The Marble Downs is at 24 St Vincent Crescent, Finnieston from 6pm on 24th April with a special aftershow party at Number 78 www.honestjons.com

ARIES 21 MAR – 20 APR April sees you take David Cameron’s Thomas The Tank Engine face, cut it off, stick it to a real train and then crash it into another train with his screaming, faceless body crucified on the front. I love you.

a

TAURUS 21 APR – 21 MAY You and your job go together like white wine, red wine and then white wine again, i.e. the result is inevitably a carpet squelching with red vomit.

b

GEMINI 22 MAY – 21 JUN Of course you don’t see women as sex objects. The vase that you masturbate into is a sex object.

c

CANCER 22 JUN – 23 JUL With Mars and Saturn already retrograde, be ever, ever so slightly afraid. Top pseudoscientists on the internet have discovered this will absolutely, definitely, 100% sure this time*, be the last April we will all ever see. (*Probably)

d

LEO 24 JUL – 23 AUG Your April turns you into a reverse Sisyphus: instead of pushing the rock only to then see it fall, your destined eternity involves digging a bottomless pit that’s endlessly refilling with fresh shit.

e

VIRGO 24 AUG – 23 SEP Yes, the Twin Towers was a hologram blown up by an Illuminati hang-glider piloted by a brainwashed ghost. Your powers of reason can do no wrong in April.

f

LIBRA 24 SEP – 23 OCT This month you read Heat magazine to discover that Katie Price has gone into competition with Fisher Price, producing her own range of toddler items based on her

g

experiences as a mother, including a cast iron cage, tree trunk-thick manacles and a multi-coloured water cannon and taser unit.

SCORPIO 24 OCT – 22 NOV Your terrorist cell is set to be ridiculed among your peers after '9/11 2'. Putting all the clocks on the local library computers forward by 15 minutes won’t earn you any press.

Furthermore, letting off stink bombs on the antiquated SPT subway system is just childish.

h

i

SAGITTARIUS 23 NOV – 21 DEC

Yes, taking the bins out is rather like your house is having a poo.

Ergo, it stands to reason that you’re both its digestive tract and bum ring. Appropriate.

j

CAPRICORN 22 DEC – 20 JAN

When actual scientists observe an electron its probability wave collapses and it falls out of superposition. Yet, somehow, when a Caucasian with dreadlocks like you observes an electron, all of a sudden it starts radiating energy at the frequency of healing love. Here’s a thought: quit joyriding the work of real physicists and stop tacking your own outlandish, preconceived opinions to quantum mechanics.

k

AQUARIUS 21 JAN – 19 FEB Aquarians are bastards.

PISCES 20 FEB – 20 MAR You have a bad habit of believing that the universe isn’t a meaningless, feelingless void; that it should stop doing what it’s been doing for 14 billion years because you’re suddenly here. You work in a call centre for Christ’s sake. The only thing that’s 'meant to be' is that you shut up and make the next call.

l

APRIL 2012

THE SKINNY 71