The Skinny Scotland May 2015

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CULT U R A L

J O U R N A L I S M

May 2015 Scotland Issue 116

Beauty in Decay Blanck Mass reveals Dumb Flesh

Music Django Django Dylan Carlson and The Bug UK Festival Highlights Under the Influence:

Thurston Moore

Art Maripol Graham Fagen Darren Cullen

Books James Kelman Stuart Cosgrove

Film Franรงois Ozon Miroslav Slaboshpitsky

Comedy Derren Brown What the Duck?

Clubs Ron Trent

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

P.18, Miroslav Slaboshpitsky, The Tribe

P.15, Maripol

Credit: Mika Rottenberg

P.49, Art Monthly events

Credit: Maripol

P.21, Stuart Cosgrove, Detroit '67

May 2015 I N DEPEN DENT

CULTU R AL

JOU R NALI S M

Issue 116, May 2015 © Radge Media Ltd. Get in touch: E: hello@theskinny.co.uk T: 0131 467 4630 P: The Skinny, 3 Coates Place, Edinburgh, EH3 7AA 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.

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 2014: 32,191

printed on 100% recycled paper

Editorial Editor-in-Chief Music & Deputy Editor Editorial Assistant Art Editor Books Editor Clubs Editor Comedy Editor Deviance Editor Events Editor Fashion Editor Film & DVD Editor Food Editor Games Editor Tech Editor Theatre Editor Travel Editor Intern

Rosamund West Dave Kerr Will Fitzpatrick Adam Benmakhlouf Alan Bett Ronan Martin Ben Venables Kate Pasola Anna Docherty Alexandra Fiddes Jamie “Big Jimbo” Dunn Peter Simpson Darren Carle John Donaghy Emma Ainley-Walker Paul Mitchell Nick Holt

Production Production Manager Lead Designer

Eve Somerville Sigrid Schmeisser

Sales Commercial Director Sales Executives

General Manager Chief Operating Officer Publisher

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Contents

Nicola Taylor Tom McCarthy Claire Collins Becca Strahan Kyla Hall Lara Moloney Sophie Kyle

THE SKINNY

Contents 06 Chat & Opinion: An introduction to the

magazine, with Stop the Presses’ last minute news; Jock Mooney's cartoon column What Are You Having For Lunch?; Spot the Difference comparing some unicorns; Shot of the Month; and Crystal Baws’ chillingly accurate astrological predictions.

08 Heads Up: Running all the way from April

to June, this issue's daily cultural guide is bursting at the seams with spring/ summer excitement.

FEATURES

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We can finally announce this dude's appearance on our stage at Electric Fields this summer. We talk to Blanck Mass aka Fuck Buttons’ Benjamin John Power about new album Dumb Flesh, out this month.

Deviance: We take a look at the legal differences between a civil partnership and a marriage, before questioning the very concept of monogamy.

30 The CCA programme has just been an-

nounced for the next two months – here are some of our picks.

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Fashion: This month we are mostly excited about Spring Fling and Atelier EB's Inventors of Tradition II.

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Showcase: In honour of the upcoming general election, we devote our centre spread to the challenging work of Darren Cullen.

REVIEW

Ukrainian director Myroslav Slaboshpytsky's The Tribe has no spoken dialogue, but that doesn't stop it from making a provocatively loud statement.

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She was integral to the New York scene that spawned Madonna, Nan Goldin, Basquiat… We meet photographer Maripol to hear about her DCA show, Spring/Summer 2015.

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LIFESTYLE

35 Food & Drink: What's getting our Food

Ahead of his appearance at Glasgow's Riverside Festival, we talk to Chicago's Ron Trent about the death of a mentor, musical inspirations and why EDM really grinds his gears.

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Louise Ahl and Laurynas Žakevi ius talk about their dance styles and their upcoming performances at DIG, Tramway's six week celebration of dance.

After touring the world and soundtracking a thousand summer festivals, Django Django are back with sophomore album Born Under Saturn. We ask drummer Dave Maclean: do you believe in ghosts?

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We speak to one Europe's great modern filmmakers, Francois Ozon, this month delivering The New Girlfriend, a thriller riffing on Hitchcock's Vertigo.

In his new book Detroit ‘67 Stuart Cogrove explores the most significant 365 days in the history of soul, drawing uneasy comparisons with our current climate.

Glasgow artist Graham Fagen is off to Venice to represent Scotland in the 2015 Biennale. He tells us more about what he has in store.

Looking forward to the Abertay Digital Graduate Show, we hear from curator Clare Brennan about the show's role in helping to launch the next generation of digital artists, programmers and designers.

Literary grand master James Kelman reflects on class and culture ahead of the release of short story collection Lean Tales.

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We host a summit of sorts with The Bug and Earth's Dylan Carlson ahead of their Supersonic show.

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In the latest instalment of our definitive guide to 2015’s summer music festivals, we take a look at the Indoor Festivals for people who hate fields.

May 2015

editor's goat this month? Places that only serve one dish, that's what. Comes accompanied by Food News and further adventures in Phagomania.

39 Music: Happy Meals tell us how they

ended up spending New Year's Eve in Moscow, while Thurston Moore reveals his five most influential records. Also, new records from Blanck Mass, Rozi Plain and METZ, plus reviews of recent gigs from Warpaint, Låpsley and Sleater-Kinney

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Clubs: A rundown of the best nights in Edinburgh and Glasgow for the month ahead, plus our recommendations for the Riverside Festival and Full Spectrum in review.

49 Art: A short guide to the exhibition high-

lights of May, plus reviews of Hugo Canoilas and What Remains.

50 Film: Kristen Stewart shows her acting

chops opposite Juliette Binoche in The Clouds of Sils Maria, and Sion Sono's candy-coloured rap-battle musical Tokyo Tribe hits the big screen.

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DVD: Michael Mann's noir debut Thief comes to Blu-ray, as does Paul Schrader's misunderstood art-horror Cat People.

Books: New fiction from Sarah Hall (The Wolf Border) and a short story collection from Vicki Jarrett in review.

52 Theatre: Reviews of Arika, Behaviour and Whisky Galore

53 Comedy: Fred Fletch spends some time hanging out on casual sex message boards, asking strangers for pictures of their ducks. Chaos ensues.

Competitions: WIN THINGS!!! Namely, a pair of tickets to T in the Park or the whole SAY Awards longlist.

55 Listings: Your what's on guide to Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow.

63 Last Word: Master illusionist Derren

Brown tells us the secret of his powers of the mind: LOLs.

Contents

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Editorial ay's cover star Blanck Mass, aka Benjamin John Power, aka one half of Fuck Buttons, is here to present his new album Dumb Flesh. He's also here to tell us about his new, more dystopian sound, and offer a small glimpse into what inspired that. Finally, he is here by means of a very exciting announcement for The Skinny. Blanck Mass will be headlining the stage we're programming at Electric Fields festival in August, a stage which will act as a core part of our tenth birthday celebrations.

That's right, we're turning ten this year and we're all very excited about it, only intermittently freaking out about lost youth and the devastating march of time. We'll be having many different events (piss-ups) over the course of the summer and into autumn, aiming to celebrate each branch of what we do in an appropriate way.

At this point we can announce the Electric Fields line-up (details to the right) and the return of our Edinburgh Art Festival exhibition, which will once again present the work of four Scottish art school graduates in a group show throughout August.

The artists will be selected from the upcoming degree shows (it's that time of year already!) and should be announced from next month. Exciting times.

Back to the issue at hand. After Blanck Mass, we've got some words with Django Django's Dave Maclean – returning with second album Born Under Saturn – about the album's inspirations, from an academic thesis on the creation of art to a magpielike collection of musical influences. Further into Music, we assemble The Bug and Earth's Dylan Carlson for a summit ahead of their Supersonic festival appearance. Continuing our bid to definitively list all the good music of this summer, we offer a guide to festivals which are taking place in the UK, but not in a field – your indoor city music festivals, if you will. New Blood Happy Meals tell us about the unusual experience of being big in Russia, while that there Thurston Moore has kindly let us into his mind with a rundown of his five most influential albums.

In Art, we begin our biennial freak out about what's happening in Venice with an interview with this year's Scottish pavilion representative, Graham Fagen. He's currently finishing up his exhibition in the Palazzo Fontana but has kindly offered us a few insights into his Burns and reggae inspirations. We also speak to Maripol – photographer, stylist, doyenne of the New York scene that spawned Madonna – about the work she's currently displaying up in Dundee. And in our Showcase, we present the work of Darren Cullen. You may know him as one half of astrological duo Mystic Mark, or as the author of Join the Army, a graphic novel questioning the celebration of the armed forces.

Here we present an overview of his practice, ranging from realistic Action Man dolls to a pop-up money lenders aimed at children called Pocket Money Loans. He sums up his disparate works succinctly, thus: “I like to make work about things I hate.”

Books has an interesting month, as we meet Stuart Cosgrove to discuss his new book Detroit ‘67 which tells the story of a year of race riots, deaths and Motown drawing parallels with the tumult of the present day. Literary grand master James Kelman talks to our Books editor (our now award-winning Books editor, more details to the right) about class, culture and the controversies surrounding his work south of the border.

Things go a bit European in Film, as we meet prolific auteur François Ozon to hear about The New Girlfriend, while the challengingly-named Myroslav Slaboshpitsky drops by to tell us more about The Tribe. Clubs speaks to Chicago's Ron Trent, who's pretty furious about EDM, and will arrive on these shores to play Glasgow's Riverside Festival this month. Finally, Fred Fletch is here doing what he does best – trolling lonely perverts online, and asking to see photos of their ducks.

May history look kindly upon us. [Rosamund West]

SAY Longlist The longlist for the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY) Award has been unveiled, with twenty artists and bands from across Scottish music in the hunt for the 2015 prize.

Each of the nominated albums will be streamed on the SAY website ahead of a public vote from 25-27 May, with a ten-strong shortlist announced on 28 May. Read the full longlist at theskinny.co.uk/ music The Amazing Snakeheads – Amphetamine Ballads Belle and Sebastian – Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance Blue Rose Code – The Ballads of Peckham Rye Errors – Lease of Life Fatherson – I Am An Island Happy Meals – Apèro Honeyblood – Honeyblood Idlewild – Everything Ever Written Kathryn Joseph – Bones You Have Thrown Me And Blood I've Spilled King Creosote – From Scotland With Love Mike Vass – In The Wake Of Neil Gunn Mogwai – Rave Tapes Paolo Nutini – Caustic Love PAWS – Youth Culture Forever The Phantom Band – Strange Friend Slam – Reverse Proceed Treacherous Orchestra – Grind The Twilight Sad – Nobody Wants To Be Here And Nobody Wants To Leave Withered Hand – New Gods Young Fathers – DEAD Electric Fields To kick off our 10th birthday celebrations and celebrate ten years of our music coverage, we're taking the reins of one of the stages at this year's Electric Fields festival. Headlining our stage is this month's cover star Blanck Mass, with Leeds postrockers Vessels and Glasgow post-hardcore quartet United Fruit also on the bill.

They're joined by Catholic Action, Birdhead, Fat Goth, and Outblinker, and as if that wasn't enough we'll be adding a few more special guests to the bill shortly. Fife folk supremo King Creosote has also been confirmed as Electric Fields’ headliner, joining PAWS, The Phantom Band and many more. Electric Fields takes place at Drumlanrig Castle on Sat 29 Aug; get all the details at theskinny.co.uk/news Paradise Palms Song

By Toad Dingus Rock Slop Fest A series of gigs celebrating the explosion of new DIY music emanating from Glasgow launches at Edinburgh's Paradise Palms this month. The Paradise Palms Song, By Toad Dingus Rock Slop Fest is the brainchild of the titular Song, By Toad (noted Auld Reekie-based blog, podcast, record label and all-round cheerleader of independent music), featuring weekly free entry shows by the likes of Passion Pusher, Spinning Coin and Plastic Animals. The first event takes place on 6 May, starring gnarly garage types Halfrican, lo-fi popsters Dune Witch Trails and the grunge-inflected Wendell Borton – full listings can be found at songbytoad.com

jockmooney.co.uk

Writer's Essentials A free creative writing programme starts in Edinburgh this month, thanks to the Writer's Essentials organisation. Novel Writing: Pages 1 To 384 takes aspiring novelists right through the creative process over 12 classes, from developing ideas

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Chat

through to editing and submission. The White Horse Bar on the Royal Mile is the venue, with classes held on the 6pm on the first Tuesday of every month – although recorded versions of each one will be posted on YouTube and the WE website on the following day. writersessentials.com Jan Fairley Award The inaugural Jan Fairley Award, celebrating the work of Edinburgh-based emerging journalists, has been awarded to our very own Books editor Alan Bett. Alan was awarded the prize for interviews with George Dawes Green and Catherine Burns, the duo behind US storytelling phenomenon The Moth, Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho, and Chinese author Jung Chang. Read Alan's winning pieces, and find out more about the award, at theskinny.co.uk/news

Online Only

Liverpool's LightNight

Music critic John Doran tells us how he saves some of his harshest reviews for his own life in the form of his Vice column Menk, which has led to his debut book, Jolly Lad. Meanwhile, we guide you through two epic nights of nocturnal art shenanigans in the Northwest, as preparations are made for Liverpool's LightNight and Manchester's Museums at Night; Plus Manchester's newest multi-art venue HOME is finally here – Simon Stephens, the Stopfordian playwright delivering opening theatre production The Funfair, and Jason Wood, HOME's new artistic director of film, tell us why Manchester might be on the cusp of becoming the most vibrant city for arts in the country. And as if all that wasn't enough, our reviewers will be reporting back from the Venice Biennale from now until it ends in November.

Head along to theskinny.co.uk/art for more.

MAY'S COVER ARTIST Mihaela Bodlovic is a photographer based in Edinburgh, where she shoots theatre, music, events and everything in between. A theatremaker and arts admin in her spare time, you'll generally find her near a stage, with or without a camera. You can see more of her work at aliceboreasphotography.com

THE SKINNY

Credit: Pete Carr

M

Shot Of The Month Låpsley, Sneaky Pete's, 19 Apr, by Kat Gollock

Crystal Baws With Mystic Mark

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Spot the Difference f

ARIES Uranus slides back into your sign in May, leaving an immense skidmark all the way across the night sky.

TAURUS When you die this month God takes you to one side and explains that all the anguish and suffering you endured during your brief fling on the surface of the planet was merely foreplay for the never-ending ordeal he has planned for your afterlife.

GEMINI Your dog's dreams finally come true this month when he finally gets fucked by a giant leg.

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CANCER Your diet of crisps isn't the healthiest in the world. Try mixing up the beef and cheese flavours with some carrot or vegetable soup flavour crisps.

LEO Your relationship may have lost its spark, but your shamanic marriage advisor suggests you simply use occult possession magick to reignite your sex life, summoning Asag the Unjust to joyride your husband's earthly flesh vessel for a steamy night of inter-realm swinging. At first you assume you've been conned with a placebo, until you hear some promising crunching noises and look up to see your husband's head rotate 360 degrees. He gazes at you with smouldering pupil-less eyes, barks erotic phrases at you in Latin and barfs a writhing mixture of lube and hornets onto your crotch in preparation for the crawling-up-the-walls, sacrilegious bang-fest about to take place.

VIRGO You get your bell end caught in the door of the microwave.

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LIBRA Your rollerskates become haunted this month by the ghost of a seven year old girl who is fucking awful at rollerskating.

SCORPIO You don't want to have your heart broken again, so you inject concrete into your arteries in the hope the substance will turn your heart into a solid, unbreakable block.

SAGITTARIUS Recent studies estimate that humans lose around half an hour of the waking day to blinking, which inspires you to invent a face-mounted camera that takes a snap every time you blink so you never miss a moment. But that night, whilst checking back the moments you blinked through, you blink and have to then check the photos where you blinked only to blink again.

CAPRICORN Bored in lapland, Santa orders his elves to carve his wife a boob job out of bits of leftover wood.

AQUARIUS This month you get a flap put in the side of your cat so that you can let any small animals it eats out safely and humanely.

PISCES In May, cryogenically freezing your tumour-riddled body becomes a better option than trusting the Tories’ plans for the NHS. You place £10 in the bank and hope to reemerge in 100 years time with enough money accumulated through interest to pay for the first phase of your treatment.

twitter.com/themysticmark facebook.com/themysticmark

The June Issue: Out 2 June Keep an eye out for our next issue, which comes out on Tuesday 2 June. Marking the start of the summer, we'll have an interview with director Alex Ross Perry on his new film Listen Up Philip, which stars Jason Schwartzman. We'll be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the reputed Dark Horse poetry magazine, and talking to artist Anthony Schrag about his epic artwork-journey walking to Venice from Glasgow for the Biennale.

TWO UNICORNS Ah, the noble unicorn. You may have previously seen these fabulous beasts described as ‘mythical’, despite their mentions in ancient texts by learned scribes such as Pliny the Younger and Ctesias of Cnidas, not to mention certain translations of the Bible. All to be taken very literally, obviously, and as you can see we've managed to obtain irrefutable pictorial proof of their existence. Look closer at these two near-identical images, however, and you may notice that something is amiss.

If you suspect your visual acumen is sharp enough to spot the almost-imperceptible difference, head to theskinny.co.uk/competitions and outline your findings in full. You could win a copy of Mr Holmes by Mitch Cullin, courtesy of our everlovin’ pals at Canongate.

Best in Show: TWO BEES The one on the left is buzzin about his/her new jumper. The one on the right is buzzin about. – JS One is a hard working worker bee (from a hard working family), the other is obviously a benefitscrounging immigrant. – SG Leftie is worrying about what dastardly plan Cyril Sneer is about to hatch. Righty is trying to hump a many legged caterpillar. – R The bee on the left is rejoicing to the sound of 'Flying Without Wings'. The one on the right however is immune to the loud threats issued by a flower angry at the pilfering of its nectar. – DF Both dangerous beasts, but the pee of the furrier one stings more. No seriously, trust me on this one... – J

May 2015

Opinion

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Future pop duo Purity Ring (aka electronic production chap Corin Roddick and dark angel of a lyricist Megan James) make a return visit to Glasgow, touring their sophomore LP, Another Eternity, the followup to 2012's Shrines – another otherworldly take on synth pop, incorporating mechanistic processed beats, backed by James' android-esque lyrics. The Art School, Glasgow, 7pm, £13.50

Marking the run up to that there election (7 May, folks), and following the success of their Aye Right? How No? indy ref series, messrs Vladimir McTavish, Mark Nelson, and Keir McAllister return with a new satirical show – So... We've Got An Election – counting down to the general election with a suitably left-field mix of stand-up, chat, and political comment. The Stand, Edinburgh, 8.30pm, £7 (£5)

Weekend-long music fest takeover Rock The Tay pitches up in Dundee for its third annual outing – this time boasting a headline set from hard-riffing Scottish trio The Xcerts (playing on Saturday afternoon), alongside the likes of Tijuana Bibles, Giants, Womps (aka Algernon Doll in their new guise), Ded Rabbit, and more. See listings for full line-up. Various venues, Dundee, 30 Apr2 May, various times and prices

Purity Ring

Vladimir McTavish and Keir McAllister

Tue 5 May

Wed 6 May

Former Fence, and now Lost Map Records label lass Rozi Plain takes to Glasgow to birth her new LP Friend – another gemlike batch of ramshackle folk, built on hand-picked guitar lines and grooveladen drums, atop which her voice sits spell-like and understated. Also catch her at Edinburgh's Summerhall on 1 May, playing as part of the Nothing Ever Happens Here gig series. Mono, Glasgow, 8pm, free

As Behaviour Festival continues into its second month (running until 17 May), we can't resist the sound of Japanese contemporary artist Sako Kojima's The Reason Why I Become A Hamster – for which she'll be making herself at home in a scaled-up hamster cage for six hours a day, in an effort to explore contemporary society's commonality with hamsters in cages.

Obviously. The Arches.

Glasgow, 5-9 May, 11am7pm, free

Taking a second dip into the Behaviour Festival programme in as many days, scratch performer Nic Green marks the day afore the general election with Cock and Bull – joined by fellow female scratch performers Laura Bradshaw and Rosana Cade for a realtime outburst of political dissatisfaction, composed of decontextualised words from Conservative Party conference speeches. The Arches, Glasgow, 9.45pm, £6 (£4)

Rozi Plain

Credit: Jassy Earl

Mon 4 May

The Reason Why I Become A Hamster

Thu 14 May

Glasgow School of Art's Feminist Society host a two night pop-up exhibition – The F Word – consisting of a select batch of GSA students and graduates addressing questions of gender, sexuality, age, ethnicity, and class equality via illustration, painting, sculpture, photography, and design work. They'll also launch their new zine at the event, featuring writing and artwork from women in Glasgow. The Old Hairdressers, Glasgow, 11 & 12 May, 6pm, free

Geeky London popsters Hot Chip descend on Glasgow with their kit-bag of electronics, arriving at The Art School for a sold out set cherrypicked from their sixth LP (and second on Domino Records) What Makes Sense? But, good news for the unticketed, all four members will then de-camp to Sub Club for the official after-show bash, manning the decks until the wee drunken hours of 3am. Sub Club, Glasgow, 11pm, from £6

Indulging our love of nighttime fun, various galleries and museums stay open past their usual bedtime for the annual Museums at Night (running 13-16 May) – with highlights including an Edwardian-themed knees-up at Dundee's McManus, and a Victorian murder mystery event at Edinburgh's e'er creepy Surgeons' Hall. Eyes on museumsatnight.org.uk for more events being added in the run-up.

Various venues, 13-16 May, UK-wide

Edinburgh pop-up foodie funsters Jelly and Gin return for a second round of Create:Eat:Whisky – their multi-sensory whisky event, as part of Whisky Month, this time teaming up with Haig Club for a cocktail supping session using sound, light, food, aroma, and more to transport punters to an 'unexpected final destination' (aka boozin' with added wonderment). Gayfield Creative Spaces, Edinburgh, 14-17 May, various timeslots, £33

Let Me Show You Everything I Know, Rosie Dahlstrom

Hot Chip

Murder mystery @ Sugeons'' Hall

Wed 20 May

Thu 21 May

Last year's surprise Mercury Prize-winners Young Fathers take to Glasgow's The Art School for a set of their vicious and vital quasi-hip-hop – cherrypicking heavily from fearless new LP White Men Are Black Men Too, before they tick off a bunch of summer festivals, neatly including Knockengorroch just three days later (y'know, for those who don't manage to beg, borrow or steal their way into the gig). The Art School, Glasgow, 7pm, £10

After a preview at 2014's Manipulate Festival, young theatre company Faux Theatre continue to ride the wave of their accomplished debut production – Torn – a powerful, wordless portrayal of one woman's effort to find and experience love, where the audience become voyeurs to her waves of euphoria and despair. Told using object theatre, kinetic art, and an original live score.

Assembly Roxy, Edinburgh, 20 & 21 May, £12 (£9)

How We Used To Live

Young Fathers

Credit: Rich Ferguson

Tue 19 May Expanding the Glasgow Film Festival's Sound & Vision strand outwith the festival itself, GFT host a series of special musicmeets-film events throughout May – a highlight of which is the Scottish premiere of Paul Kelly's archive-compiled document of London from the 50s-80s, How We Used To Live, scored by Saint Etienne, with the band in attendance to play a live set of tunes, old and new.

Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £20 (£18)

Credit: Laurence Winram

Wed 13 May

Credit: Claus Heiberg

Tue 12 May

Credit: Rosie Dahlstrom

Mon 11 May

Thu 28 May

Taking a last dip into the Ignite Dundee programme (see also Abertay Digital Graduate Show 2015, 8 May and They Had Four Years, 23 May), a selection of this year's DJCAD Art and Media graduating students present a showcase screening of their latest moving image works – DJCAD Art and Media Student Showcase – moving from an interactive exploration of stress, to a puppet-based exploration of ADHD. DCA, Dundee, 11am, free (but ticketed)

The Tron's annual summerwelcoming theatre festival, Mayfesto, returns (running 5-30 May) – celebrating theatre of all hues, as long as its got edge – with a highlight of this year's programme being writer Nicola McCartney's Crazy Jane, a fierce dance theatre piece recounting the tale of Moulin Rouge star Jane Avril, backed by an original live score from Scottish hiphop troupe Hector Bizerk.

Tron Theatre, Glasgow, 28-30 May, 7.45pm, £16 (£10)

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DJCAD Art and Media Student Showcase

Credit: Zoe Williams

Wed 27 May

The National Theatre of Scotland presents its powerful new production exploring the practice of female genital mutilation (FGM) – Rites – based on interviews with girls affected in Scotland and the UK, plus mothers, midwives, lawyers, police officers, teachers, and health workers. Also showing at Glasgow's Tron Theatre 5-9 May, with a women-only matinee at both venues (8 May/27 May) Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 26-30 May, £16 (£13/£8)

Credit: Farrows Creative

Tue 26 May

Returning for a second round of shit-film-mockery, comedians Joe Heenan and Billy Kirkwood host another of their Watch Bad Movies with Great Comedians events, this edition taking in a screening of the one and only Jaws 4: The Revenge – dubbed the 'Worst Sequel in History' – with the chaps providing laugh-along live commentary, plus promised 'special guests and surprises'. CCA, Glasgow, 7.30pm, £5

Rites

Cock and Bull

Create:Eat:Whisky

Torn

Mon 25 May

Jaws 4: The Revenge

The Xcerts

Credit: Sam Brill

May brings with it one of our biggie 35-day calendar 'months', moving from the end of April to 1 June, cramming in Live At Glasgow, Museums at Night, the return of Summerhall's Beer FestivALE, Hidden Door, and, yeah, Jaws-bloody-4!

Thu 30 Apr

Hector Bizerk

THE SKINNY

Credit: Euan Robertson

Compiled by: Anna Docherty

Wed 29 Apr

Credit: Ross Gilmore

Heads Up

Tue 28 Apr

The Sexual Objects

Jackmaster

Honeyblood

Sun 10 May

Experimental performing arts bunch Cryptic host their latest sensory-messin' piece, with artist and musician Craig Ritchie Allan unveiling Articulations – a synchronised fusion of music and visual art inspired by the work of Kandinsky, Fischinger, Stockhausen, and Xenakis, presented using bespoke real-time animation to compose/conduct an audiovisual dance of colour.

CCA, Glasgow, 8pm, £7.40 (£4.40)

As we officially enter graduate degree show season, one of the first batch of talented young pups to present the fruits of their labour is Abertay's school of Arts, Media and Computer Games – at the Abertay Digital Graduate Show 2015 – showcasing everything from the best in animations and interactive game design, to experimental sound production and tricksy apps.

Go marvel. Various venues, Dundee, 8-11 May, free

All-girl pop kids TeenCanteen hit up Summerhall for a girl power takeover, The Girl Effect – as part of the Nothing Ever Happens Here gig series – inviting a bounty of acts to cover girl groups past and present, with guests including Broken Records, Machines in Heaven, Eugene Kelly, The Spook School, Henry and Fleetwood, and more (see listings for full line-up).

Raising funds for Scottish Women's Aid. Summerhall, Edinburgh, 7pm, £10

Dipping into the archive for a bit of prime Sunday evening viewing, Love Music, Hate Racism host a special screening of The Clash: Westway to the World – pal of the band Don Letts' documentary charting the band's personal story, jigsawed together from archive footage and band interviews.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion with local activists and trade unionists. CCA, Glasgow, 6.15pm, free (but ticketed)

Craig Ritchie Allan

Rose, Jess Hider

Credit: Adrian Barry

Sat 9 May

Credit: Jess Hider

Fri 8 May

Credit: Craig Ritchie Allan

Thu 7 May

TeenCanteen

Fri 15 May

Sat 16 May

Sun 17 May

Mon 18 May

It's a good month that includes a whole festival dedicated to the hoppy stuff, with Summerhall's biannual Beer FestivALE returning for a spring weekend outing (15 & 16 May) – with highlights including the return of Williams Brothers and Top Out Brewery, plus Sold Liquid (rum!) and on-site ginmakers Pickering's (that's right, there be gin, too!).

Slurp. Summerhall, Edinburgh, 15 & 16 May, various timeslots, £8

Short film programme Future Shorts takes to their new home of the ECA's Wee Red Bar for their spring outing – showcasing the usual eclectic selection of shorts from across the world, including Christopher Eales' split screen stop-motion animation Two Films About Loneliness, and our very own Short Film Competition-winner Rory Alexander Stewart's new film Misery Guts.

Wee Red Bar, Edinburgh, 8pm, £5

A bit of a master at drawing on his own personal past to reflect an off-kilter take on the present, Newcastle troubadour Richard Dawson tours his beguiling latest LP, Nothing Is Important – alighting at Edinburgh's The Pleasance to recount his tales both bizarre and dark, blanketed under a bed of intricate guitar work. Support comes from Cheer and Ali Robertson. The Pleasance, Edinburgh, 7pm, £8

Citizens' resident director Gareth Nicholls unveils Into That Darkness – his dramatisation of interviews with Nazi war criminal SS-Obersturmführer Franz Stangl, who oversaw the deaths of nearly one million people. Nicholls will also host a special postperformance discussion on 21 May, musing on how individuals become capable of horrific crimes, and the role of the biographer.

Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, 18-30 May, from £8.50

Beer Festivale

Richard Dawson

Misery Guts

Fri 22 May

Sat 23 May

Sun 24 May

Multi arts festival Hidden Door returns for its sophomore outing (running 2229 May), with the recentlyannounced music programme featuring a suitably starry cast including Errors, ANAKANAK, Admiral Fallow, and Supermoon, kicking off this very eve with Manc songstress LoneLady (aka Julie Campbell), with support from C. Duncan and Jonnie Common. See listings for full music line-up.

Kings Stables Road, Edinburgh, 6pm, £14

Annual showcase They Had Four Years returns, featuring – you guessed it – new work by graduates of fouryear art degree courses from across Scotland, with this year's selected artists being Cameron Orr, Lily Morris and Aaron McCarthy (of Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design), Sophie Will (of Gray's School of Art), and Alima Askew and Timothea Armour (of Edinburgh College of Art). Generator Projects, Dundee, 23 May-14 Jun, free

Seeing as it was so much fun the first time around, Edinburgh club series Nightvision kicked off 2015 with Season 2 – and this very night finds 'em drawing the season to a close in suitably beefed up style, hosting a seven-hour session with Beatport charttoppers Dusky and New Jersey house hero Kerri Chandler on co-headline duties, plus myriad supports. Brace yourselves for the 5am licence, folks! The Liquid Room, Edinburgh, 10pm, from £15

LoneLady

They Had Four Years

Mon 1 Jun

Taking another dip into the Glasgow Film Theatre's extended Sound & Vision strand (see also 19 May), this time for a special bells'n'whistles screening of John Grierson's landmark 1929 documentary of North Sea herring fisherman Drifters, crackling along to a specially-composed live score from English experimental pop band of brothers, Field Music. Glasgow Film Theatre, Glasgow, 8pm, £10 (£8)

This month's Heads Up calendar somehow manages to dip its toe as far as June (OMG, how is it June already, pass us an icecream, etc.) – with 1 June finding departed Edinburgh venue Soundhouse continuing its fundraising gig residency at Traverse Theatre, hosting a special double bill from from The Hot Seats and The Railsplitters, raising funds for The Soundhouse Organisation. Go support the cause. Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, 8pm, £10

May 2015

Drifters

Credit: Will Sadler

Sun 31 May

Glasgow DIY venue mainstay The Glad Cafe join forces with music webzine GoldFlakePaint to present the inaugural Sucker Punch mini fest (29 & 30 May), with local highlights including Moshi Moshi electrowonders Babe, hometown fuzz-meisters Tuff Love and a 'special live-visual show' from Edinburgh folky hero Rob St. John, alongside an array of new acts from beyond the border.

The Glad Cafe, Glasgow, 29 & 30 May, 6pm, £20 weekend

Credit: Martin Senyszak

Sat 30 May

Micro-festival party starters Electric Frog once more join forces with techno specialists Pressure for Riverside Festival – two days of all the DJ goodness you can handle, including sets from Detroit techno pioneer Robert Hood (under his Floorplan alias), Leeds bass talent Midland, Siriusmo/Modeselektor collaboration Siriusmodeselektor, and more (see listings for full line-up).

Riverside Museum, Glasgow, 29 & 30 May, £75 weekend

Rob St. John

Into That Darkness

Dusky

Fri 29 May

Midland

The Clash: Westway to the World

Credit: John Graham

Stag and Dagger returns for its annual multi-venue musical marathon, with Live At Glasgow commandeering ten venues and the whole of your Easter Sunday – with band highlights this year including Django Django, Honeyblood, Thurston Moore, Atom Tree, Neon Waltz, Moon Duo, and the usual 'pure loads' more. Keep an eye on liveatglasgow.com for venue breakdowns nearer the time. Various venues, Glasgow, noon-1am, from £15 (all-access wristband)

Credit: Helge Øverås

Good ol' Sub Club celebrate the May Bank Holiday weekend in suitably party hard style, with Sub Club SoundSystem (2 & 3 May) – two days and nights of big name clubbing from the likes of Jackmaster, Derrick Carter, Eats Everything, Seth Troxler, and more, complete with a block partyinspired outdoor courtyard (y'know, for added summer bants). Barras Art and Design, Glasgow, 2 & 3 May, from £35 weekend (£25 day)

Credit: Eoin Carey

The Neu! Reekie! lot mark their May outing with summat a little special – the launch of their inaugural poetry anthology and double compilation LP #UntitledOne, featuring a bounty of 31 writers and 21 bands. Joining them live on the night will be music from The Merrylees and The Sexual Objects, plus readings from Aidan Moffat, Liz Lochhead, Jenni Fagan, and more. La Belle Angele, Edinburgh, 6pm, £5 (£4)

The Hot Seats

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Credit: Emily Sierra

Sun 3 May

Credit: Shaun Bloodworth

Sat 2 May

Credit: Michael Gallacher

Fri 1 May

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THE SKINNY

Flesh and Bone The bucolic daydream of Blanck Mass’s eponymous debut has slipped into an exhilarating kind of nightmare with follow-up Dumb Flesh. Benjamin John Power takes time out to talk about isolation, contradiction and his new life in Bonnie Scotland

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enjamin John Power is “super happy.” The man who comprises one half of cosmic electronic crusaders Fuck Buttons and operates under his own amorphous Blanck Mass guise has just relocated to the East Lothian countryside. Power is opining about the beautiful scenery, settling down here with his wife, even the educational standard of the local schools. At the same time, he is ostensibly talking to us about the decrepit nature of the human body, the flaws in our genetic make-up that will ultimately usurp us, and how we're all just “walking lumps of sentient flesh.”

Such contradictions pepper our conversation regarding Power's forthcoming album Dumb Flesh.

Stylistically, this is worlds away from the ambient calm of his initial solo release outing as Blanck Mass in 2010 and subsequent White Math EP. An artistic volte-face up there with the best of them; the woozy, ethereal and often lush orchestration of his debut has largely evaporated, leaving propulsive, grimy shards of dystopian sci-fi-inflected anti-anthems in its wake.

“I think I'd need some kind of psychoanalysis to try and figure out exactly why this album became what it is,” says Power of the radical overhaul.

Such unintentional elusiveness continues as he attempts to make sense of which, if any, external influences might have helped shape the project's current direction. “It sounds clichéd but I really wasn't paying attention to pop culture whatsoever while I was making Dumb Flesh,” he states. “I feel like I'm really behind and I don't know what's going on outside of my own world. Obviously things will creep into your psyche without you even realising it, but it would be very, very hard for me to pinpoint them.”

In a way, it's a dynamic example of the themes at the album's heart. “It's about the human form and the inefficiencies that we deal with as human beings and, ultimately, the decay we become at the end of that,” Power sums up somewhat gloomily. “A lot happened to me during the recording of this album – there was a realisation about the body and how we're really not as perfect as we might perceive [ourselves] to be when we're somewhat younger.”

However, this is not just a personal lament about the process of ageing, but a wider set of issues facing our species that have been fermenting in Power's mind. “Obviously ageing is encompassed by the overall themes, but I think it's about the fact that things are gradually getting worse,” he elaborates. “I'm not here to tell anybody how to look after themselves – I stick to a vegan diet but then I smoke as well, which some might see as a contradiction of sorts. Unfortunately a characteristic trait of human beings is that we are creatures of habit and we are prone to addiction. Maybe

May 2015

these are all evolved traits that we've inherited.”

Articulating these thoughts with what is essentially an instrumental album, Power has concocted a startling mix of monolithic white noise, hard-edged electronica and unrecognisable, looped vocal snippets. In that, Dumb Flesh is a record that never fails to surprise and yet, despite its subject matter, manages to balance its darker edges with a more hopeful atmosphere as it progresses. Power may talk despairingly of the human condition, but his music seems to say otherwise.

“This album is a soundtrack to everybody's individual script,” Power concedes when asked about listener ownership. “For the people who have invested in my music so far, it's something of an insult to tell them what they should be thinking about when they're listening to it. What right do I have to do that? Then again, that might seem like a double standard given that there is a very strong narrative to Dumb Flesh. Even with naming tracks, you're pushing someone towards an aesthetic, but it's a necessary evil for the ease of organisation which, again, is something very human.”

With his myriad of contradictions building up, it's easier to understand where the music that Power makes comes from. It seems prudent to wonder whether this frustration with the corporeal, organic world is why he works within the broad genre of electronica. “I think so, but I've always tried to impose my own sensibilities upon these machines,” he says on the tools of his trade.

“I don't like to think that the machine plays the player – which I hear happening a lot. I didn't have the first idea about the equipment I was using when I first started and even now when I get a new piece of kit, I don't read the manual. It's maybe a lack of patience, another human trait that I have, and maybe it's a bit naïve but it's an honest approach to writing which I think gives the outcome a lot more character.”

If Power's character is what he injects his music with, then as Blanck Mass he's certainly showing us different sides of it. In keeping with his stated “individual script” we'll think of his eponymous debut as a meditative, nostalgic paean, whereas White Math was a more hedonistic affair.

In that sense, Dumb Flesh falls somewhere in between; more concerned with body than mind perhaps, yet still contemplative but wider ranging in its outlook.

“Blanck Mass is me one-hundred percent down the line,” Power assures us of the tonal variety the project encompasses. “With Fuck Buttons, you're getting one-hundred percent of the combination of Andy and myself – I don't like to see it as fifty percent Andy and fifty percent me, it's

100 percent of our relationship. The difficulty with working on your own is that you get so wrapped up in your own little world that it's very difficult to have a clear perspective. But on the flipside, you've got no one else to answer to, so you can do whatever the fuck you like.”

Even a cursory listen to Dumb Flesh makes it abundantly clear that Power is beholden to no one, being so off-kilter and unlike much else you'll likely hear this year. However, Power's assertion that he cut the album as a solitary figure is a tiny bit misleading. “Well, my two sounding boards that I had, just as people to speak to, were Kevin Martin [A.K.A. The Bug] and Andrew Weatherall,” he confides. “With Andrew, he has this sixth sense for how I structure my writing process. He'll know how I built up a certain track which gives him a great position to advise me on things. One really important lesson I learned from him was that you need to give yourself a little bit of space now and again. You really need perspective to be able to operate solo.”

“I don't like to think that the machine plays the player” Benjamin John Power

Having also learned certain production techniques from Weatherall's work on Fuck Buttons’ second album Tarot Sport, both Power and bandmate Andrew Hung stepped behind the mixing desk for 2013’s formidable follow-up Slow Focus.

With that experience in hand, it was logical for Power to continue in this vein with Dumb Flesh.

“There's three different versions of the album,” he says of his grinding to create the definitive take.

“I think I've grown so much as a producer within that time, listening back to the earlier versions now. It's not something tangible that I can put my finger on that makes them inferior though, it's just when you operate on feeling, it's sometimes hard to figure out what the problem is.”

Power admits that with so much going on in isolation, and with his attention given to every conceivable detail of writing and production, he could have ended up tinkering with Dumb Flesh forevermore. Thankfully he managed to draw the line under the rendition we now have, bound for release on Brooklyn's unimpeachable Sacred Bones label, home to the likes of Moon Duo, David Lynch and latterly legendary director and composer,

MUSIC

Interview: Darren Carle Photography: Mihaela Bodlovic

John Carpenter. “Obviously I'm a huge fan of John's and have been for a long time,” admits Power.

“It feels great to be sharing a label with him.

It's a real mixed bag on Sacred Bones but I think there's definitely an underlying thread between all of their artists which is celebrating beauty within darkness. That interests me a lot and so it seems like a really great home for my music.”

As we speak though, Power has already moved on from the record itself as attention turns to taking Blanck Mass back out onto the live circuit, including a headlining slot on The Skinny's alternative stage at Electric Fields in Drumlanrig, Dumfries this August (where he'll be in the fitting company of Vessels, East India Youth and underground post-rock super ensemble Outblinker, whose debut Power is gearing up to produce in summer). “You've kind of made my day actually,” admits Power when we confirm his place atop our bill. “Hopefully Dumb Flesh will make the live set a little bit more fiery. There's going to be a lot more rhythm involved than there was before, with a strong aesthetic that I hope is going to be replicated in a visual sense somehow. Overall, it's definitely going to be in a heavier place.”

Beyond that, Power reveals that he'll be back working with his old cohort Andrew Hung “very soon” as he continues a neat pivot swing between projects. “When we're working on our own solo stuff it kind of almost feels like going away and doing your homework in a strange way,” he says.

“I know that doesn't particularly glamorise things at all, but I think it's quite interesting because when we both come back to the table we bring a lot more technological nous with us.”

With the progression of each Fuck Buttons album, we can believe this to be the case. But for now, as Blanck Mass, Power seems to be following a similar, if still markedly distinct trajectory. It's a path that's as uncharted as it is enveloping, as progressive as it is somehow oddly familiar. Conflicted with all the paradoxes of life just like the rest of us, Power's music both commiserates and celebrates the bigger picture as he keeps busy in the moment within his own little canvas. “I love Scotland,” he proclaims passionately as we wrap up the formalities and return to everyday life.

“I fell in love with the countryside the last time Fuck Buttons played in Edinburgh. It kind of sealed the deal. I just knew this was where I needed to live.”

Dumb Flesh is released on 11 May via Sacred Bones.

Blanck Mass plays Electric Fields, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfriesshire on 29 Aug blanckmass.bandcamp.com

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The Life We Know Space-age second album Born Under Saturn sees Edinburgh-formed four-piece Django Django on riotous, mystical form. Dave Maclean talks planets, poltergeists and percussion

Interview: Katie Hawthorne Photography: Kat Gollock

T

he cover art for Django Django's new album Born Under Saturn is of a statue named The Sluggard. Stretching his arms, yawning wide, with his bronzed genitalia tastefully covered by a superimposed piece of plastic fruit, the 19th century work finds itself the poster boy for the Londonbased band's spiritual new take on their musical output. Dave Maclean, the band's drummer and producer, gleefully explains that it all “came about by accident,” that “there's just all these connections with stuff that I'm into. Mythology and outer space… the solar system.”

Legend has it that those born under specific conjunctions of Saturn are predisposed to melancholia, genius and insanity – and, as a consequence, could have the perfect temperament for artistic creation. In an apt twist of fate, Maclean stumbled across the phrase in a Stratford charity shop: “There was this book called Born Under Saturn, and I just immediately thought, ‘I need to read that.’ I thought it would be something to do with mythology or maybe cults, but it turned out to be an academic thesis on the birth of art, from Italian craft to what makes a person an artist, what their mindset is. We nicked the title because it all just seemed kind of connected to the statue. as well. If you're born under Saturn it can be said that you're lazy, or maybe idle in some way.”

This persuasion for the arts and the otherworldly shouldn't really come as a surprise though.

Maclean met bandmates Vincent Jeff (vocals, guitar), Jimmy Dixon (bass) and Tommy Grace (synths) while studying at Edinburgh College of Art, and their left-field art-pop sensibilities have always had a touch of the uncanny about them. Born Under Saturn is the group's sophomore album, following 2012’s self-titled debut which propelled them on to worldwide tours, huge festival billings, pop charts, FIFA soundtracks and numerous best-ofthe-year lists. As debuts go, theirs was stellar.

The new record's been three years in the making, but as Maclean puts it, it's felt anything but a lengthy process: “It's always funny when people say we've been away for ages, because it just felt like the opposite to us. Touring permanently, are people sick of us? There's an element of people wanting everything, wanting a live band to tour in every corner of the globe, wanting them to write and record. You just have to kind of concentrate on one thing at a time.” Culminating a massive two years with a headline set on Edinburgh's Princes Street for Hogmanay 2013, the band felt it was time “to draw a line” and get back to the studio.

And that's where they've been since.

The result is a second album of giant proportions. Where debut Django Django carved a name for the band as party-starters, purveyors of baffling rhythm patterns designed to affect your feet and heartbeat, Born Under Saturn picks up the baton with gusto. Yet lead single First Light is a deceptively chilled first impression of an otherwise riotous sixty-one minutes. Maclean laughs, “it was just the first track we finished that stayed with us as a favourite. It just bubbles away and does its thing. We thought it was a good kind of... easing back in.” But by contrast, take a track like Reflections. In now typical Django fashion, it opens with an urgent, driving beat and fills out almost imperceptibly, all dance-influenced chords and builds, as Maclean describes, in a definite “house direction.” Yet, the peak is chronicled by a loose, loungey horn section – an emphatic turn from the predictable path of “a Radio One house banger.”

The band are careful not to shoot themselves in the foot, he says, “we don't want to be genre-based, it's not really what we're about.”

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Perhaps unsurprising words to hear from a band which so plainly delights in borrowing from and blending genre, he expands: “I mean, we do listen to a lot of different music. Some people say, ‘Oh, that rhythm's quite dancehall,’ or ‘Oh, that guitar is… whatever.’ But it's not really like we're consciously sitting there like, ‘let's make a wacky mish-mash!’ I wouldn't want that at all. It's more that you let things bleed in where they're necessary… actually, I think we're quite restrained in our influences!”

“There's just all these connections with stuff that I'm into. Mythology and outer space… the solar system” Dave Mclean

This restraint, or perhaps lack thereof, is explained further by Maclean's own eclectic background. Whilst a student in Edinburgh, pre-Djangos, he describes that he was part of a “dancehall, reggae kind of sound system, I'd make rhythm beats for the MC. I always imagined I'd end up being a hip hop producer, or maybe acid house. That's the kind of stuff I was tampering with. But then, when I heard Vinnie [Jeff]’s stuff, it reminded me of the 50s rock'n'roll that I was

into. Now the two worlds of those things have sort of ended up… colliding, a bit.”

The result of this planetary collision is hard to pin down: Born Under Saturn is a shape-shifter of a record, transforming from Shake and Tremble – a brash bone-shaker with a shadow of the sinister about it – to an ethereal, prophetic kind of tone on a track like High Moon. It definitely sounds as if the band's propensity for the spooky has seeped in somewhere… or is that just superstitious guesswork? Maclean laughs. “I mean, maybe me more than the others, but we're all interested in that kind of stuff. There's something about synthesizers that automatically sounds kind of sci-fi, and we're all really into Joe Meek's productions. He was fascinated with mixing, with what was, at the time, brand new technologies – synths, tape loops, stuff like that, but with the traditional kind of Buddy Holly style rock'n'roll too. A bizarre mix, but that kind of thing ended up being the soundtrack to a lot of TV and film, sci-fi stuff.

Even in dub and reggae the effects they use are all kind of… Star Trek-y and weird. I collect a lot of film soundtracks, and, er, effects records with all sorts of odd noises on them…”The only problem with this magpie-like mindset for the weird and wonderful is that, when it comes to recreating their music live, the band “just keep making it harder” for themselves. Taking to the stage in Edinburgh this past February, for the first time since the Hogmanay show, new tracks were given their debut. They're back in Scotland this month, headlining Live at Glasgow on 3 May, but Maclean jokes that the audience shouldn't expect more than “four… or maybe five… new ones ready to go.”

He explains that the band, during the recording process, “were a bit like kids in a sweet shop.

Going in a studio and there's loads of synthesizers.

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We just get them all out, use them all! But then, we don't own these synthesizers, so how are we going to do it live?” Describing the process of prepping a song to play live as a kind of “reverseengineering,” he reflects that it's probably for the best: “We do want a live set to be different from the record. Give people a surprise when they come and see us. The tracks do tend to keep evolving.

Keep adding bits, work out a better ending… It's a good thing. You don't stay stagnant that way.”It seems, then, that Django Django work best with an odd mix of mystery and pragmatism in the air.

These contradictions are neatly encapsulated by the band's Twitter feed – for the most part manned

by Maclean – which is a mixture of purposeful, passionate political opinion and open calls for first-hand experiences with mischievous spirits.

How can a band juggle a predisposition for the ghostly with a pointed interest in George Osborne's latest misdemeanours? “My mum actually has a go at me about the things I tweet. She says, ‘You can't use that language!’. But yeah, someone sent me a YouTube video of someone claiming that they had a poltergeist. I just started thinking, I mean, obviously this could be a hoax, but has anybody actually ever… does it happen? Is it always a hoax?

I just don't know. There's definitely something unexplained. I don't presume to know if there's a God, or an afterlife, or spirits or anything. Even if it's just about the human psyche? Maybe what's lurking in our own consciousness is interesting enough.”

Playing Live At Glasgow on 3 May and Manchester Cathedral on 23 May Born Under Saturn is released on 4 May via Because Music djangodjango.co.uk

THE SKINNY

Stealing Sheep

May 2015

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THE SKINNY

“It's All About Beauty” Legendary photographer, designer and stylist Maripol is the subject of an exhibition in Dundee Contemporary Arts, part of this year's Ignite Dundee. Here she speaks about her 35-year career Interview: Adam Benmakhlouf

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May 2015

Debbie Harry in the Loft, 1980

Self portrait Tortolla Island, 1978

limit between sexiness and pornography. There is that line where it's subtle, and it's more romantic and mysterious.” Giving an example, she jokes, “I'm not Terry Richardson.”

While this explains some of the context for what she made early in her career, Maripol's position is now that of a recognised, significant and inspiring figure in fashion and art, and her recent output has taken the form of brand collaborations. Examples of these are displayed on a rail, on entering the exhibition.

Credit: Ruth Clark, courtesy of Dundee Contemporary Arts

veryone is beautiful in every Polaroid in Spring/Summer 2015, a showcase exhibition by iconic artist, stylist and designer Maripol.

Could it be her fondness for her subjects made visible? When posed this question, Maripol cuts through that kind of frou-frou mystical romanticism. “You have to realise I used a flash, it wipes out any pimples, lines. It would make your lips come out.”

S/S 2015 is just one of many recent acknowledgements of the significance of Maripol's contribution to art and design – from collaborations with LVMH to the recent homage on the cover of Taylor Swift's latest album. It's true there was a time when Maripol was too often stuck in the same breath as the famous personalities she styled or who featured in her photographs. However, as the latter become less recognisable to new generations, her work conversely becomes more and more quoted and appreciated, within the space vacated by celebrity interest. “A lot of people have a tendency to make books on famous people because they know it will sell, but I've always wanted balance.” At heart, for Maripol, “It's about beauty.” Even surrounded by the likes of Grace Jones, the people in the photos that aren't famous “are as important as everyone else, if not more so than anyone else. And some of them are still friends, some of them are still around and it makes them proud that they are in the book.”

Alongside Maripol's famous Polaroids, the show features examples of the iconic objects of her career, displayed under transparent domes: rubber bracelets and earrings (including some from the Maripol/Marc Jacobs collection, 2010), and the Slinky bracelet – made from the toy of the same name. There's a temptation to speak of these materials as ‘disposable’, but Maripol only agrees “in the sense you can take your shower with your rubber bracelet. If you lose it, it's not a big deal.” Yet there's a complication to this labelling now, as she adds, “Some of these were made in 1978, and they are holding through time,” suggesting an unexpected persistence to these otherwise transient consumer plastics and paperclips.

Aside from the benefits of making something conveniently waterproof and replaceable, the jewellery works in the exhibition also emerged from “a motivation of detourning the art object from its normal meaning, in some ways related to a kind of Duchamp appropriation.” While Duchamp inspirations were important, Maripol also describes a more straightforward realisation: “What was I going to do, make gold and diamonds? Who would wear that, Mick Jagger? Maybe. But that was not who I was.” So it was that inspiration came from the industrial hardwares on sale in Manhattan's Canal Street, as well as during her first trip to Japan in 1978, when she would go further and further out of the central areas to the factories.

After this, in Hong Kong, she began to make the distinctive plastic and almost readymade jewellery for which she would become famous.

Especially in the Polaroids, enmeshed with this Duchampian glamour, there is something authentically sexy. “We didn't have any boundaries,” Maripol recalls as she describes a “show-my-titsand-don't-arrest-me” period of social history.

This open, unembarrassed sensuality and sexuality within the work is arguably rare amongst an increasingly cerebral contemporary art scene.

Maripol draws a sophisticated distinction when speaking of this aspect of contemporary art: “Sex is a provocation in a lot of work, but it's not sexy.

Sex is pornography now, and for me there is a

“Now sex is a provocation in a lot of work, but it’s not sexy” Maripol

Fabricated by Each x Other, the jumpsuit and t-shirts are part of the annual capsule collections they create together. In these lines, she utilises her own history to make garments and works – there is a reflexive self-sampling and reconfiguring. Curator Graham Domke was keen to include the present referencing of older work (some originating from Polaroids from more than 30 years ago) to exhibit the currency of Maripol's practice, rather than allowing the show to relax into an easy nostalgia.

Speaking about her collaborators, Maripol is clear that “they're not big and luxury brands.”

For example, the Each x Other brand is “a very young company and Jenny Mannerheim who created the brand was [Maripol's] gallerist in Paris.”

Maripol mentions one product of this collaboration in particular, a “white studded leather jacket, lined with fabric printed with the Polaroids. It won't be produced; it's the one piece, because it's expensive – there's another leather jacket in the exhibition that is one of a limited edition – so it does become an object of art. Especially displayed

in the glass case, like in DCA.” As throughout Maripol's work and career, she continues to leave undefined the distinction between art and design.

Cutting across the entirety of her work, there is a constant interest in current technology, with advanced textile printing developments making possible many of the garments on display. Even when she was first working with Polaroid, “it was definitely high tech. I didn't have to go to the lab, it was an instant and great tool.” Even now the photos in the exhibition make use of cutting edge technology, as they are the product of Maripol's high resolution scans: “I worked for years and years to get to the right colour correction, to be close to the Polaroid. It's almost not a Polaroid anymore, it's an object.”

Concerning the reading of these Polaroids as a record of a generation that was about to be devastated by AIDS, Maripol speaks in simple terms. “Not everyone is gone, but a lot are gone.

But you know, I'm so happy that I have pictures of them. Because you have a name, but as the time passes you can forget the face.” While these works

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are documents of lost figures like Basquiat, Klaus Nomi and Keith Haring, they appear bright and unsuspecting in the photos. In some ways the photos are equally-poignant counterparts to the sharp sombre of Maripol's contemporary, Nan Goldin.

“We had some of the same subjects. We might have shared the same lovers, and she's a good friend. But her amazing photographs of the people who died of AIDS, and especially Cookie Mueller, are very different to mine.”

With this growing recognition, and the accompanying opportunities, what's next? Now making her way towards the fifth decade of a prolific, and continually surprising and inventive career, Maripol answers this question with the same sharpness of wit that ensures her growing visibility – not to mention her active presence within a network of influence that spans 35 years, and across fashion, photography and film.“Maybe I'll become a chef, how about that? I'll have my own TV show. Because that's where the trend is these days, the foodies.” ignitednd.co.uk Maripol, Clare Stephenson and Zoe Williams, Spring/ Summer 2015, DCA, Until 21 Jun, free

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Student of a Golden Era Before he takes to the Electric Frog and Pressure Riverside Festival, Chicago’s Ron Trent speaks about his musical education, his reaction to the death of mentor Frankie Knuckles and the state of modern DJ culture Interview: Ronan Martin

'm one of these people that like to take experiences, synthesise them, and turn them into music.”

This simple philosophy has served Chicago's Ron Trent well over the years. From his formative early experiences within a lively scene in his hometown, to his involvement in various projects today, the house legend has always lived and breathed music. His devotion to the craft has produced a colossal back catalogue of classic work, released through revered labels such as Cajual, Peacefrog and his own Prescription imprint, and he continues to tour the world as one of the most esteemed deep house DJs around.

Frequently characterised by warmth, melody and always brimming with soul, Trent's work is a clear reflection of his desire to stay true to a particular vibe. Speaking to us from his temporary studio space in Berlin, Trent sees the burgeoning scene in the German capital as reflecting the buzz in the US when his tastes were first developing as a youngster. “It kind of reminds me of New York City a bit in the early stages,” he says. “During the developmental years in the late 70s and early 80s, downtown New York was poppin’. With me being a student of that era and that culture, it reminds me of the energy then.”

What's instantly clear from speaking to Trent is how his work has always been shaped by that influential age, when his father was involved in the record business in Chicago. “Radio was different in the 70s,” he reflects. “It was way better. You had DJs that were selecting the music themselves.

It was a different attitude towards hearing new stuff, versus hearing the same thing over and over again nowadays. That's pretty much the status quo nowadays in music culture on the radio, but there was a different flavour back then.”

Whether you were around for it or not, it's hard to dispute the importance of a period which Ron jovially refers to as the “wonder years”, particularly as so much of the music he and his contemporaries grew up with is still finding devoted audiences today – acts like James Brown, Herb Alpert, Donny Hathaway and Roy Ayers were all big influences on Trent, and certain sounds were constants in his musical education. For him, these were acts that are still “monumental” now.

Unsurprisingly, it wasn't long before Trent became involved in music himself, playing drums and later being exposed to DJing by an older cousin. His father had been part of the generation of DJs who played one record after another without blending, though Ron soon mastered the emerging art of mixing; “making the records talk to each other.” His interest in music wasn't limited to simply playing the work of others though.

“I was always curious about the creation of records,” he adds. “When I got the opportunity to start using drum machines and things of that nature in the mid-80s, I liked the idea that I could create my own music and play it. It added a whole other dimension to what I was doing and I just dove in.”

Having taken that leap towards production, Ron quickly found himself in the enviable position of having a massive hit with his first release. He recalls being most proud of the title track from the Afterlife EP, but it was B-side Altered States which really took hold in clubs at first and its

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impact was crucial. During the years which followed, Trent continued to hone his craft, showing a knack for forming fruitful partnerships along the way – perhaps most apparent in his collaborations with Chez Damier, with whom he eventually co-founded the seminal Prescription label, releasing their own tracks alongside the likes of Peven Everett, Roy Davis Jr, Romanthony and Abacus.

This development properly established a deeper and distinctly more musical form of house than the classic Chicago “boom boom kind of tracks” coming from the likes of Cajmere, who worked out of the office upstairs from Chez and Trent, and who helped them out with distribution early on. “Prescription was based on a lot of ideas,” says Ron when asked where the motivation for the outlet came from. “I can't really put it into a Reader's Digest version – it would almost be a fucking book!

“EDM is just fucking noise” Ron Trent

“The main thing was to put out a certain quality of instrumental, mind-provoking music. If we did something, it had to be meaningful, but it was also part of a theme. It was like a Native American way of prescribing medicine – a spiritual prescription. Whether it's herbs, or some kind of spiritual incantation, it has to be something that evokes healing or power. Of course, everybody else took it however they wanted to take it. If they wanted to take it as representing a drug or some shit, then that's their thing. But the essence of where we were coming from was based on a spiritual, shamanistic idea.”

Nowadays – having taken a different direction from Chez Damier in the mid 90s – Trent primarily focuses on his other outlets, Electric Blue and Future Vision. The former has largely been a vehicle for his own productions – still characterised by a rich and expressive sound – while the latter has served to introduce a number of newer artists who reflect the kind of vibe Ron has always strived to put out. He talks of his mentorship of Trinidadian Deep and enjoying throwing ideas back and forth with other like-minded artists.

“I appreciate watching that process – seeing people being able to grow and express themselves.

That's a beautiful thing.

“I think that like spirits attract each other, so that's how I do A&R. If it's meant to be, it happens.

I don't really go trying to canvass this and canvass that. If you're on the right path, then other paths will cross – those that are supposed to cross.”

Trent's mentoring of other acts seems to complete the cycle in terms of his own career in music, which he has always spoken of in terms of being a student – of earlier eras and of older teachers. One of those he frequently cites is the late Frankie Knuckles, who passed away in March of last year, leaving many in the Chicago house scene and the wider music world mourning the loss of one of the genre's original icons. His passing prompted Ron to release 7th Heaven, a soaring 11-minute track intended as a tribute to the energy of Knuckles’ work. “Outside of my

Credit: Jos Kottman

“I

father, Frankie was probably one of the most influential people in my musical development,” he says without hesitation.

“He was somebody I looked up to as a young up-and-coming DJ and producer in Chicago – in terms of his level of influence, professionalism and the energy that he brought to Chicago. Later I became someone he ushered into the business.

It was because of him and David Morales playing the record that Altered States developed legs.

By him getting behind it the way he did, it opened doors. So there are no words or anything I can use to thank him other than just being true to what I began in the first place. It was a way of coming to peace with it. I spent the first couple of days crying every time I thought about it. But out of that mourning process came a beautiful piece of music.”

Alongside his production work and running the labels, Trent still impresses as a DJ and his approach hasn't changed much after several decades behind the turntables. “I follow an older ethos or mentality,” he says. “When DJing became popular, people were more concentrated on the attention that you could get versus the actual craft itself, and I come from a different place.

I was attracted to the art. I'm not going to speak for everyone, but you can tell who's attracted to the art and who's not, you know what I mean?

There lies the difference.”

Given the history of seminal music emerging from places like Detroit, Chicago and New York,

CLUBS

it must be frustrating for Trent to see the explosion of the EDM scene, whose US enthusiasts seem to have no knowledge of the music that came from their own back yard in the 80s and 90s. “Yeah, there's a disconnect,” says Trent. “If you listen to the EDM stuff, it's really just a whole bunch of noises in a pattern. Listen to it [he imitates a tuneless bleeping noise with his mouth]. It's just fucking noise – energy noises and drum rolls that never end.” He laughs. “It's almost like a hyped up version of video games.”

Thankfully, regardless of where the priorities of the wider music world are positioned, Trent remains committed to developing his own sound, and that of those he introduces through his labels, in a way that is consistent with the ethos of a golden age in music. That is not to say his sound will remain the same – his recent collaborative project with Jerome Sydenham and Aybee as S.A.T showcased a more robust techno-leaning style, and there has always been room for variation in his work. What will always persist is that commitment to doing things a certain way and putting the work before anything else.

With plans to establish more sub-labels and continue his work developing other acts in the coming years, can we assume Ron will remain busy for the foreseeable future? “Oh yeah, no question man,” he declares. “The music never stops.”

Ron Trent appears at Electric Frog and Pressure Riverside Festival on Saturday 30 May

THE SKINNY

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Louder than Words Set in a boarding school for deaf teens, there is no spoken dialogue in The Tribe, the latest from Ukrainian filmmaker Miroslav Slaboshpitsky, but it still makes a bold statement

“W

ait a minute, wait a minute. You ain't heard nothing yet!” When Al Jolson startled cinemagoers with that epochal line in 1927’s The Jazz Singer, he didn't know how prophetic his words would be. In the decades that have elapsed since sound entered the movies, the chatter has been near-constant. Whether through spoken dialogue or voiceover, subtitled or dubbed, the sound of people talking has become such an integral part of the cinema experience that its occasional absence can have a bracing effect. Miroslav Slaboshpitsky's The Tribe is a film in which we don't hear a single word uttered, and yet its characters never stop communicating with each other.

The entire film is populated by deaf actors whose lingua franca is Ukrainian sign language and none of what they say is translated for viewers, so unless you're part of the small subset of people who can understand their gestures, you'll need to find other means to decipher this story.

The result is a unique and surprisingly riveting experience. During a screening of The Tribe at last year's London Film Festival, a festival riddled by bad audience behaviour (people chatting, texting, eating their bodyweight in popcorn), those in attendance were transfixed, focusing intently on gestures and body language; the things we take for granted in conventional films suddenly becoming the key to our comprehension. “I'm very glad to hear that!” Slaboshpitsky exclaims when he hears of this festival experience is far from a unique one. “The shooting of the film was divided between autumn and winter, and we had a little gap between these two seasons,” he recalls. “The last scene that was filmed in autumn ends when the guys are drinking in an amusement park, and when we had a break I watched about 40-45 minutes of the footage we had shot. It's strange, because even though I wrote the script and I was on set every day as the director, I still felt that the movie somehow gripped me and surprised me!

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The majority of audiences have had the same gripping reaction to it so I think we have succeeded in something.”

So what is the secret of The Tribe's success?

Slaboshpitsky had dreamed of making some kind of modern silent movie for 20 years, and he was determined to do so as a completely contemporary work, without the 1920s-style affectation of films like The Artist or Blancanieves. Inspired by years spent observing children at a school for the deaf that was situated near his own school, the director eventually developed his ideas into a short film called Deafness, which acted as a vital trial run. “I decided to test this storytelling style to see how it works in practice, because it's one thing for an idea to work in your head and it's another thing for that idea to work in reality,” Slaboshpitsky says. “In addition, while I was making Deafness I got to know many members of that community in Ukraine, and that was a very significant help when the time came to make this movie.”

While The Tribe's entire cast is deaf, it's important to note that this is not a film about being deaf. It is a coming-of-age tale, a love story, a tragedy and portrait of gang culture, and while the characters’ lack of hearing adds dramatic weight to a number of scenes, this essentially remains an archetypal tale that the director could have made using actors from any background. “It's kind of an obvious story,” Slaboshpitsky admits, “but I am slightly limited in telling the story because there is no verbal dialogue, and to make sure the audience can understand it and relate to it we had to use some conventional episodes. For example, when a new person joins a school there will definitely be some kind of initiation situation, and people already know that. The ordinary viewer has a cinematographic memory because they have seen lots of movies, and it helps them follow the story.”

There are surely a couple of other reasons why viewers are getting drawn so completely into this story, notably Slaboshpitsky's brilliant filmmaking craft, including a series of superbly orchestrated long takes and potent, skilfully heightened sound design, and the astonishing performances that he draws from his inexperienced ensemble.

“It's one thing for an idea to work in your head and it's another thing for that idea to work in reality” Miroslav Slaboshpitsky

“That was a lot of fun, actually,” the director says with a smile when asked how he prepared his young actors for some arduous and challenging sequences. “We put everyone on a monthly payroll and we arranged for them to stay in flats, even the ones who lived in Kiev, because we wanted to take them out of their usual environment and circumstances,” he explains. “Aside from the fact that I had to use an interpreter, there is really no difference between deaf actors and non-deaf actors. We would rehearse scenes for six days and when we were satisfied we would shoot it on the seventh day.

It was actually a lot of fun for them because you don't have to do anything strenuous except for [the] running and fighting [scenes]. They had their own flat, they were being driven around by car, there are always assistants around and best of all

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Interview: Philip Concannon Illustration: Mouni Feddag

nobody was nagging them for smoking, so for them it was just a very awesome experience.”

Slaboshpitsky did face some obstacles when preparing the cast for some of The Tribe's more provocative content, however. When his leading female actor Yana Novikova was hesitant to take part in an explicit sex scene with co-star Grigoriy Fesenko, he turned to cinema for inspiration, with the performance of Adèle Exarchopoulos in Blue is the Warmest Colour emboldening the young actress and filling her head with dreams of Cannes.

Those dreams were realised last year when she accompanied Slaboshpitsky to the festival and saw him collect the Grand Prize in Critics’ Week.

Just before our interview ends, Slaboshpitsky recalls a fond memory from his time promoting the film. “After the film premiere in Russia I had a Skype conference with the audience and one deaf woman told me through an interpreter that she had always watched movies with an audience that was able to hear, and through emotions and body language she could kind of guess what takes place, but this time she was the only person in the audience who fully understood what was going on!” he says with a laugh. “She was very grateful for this experience and that meant a lot to me.”

Slaboshpitsky talks with a somewhat bemused air when recounting these stories, as The Tribe's ability to reach audiences around the world continues to take him by surprise. But it's clear that he is rightfully proud of what he has achieved and that he particularly cherishes the bond that formed between him and his cast during the making of the film. “You know, compared to the regular industrial standards of filmmaking, the way we made this movie was an absolute mess,” he says, “but in all those long months of rehearsals and shooting, in a way we became a kind of tribe ourselves.”

The Tribe is released on 15 May

THE SKINNY

Genre-bender François Ozon's new film, The New Girlfriend, is another of the French provocateur's playful studies of genre and gender. We find out what makes this mischievous filmmaker tick

Interview: Jamie Dunn

characters who don't confine their sexual partners to one gender. As a director, Ozon slips from genre to genre with a similar fluidity. To guess what he might tackle next on his circuitous filmmaking path is like throwing a dice. He's given most genres a try: thrillers (Swimming Pool, In the House), tragic dramas (Under the Sand, 5x2), camp melodramas (Potiche, 8 Women), comic chamber pieces (Water Drops on Burning Rocks).

Jean Renoir, the godfather of French cinema, once said: “a director makes only one film in his life. Then he breaks it up and makes it again.” Ozon clearly doesn't subscribe to this thesis.

“I'm open to many things,” says the writerdirector. “I'm not sure that I would be able to make a western or a science fiction movie, but I like to play with genres.” Even while watching his films, Ozon's genre is hard to pin down. His dramas easily slip into comedy while his candy-floss confections come wrapped in barbed wire. The New Girlfriend may be based on a Ruth Rendell potboiler, but Ozon seamlessly skips between tragedy and farce, erotic thriller and sex comedy. “Just call this a transgenre movie,” he chuckles.

“Just call this a trans-genre movie” François Ozon

“I

'm the perv,” says François Ozon, who's sitting in a London hotel wearing a grey shirt, a pink scarf and an impish smile. Those who know the French filmmaker's work might be thinking to themselves, “Tell us something we don't already know!” From his saucy debut Sitcom, a Buñuelian satire in which a bourgeois family embrace their inner sexual deviance, to last year's Young & Beautiful, an enigmatic study of a teenage call girl, Ozon has been making some of the most playfully provocative films in modern cinema. Even at his most mainstream he's raising eyebrows: in his biggest hit to date, the candy-coloured musical 8 Women, he convinced two beloved French icons, Catherine Deneuve and Fanny Ardant, to make out on a rug in front of a roaring log fire.

The enfant terrible, still fresh-faced at 47, isn't discussing his reputation as a director, however. He's referring to his cameo in his new film, The New Girlfriend, in which he plays a cinema patron with wandering hands, who touches up David (Romain Duris), a recent widower who's test driving his female alter-ego, Virginia, during a trip to the pictures. Ozon, having never appeared on screen himself, wasn't sure he could pull the scene off, so he shot it twice: once with himself, and once with a professional actor in the role.

Watching the two versions back-to-back, the performance to go with was clear. “My editor said, ‘Romain is much better when he's acting with you.’

And I realised it was true, so we kept my take.

May 2015

I asked Romain, ‘Why were you better with me?’ and he said, ‘Because you were really going for it – the other actor was afraid to really touch me.’

So I was a good actor,” he says with a sly chuckle.

This cheeky director's cameo is just the first of many nods in the direction of Alfred Hitchcock.

Based on a creepy Ruth Rendell story, The New Girlfriend has the superficial appearance of a thriller, with its chilling score and gliding camerawork.

We follow Claire (Anaïs Demoustier) as she discovers David, the husband of her deceased best friend, has taken to dressing up in his dead wife's clothes. Initially it appears David's cross-dressing is a way of bringing his wife back to life, although his deft matching of accessories and the graceful way in which he moves on heels suggests this isn't his first time in garters. Whatever the reason, Claire is enlivened by having her BFF resurrected.

“I love the idea in Vertigo of trying to bring back to life an old love, a ghost – and that's really the idea here,” he says, referring to Hitchcock's 1958 masterpiece. In this case, however, gender is reversed: “In a certain way, Claire is a kind of Scottie [Jimmy Stewart's character], and Romain Duris is Madeleine [Kim Novak's character].” Given that Claire is the one pulling the strings, it's she with whom Ozon most identifies. “Claire's playing with her doll. She's the one helping the actor to become an actress. As a director, that's my job: to transform Romain Duris into an actress.”

Despite Duris's slight frame and pretty features, this was no mean feat. “The idea in the film was not to make Romain the perfect woman. He's not and never going to be a perfect woman; he's what he is.” What did appeal to Ozon about Duris – still best know for his blistering turn in Jacques Audiard's The Beat That My Heart Skipped – is the liveliness he brought to the role. “He was like a child, you know, like when you play with your sister. It was like a game, and that's what I wanted from the film: I wanted something light. I didn't want something too dramatic. I wanted someone who could have fun with the scenes between Virginia and Claire.”

In fact, Duris felt more comfortable performing as his character's female side. “It was more complicated for him to play David than Virginia, because Virginia, she can be ridiculous, she's over the top, so it's easier to play this kind of character because you have the costumes, you have the wig, you have all these things,” Ozon explains. “But very often Romain would say to me ‘Who is David?

What do I do?’” The secret to unlocking the character, Ozon explains, was to realise this was a film about freedom: “The freedom to become yourself, to find your own identity and maybe to escape the gender that society and your family want you to be.”

This is typical Ozon: in his movies gender and sexual desire are rarely fixed. Films like Criminal Lovers, Time to Leave and The Refuge concern

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The filmmaker he most identifies with in this regard, he says, is New German Cinema firecracker Rainer Werner Fassbinder. “As a director Fassbinder said, ‘I'm building a house or castle, I don't know which. Each film is a room and we'll see at the end what it will be.’ I feel closer to this idea of cinema. When the film is done I turn the page very quickly. I've forgotten all what I've done.”

So if you came across one of your films on TV you wouldn't take a look?

“No, I don't look back, and I'm not very interested; when it's done, it's done. I'm sure if I watched one of my films again I'd be very depressed, I will see all the mistakes” Do you have a favourite of the films you've made, at least?

“No, my favourite is the next one,” he says with a laugh.

That's another aspect of his filmmaking he shares with Fassbinder: his stamina. Despite dying at 37, the German auteur amassed over 30 features. In the 16 years since Ozon's 1998 debut, he's clocked up a very respectable 15. “I make just one film a year – for me it's my rhythm,” he says. “I have many friends who are directors and for them they are suffering each time they make a film. For me, of course it's difficult, but there is a lot of pleasure too.”

Does he ever worry that he'll lose this ardour?

“I must say that I have no problem with inspiration,” he replies without missing a beat. “Mine is more a problem of desire, to fix myself on the right story – that's my problem. But if I had the opportunity, the freedom, to make two films a year I would love to, because I love the shooting, I love the editing…”

There's a pause. “I don't love the writing process,” he says thoughtfully, “but we all need to go through that.”

We're glad he does, as there's a strength to the depth. May Ozon's annual contribution to the world of cinema continue unabated.

The New Girlfriend is release 22 May by Metrodome

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Sour Soul Stuart Cosgrove discusses his stunning new book Detroit ‘67, documenting the most significant 365 days in the history of soul, which saw racism and riots rage, and commodified musicians come to tragic ends. Angry parallels to our current times become easily apparent

“T

Credit: Getty Images

he usual failure is, weirdly, the biographical one; where the writer steadfastly follows the main story of the artist's life. But then they couple it with an obvious over-reliance on the musical detail and lose the historical context behind those elements, and it becomes a very shallow exercise.

The context in this book can be summed up with: really? That happened?” We're talking music biographies and Stuart Cosgrove, the author of the recently published Detroit ‘67: The Year That Changed Soul, is clear on where, in an age of both X Factor-driven instant fame and our over-reliance on re-mythologising the past, this increasingly saleable commodity falls flat. The Scottish writer, producer and broadcaster swerves both failings in his 600-page account of twelve months that redrew the Motor City's musical and socio-political map. A gripping examination of not just the meltdown of Motown Records, but also a political powder keg ready to explode, it expertly fashions key events into the spine of a remarkable story.

“Well it was the music I loved, of course,” says Cosgrove, as we speak ahead of planned promotion for the book (and initial preparation for its Memphis ‘68 follow-up). “I have a deep love for it.

But the trigger was this: I was watching the movie Dreamgirls and there's a scene where Effie, the central character, is sacked by the owner of the record company and she walks out into the street and there's rioting going on and there are burning buildings all around. And I said to my partner, ‘I'm not sure that happened...’ And so, very much with Florence Ballard [the Supremes singer whose tragic life is a critical component in Cosgrove's story] in mind, I wondered whether it would be possible to actually begin to work out where these people were at the time. So I started with the riots in July and I worked it from there, and started to research where all the major Motown acts were in 1967. But as I got more and more into it, I started to look into the whole year as things began to crop up.”

There are a series of seismic shifts within Motown during that year, but none more so than the simmering tensions within The Supremes, the label's flagship group. As Diana Ross's influence grows, Ballard's various instabilities lead to her eventual ousting from the trio. She's almost classically tragic. “Yes, indeed,” agrees Cosgrove. “She, I think, helps hold the whole thing together. Her decline is obviously over several years, but I can only focus on the events of 1967. But as you focus on the horrible things that happen to her, and the awful mistakes she makes and the tragedies that are visited upon her, she gives you this central character. There are a number of characters who dip in and out – Marvin Gaye, Berry Gordy. But she's the one character who holds the whole thing together as you follow her sad decline.”

Depression and alcoholism contributed to Ballard's eventual death at just 32. As soon as she starts to falter due to the pressure of touring and the commercial expectations of the label, Gordy doesn't hesitate, replacing her in an instant.

“Florence was heavily influenced by her boyfriend and her family,” says Cosgrove. “But they weren't particularly well informed about the music industry, her value, or her capacity to develop a solo career. So, as is often the case today, you take advice from the people who are closest to you, but they're not always the best people to take advice from. As Florence's story so painfully confirms.”

Detroit ‘67 took Cosgrove five years to piece together. Holding down the day job (Director of Nations and Regions at Channel 4), as well as presenting the popular football show Off The Ball for BBC Radio Scotland, he was left with little time to focus on his huge undertaking: “Well, yes, it was very difficult. I looked at the original newspapers and I went to the libraries in Detroit. I was working full time throughout. I was holding down this demanding job with Channel 4, doing radio at the weekend, and so I'd have to snatch at it during the holidays and grab elements from the web.”

A National Guardsman on the streets of riot torn Detroit in July 1967

May 2015

Credit: Getty Images

Interview: Gary Kaill

Florence Ballard

Its size and its density are no obstacle to its grip: Detroit ‘67 reads like a sharply-conceived thriller. As the months pass, and the tension within the city rises, flashpoints surface in increasing numbers. For a writer, the momentum of those 365 days are a gift, impossible to ignore. “In many ways, when you're looking at the dramatic spine to a book, you're simply looking for events that are worth writing about,” says Cosgrove.

“You focus on the big moves – deaths, tragic events, political chaos” Stuart Cosgrove

“Immediately, you focus on the big moves – deaths, tragic events, political chaos.” It's those explosive happenings that give fire to the core of Detroit 67, but Cosgrove never loses sight of the foundation, the dark underbelly of his story.

The political rumblings are there throughout – until, in July, a series of riots sweep the city.

“There are so many events to pick from,” continues Cosgrove. “The riots are key, of course, but I mean, Muhammed Ali arrives at one point! This is at the absolute height of his notoriety. The key element there, of course, was that he had resisted the draft against this backdrop of young Detrioters in large numbers being killed in Vietnam.

As soon as I knew that, that there was this immediate and powerful juxtaposition, I knew that I could build Vietnam into the fabric of the story.”

Talks turns back to Motown. In the current climate, where pop music continues to surprise with its ever-increasing disposability, it's easy to forget Gordy too oversaw a production line. One supported by a unique and unparalleled artistry, but a production line nevertheless. Cosgrove is quick to agree: “Yes, I think one of the really fascinating things about Motown is that it had such a distinct, house format. My friend Jim Lambie (the Glasgow-based, Turner Prize-nominated

BOOKS

conceptual artist) is a massive Motown fan and we've talked at length over time on this. And I've often said to him that you tell the story of Motown via either The Four Tops’ Greatest Hits or Marvin Gaye's What's Going On?” In that they're the absolute polar opposites of the label's output?

“Exactly! You have these two and a half minute pop songs and this deeply political concept album. In the end, the label became a beautiful combination of both of those things.”

Unavoidably, we touch on the current state of UK politics, how musicians tend to swerve the issue these days (“I was involved with the original Red Wedge steering group, and we set up with a very clear purpose and that was to get Labour elected and to get Thatcher out”) and the state of political flux that Scotland finds itself in with Labour's majority, post-referendum, set to be wiped out on 7 May. The Tories still have a special place in Cosgrove's heart: “When I see that Bullingdon Club photo of them all, I just want to shoot the fuckers. It's that level of visceral hatred.”

Of course, the most blinding contemporary parallel the book draws is one that Cosgrove could hardly have foreseen when he began writing it. In July of 1967, the police shot and killed three young, unarmed black men – a series of murders that eventually became known as The Algiers Motel Incident. Cosgrove has watched with increasing distaste as similar killings have taken place across America recently. “The curious thing about it is that it could be now,” he says. “This is the assassination of three young, black American boys.

They were killed by a rogue unit of the Detroit police who never ever faced justice, and the boys’ families died without ever seeing them convicted for murder. It's quite extraordinary, and resonates wildly with the Walter Scott killing, Ferguson and all of these terrible events that have been taking place in the US in the last year and a half.

The parallels are shocking. Here were three young black men who were using drugs, from the soul scene, fraternising with white girls and the authorities’ response to that – to not liking that – was to just fucking kill them.”

Detroit ‘67: The Year That Changed Soul is out now detroit67.com

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21

Robert Burns Reggae Graham Fagen discusses his new body of work, set to be exhibited in the 2015 Venice Biennale Interview: Adam Benmakhlouf and Franchesca Hashemi ultidisciplinary Glasgow artist Graham Fagen has been commissioned by curators Hospitalfield House as this year's representative for Scotland+Venice. He'll be presenting a new solo show in the Palazzo Fontana, a new exhibition space for the Scottish Pavilion after several years’ residence in the Palazzo Pisani. This is Fagen's second time showing for Scotland in the international art bonanza, his first being 2003’s Zenomap group exhibition programme.

Graham Fagen's interests and the variety of media he uses don't conform to the concept of a circumscribed artist's practice. Recent projects across the Briggait, the GENERATION art festival and the Glasgow School of Art gallery, have seen Fagen engaging variously with the Jamaican identity, the distinction of audience and participant in theatrical and artistic contexts, and the watercolours of Charles Rennie Mackintosh. Dealing with these variegated interests, Fagen works across music production, film, drawing, sculpture, and writing.

Happily, Fagen's presentation in the Palazzo Fontana – opening on the 9th of this month – makes full advantage of the richness of his multifarious practice. Across the entrance and four rooms of the venue, Fagen will showcase bronze sculpture, ink drawings of his teeth and a fivechannel video work in which he completely reimagines Robert Burns’ The Slave's Lament. Although the works exhibited have been recently produced especially for Venice, most are reworkings or new

versions of previous works. For example, the work that will be situated at the entrance is a neon sign which will read ‘Come into the Garden, and forget about the War.’ Though this will be in Italian in Venice, it is a work Fagen has also produced at different exhibitions in French, English and German.

“Why did no one ever tell me that Robert Burns was going to go to Jamaica to work on a plantation?”

Graham Fagen

Although the exhibition in Venice will showcase the range of Fagen's practice, it is the work featured in the final room that will be heard throughout the exhibition. In the work itself Fagen sought “to combine some kind of element of classical composition with the Scottish folk tradition, along with the culture of Jamaican reggae.” This particular intersection of Scottish and reggae

Credit: Graham Fagen

M

culture sees Fagen revisiting a question that has interested him since he was a teenager. Namely, “Why dub reggae and its lyrics of suffrage meant much more to me and my peer group in our Irvine council housing scheme [than conventional Scottish cultural history].”

One oblique answer came in the discovery that Burns himself had booked three passages to go and live and work in Jamaica. This led Fagen to question, “When I was at school being taught my cultural heritage, why did no one ever tell me that Robert Burns was going to go to Jamaica to work on a plantation?”

This particular piece of Robert Burns trivia is what gave Fagen what he describes as the “conceptual bridge” to recontextualise The Slave's Lament within reggae music. One specific inspiration to begin this complex collaborative work started with Estonian composer Arvo Pärt's version of My Heart's in the Highlands. Fagen describes how Pärt “totally changed the way I was able to understand that lyric, by the sounds

he was able to put around it.” To produce his audio work, Fagen enlisted composer Sally Beamish, instrumentalists the Scottish Ensemble, singersongwriter Ghetto Priest and producer Adrian Sherwood. In the final room of the Palazzo Fontana, four monitors will display a cellist, violinist and double bassist, along with Ghetto Priest, performing the composition.

With Fagen's presentation as part of Scotland+Venice, he continues to broaden his already challenging and consistently surprising body of work. Despite being at the height of his artistic career, Fagen can't help but remember his childhood ambition – “To play football for Scotland.” But, after considering “the odds between representing Scotland in football and Scotland at Venice,” he concludes: “I'm happy to settle for representing Scotland in Venice.”

Dundee, we had Dave Jones study here before he founded DMA Design and created Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto. More recently, our graduates have included the V&A's first Game Designer in Residence, Sophia George, and the founders of a huge range of indie games studios including Future Fossil Studios, Guerilla Tea, Hidden Armada, Space Budgie and Team Junkfish.

Is Abertay University becoming a destination to students from outside of the UK? The Princeton Review recently listed Abertay as Europe's leading university for teaching game design, which is a huge recognition of the decades of work that have taken place at Abertay. Each year we see students joining us from across the world, but we also see that graduates travelling around the world have a qualification that studios recognise and respect. Many of our lecturers are very experienced game developers who have come from the industry, so Abertay staff have personal links to just about every major games company in the world.

Graham Fagen, Scotland+Venice, Palazzo Fontana, Venice, 9 May-22 Nov, free scotlandandvenice.com

Game On

We chat to curator of the Abertay Digital Graduate Show, Clare Brennan, about the show's role in helping to launch the next generation of digital artists, game designers, programmers, and sound designers

Running from 8-12 May, the Abertay Digital Graduate Show in Dundee offers the public an opportunity to experience the cream of its students’ work – ‘experience’ being the operative word; expect computer games technology, art, and projections in abundance. 170 students will be showcasing their work – as part of this, they've been tasked with using technology to create some very personal responses to social challenges like dementia, or engaging young people with politics and social issues. One such example is the standout Forget-Me-Knot by Alexander Tarvet, a visually remarkable game that aims to raise awareness of Alzheimer's disease. Elsewhere, Jess Hider's impressive looking Rose aims to advance current game animations in demonstrating situational awareness, whereby characters elicit a reaction to both the physicality and tone of their surroundings, which reflect both personality and mood.

Interested to find out more about the show, and what kind of opportunities lie ahead for many of this year's talented students, The Skinny caught up with Clare Brennan, Lecturer and Curator of the Abertay Digital Graduate Show.

How important is the Abertay Digital Graduate Show for launching student careers?

It's a fantastic opportunity for students to launch

their careers by showing their final, major university projects to potential employers, friends, family and members of the public. At Abertay we're focused on giving students real-life work experiences and feedback. It's crucial for developing artists and game developers to understand that they're creating work for an audience, and to have the chance to engage directly with that audience.

Do prospective employers attend the show to talent-spot?

The show involves the presentation of prizes by local and national games companies, as well as the creative and cultural organisations who visit us each year to spot the most promising graduates. We also involve the games industry and other cultural partners very closely in developing our courses and setting the creative briefs for student team projects. Each year we see students securing jobs and further creative development opportunities, as well as going on to create their own start-up businesses.

Any success stories?

Graduates have travelled all over the world, setting up and working in wonderful games companies. From the early days of games in

Credit: Alexander Tarvet

Interview: John Donaghy

Do graduates tend to remain within Scotland's creative industry? Or, are opportunities more likely abroad?

We see more and more graduates keen to stay in Scotland. Dundee's a great city to live and work in – it's got a beautiful location, vibrant cultural and music scenes, and living costs are low. For graduates excited about setting up their own company there's fantastic co-working spaces like Fleet Collective, and supportive organisations like Creative Dundee that provide opportunities to get started on your own venture.

Don't miss out on your chance to experience the next generation of digital talent at this year's show.

Open Fri 8 May, 4-8pm, Sat 9 & Sun 10 May, 12-4pm, Mon 11 May, 9am-12pm. Abertay Digital Graduate Show is part of the Ignite Dundee Festival, which runs from 8-31 May abertay.ac.uk/graduateshow

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ART / TECH

THE SKINNY

May 2015

23

On Form As his Lean Third short story collection is polished and republished, James Kelman, our grand master of literary fiction reflects on the craft and slog of experimental writing, class, culture and the high profile controversies surrounding his great works Interview: Alan Bett

I

n James Kelman's afterword to the new printing of his Lean Third collection of short stories, he ponders over the use of Gil Sans in the original 1985 edition, Lean Tales – his third joining those of Alasdair Gray and Agnes Owens. The typeface was agreed and celebrated over whisky with Gray, Owens leaving the boys to it. To the uninitiated it seems a dull conversation at best, or slim excuse for a bevy. To fans of Kelman – a sculptor of words on page – it's a decision of significance.

“I wanted to be a painter as a young artist,” he says, explaining his attachment to the visual.

We sit in the Kelvingrove Art Gallery, sipping tea and coffee from paper cups. “I was very keen on what painters did and thought that was really exciting, so when I started writing I wanted that same excitement.” He talks of the crucial nature of indentation in paragraphs, technology and print.

Short stories which “would only operate with a typewriter because all spaces are equal. Anything else is a kind of illusion, between an S and an F in those things and an I, the space itself is the same.

That obviously differs on computer.” This devotion and perseverance with form and structure is what pushes more knowledgeable critics to positively compare his work with the modernist experimentations of Joyce and Woolf.

Form is important, you see. It's a lesson learned twice today. Firstly when Kelman schools me on his literary craft. Then once more, when I blindly accept his Grand National tip: a horse which ambles in a distant 14th later that day. As a Glasgow boy who started placing bets at 15 and spent much of his youth in bookies, I expected more. But as a writer Kelman is a surer bet. A dead cert. In fact he often seems to be running a race entirely of his own.

The relevance of a space, a comma, a colon, and their effects; it's something rarely considered in modern literature. He shakes his head a little, explains how this indicates just how barren UK literature has become. That people have made experimental fiction a genre in itself instead of experimentation being at the heart of all literature. “You think if the art itself is healthy, surely all artists should be engaged in attempting to move forward. And that just gets described as experimental. It just assumes that the norm… there's no originality in the form.”

It's certainly nothing new, using form and technique to pull the reader towards the dramatic moment. The greats – Kafka, Joyce, Beckett – all engaged. “Some great writers can defeat that argument, like Tolstoy, you know?” Kelman questions. I nod sagely. “But most of the great writers, I think, during that period, are all engaged in trying to get to the dramatic moment and that separates them from other writers… if you're analysing it you go, that's how he did that. With a great writer like Kafka you can see precisely that's what he's doing; look how he's using verbs. You get that with Dickens too. Look at these two pages, every sentence begins with ‘and’. You're rushing on; you don't have time to stop.”

But his own fine craft – signified by a lack of punctuation and paragraph by design: a finely

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tuned Glasgow vernacular, repetition, repetition, repetition – has been mistaken for simple guttural flow, often from those who should know better.

He was questioned on whether he ever revised his work when A Disaffection was shortlisted for a prize, or, as one of the adjudicating panel asked “Did it just come out”? Kelman was scathing when responding in kind. “It jist comes oot, ah says, it's the natchril rithm o the workin klass, ah jist opens ma mooth and oot it comes.”

Journalists have also felt this indignation, largely when keen to pigeonhole the man and his work in terms of class. I sense none of this today.

He's open and generous with answers. Focused, mind you, very focused. When a question is deemed not fit for purpose he's too decent to mention it, but not guarded enough to hide this opinion – the eyes turn to granite, a spark within. His softest moment comes when discussing the Print Studio Press he was involved in with Liz Lochhead, Tom Leonard and others in the late 70s. The smile this generates is warm and genuine. Was this press an attempt to circumvent mainstream publishing?

“Well, there was no option,” he answers. “To that extent it was the same then as it is now, we had to fight our corner, you know? And a lot of young people are doing that now.”

“I always thought it was important to get rid of recollection, then you have to explore a thing in that oneto-one immediate way” James Kelman I bring up the controversy surrounding his 1994 Booker Prize win for How Late it Was, How Late – that wonderful dervish of a book. But he's not biting today. Booker judge Rabbi Julia Neuberger famously baulked at the language (an estimated four thousand fucking, fuck, fuckts – and further delicious variations of said word), calling the book “crap, frankly” and its winning “a disgrace”. He was branded “an illiterate savage” and his work “cultural vandalism” by The Times' columnist Simon Jenkins. For a man who speaks in measured tones and utters not one profanity himself today, to tie him directly to the voice of his characters simply due to the working class connection, shows extreme ignorance. You would think the literary establishment would delight in discovering a language, rather than being distur-

bed by the subversion of something they feel ownership of. “I don't really know,” Kelman replies wearily when questioned on the origin of this feeling. “Obviously it's an awful lot of things which I've answered many times over the years in different ways. It's a waste of time talking about it, in a way.” It's easy to understand his reticence when even those not fully familiar with his work are, however, familiar with these high profile reactions to it. “It always gets appended to your name.” He says. “You just continue really.”

I broaden the question, asking whether this hostility may arise from the frustration of those who are not culturally qualified to judge this work; unable through lack of experience to engage with its language and lives. When reviewing Kelman's masterful and hilarious 2004 novel You Have To Be Careful In The Land Of The Free, Irvine Welsh suggested it was “the book that many hand-wringing liberals have always wanted to write but are manifestly ill-equipped to undertake.” So, does he ever feel the working class experience provides an advantage over the lives of those more sheltered establishment authors? “I don't think there's any question that it does,” he agrees initially, although making very clear that every life is valid and a source for art. “The problem is that you have to be able to engage in a thing before you can make use of it, so you have to be in a position to write and create before you can make use of the experience that you have.” It's reminiscent of the famous dictum of his comrade-in-form Virginia Woolf – “A woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction.” That position is not so easily attainable for those without privilege, prompting Kelman to rage in his Lean Third afterword over ‘The truth, that art cannot be sustained by wage slaves, by people whose time on this planet is sold as the means to survival.’

BOOKS

Still, those cocooned by privilege would never have the experience to bring many of his Lean Tales to life: tight bastards offering nothing but negativity in A betting shop to the rear of Shaftsbury Avenue, the futile Kafkaesque bureaucracy of a lad's first day on the shop floor in Extra cup.

I stray dangerously close to ‘It jist comes oot’ territory when asking how he translates these real life situations dramatically onto the page. “No, that's not the way it operates.” He shakes his head in disdain. “In a way that's part of that same set of fallacies that says you go round with a tape recorder or something. I know that some writers do operate from recollection. I always thought it was important to get rid of recollection, then you have to explore a thing in that one-to-one immediate way. Nothing is taken from air or interpretation; in a way that's anathema to what I'm talking about, or the art I wanted to create. What I do is like pulling teeth in that way. It's hard and it's a slog. It's not like setting down ‘what did I do in my holidays last year,’ or ‘characters I have met.’

I mean, that's like Reader's Digest in a way.”

With the interview formally over, the intensity of his answers breaks like a fever. We chat generally and genially, discuss a mutual friend.

Even my cheeky bastard legacy question is amiably brushed off. He's only 68 and thankfully for us he's only looking forward. Finally he delivers that doomed tip on the afternoon's ponies. Then he's off, the cultural vandal, illiterate savage – our finest living writer. And I'll let you decide who we are.

Lean Tales is out now, published by Tangerine Press, RRP £12. Also available are limited edition options of hand bound, signed and lettered copies The book launches at Word Power Books in Edinburgh on 8 May, no doubt to be toasted with a uisque or two eatmytangerine.com

THE SKINNY

The Insect World Five more to see at Supersonic

A meeting of minds that has been in the offing for some time, Supersonic Festival finally unites Kevin Martin, aka The Bug and Earth's Dylan Carlson onstage next month. We reached the two for a summit of sorts Interview: Simon Jay Catling playing too much, bring out Martin's oft-repeated teenage hatred of guitars, or at least those for whom technique ruled over emotion. “As a young kid, Hendrix was like the devil to me,” he admits to more laughter. “It's taken me a long time to figure out guitars – and metal too, funnily enough.

For me, metal records are so often ruined by vocals or guitars that are played too much, or horrible theatrics. When it's whittled down to the purest tone or personalised intent that's when it works. It's why I like Earth, Godflesh and early Swans.”

“We've both been the red-headed step-children of whatever realm of music we're part of” Dylan Carlson

“I

remember hearing Earth 2 around the time of release, and just thinking ‘what the fuck is this?’ I had no idea,” crackles Kevin Martin's voice across the internet, still thick with a Dorset accent that's survived years living in London and now Berlin. On another connection from Seattle, Dylan Carlson breaks his hitherto attentive silence to howl with laughter. Hearing a reaction to Earth's 1993 opus, which pioneered what would become doom metal, isn't new. “But if I'm honest, a lot of the music I cherish most leaves me unsure if I love it or hate it first time round,” the everforthcoming producer and multi-instrumentalist presses on. “Then it pulls me back and I'm magnetised to it. That's really true of Earth's music.”

After more than 20 years of fate working round the clock, Carlson and Martin are set to cement a collaboration that started last winter with the release of Ninja Tune 12" Cold/Boa by performing live together at June's Supersonic Festival.

It's “a perfect opportunity” as far as Martin is concerned, while Carlson is looking forward to finally being in the same time zone as the man currently best known as The Bug, having worked on their studio collaboration over the internet following a hook-up by mutual friend and album cover artist Simon Fowler. “The way Kevin uses beats, if you're not paying attention they do these little rhythmic turn arounds,” Carlson reflects, speaking slowly and methodically on putting his tracks down. “He organises space in a really interesting way. I remember the first time I started playing and I was thinking, ‘Oh here's the beat’, and then it made this subtle shift and it suddenly felt very odd.”

The parallels in both their ethos and respective careers are numerous. As Carlson was stepping outside the exploding Seattle grunge scene at the turn of the 90s by furrowing a darker, repetitious progressive sound, so Martin was similarly re-examining rock's once-thought closed frontier and creating his own outsider scene with noise rock band God, and hosting DIY shows for Napalm Death, Godflesh and others. Martin and Carlson's views on volume as being central to their process are obvious; yet both too have constantly sought

May 2015

to redefine what it is they do with it. The Earth of the 21st century is much changed from its 90s counterpart, much as Martin pushed The Bug fully clear from the dubstep connotations the project had picked up on 2008’s London Zoo, with last year's thunderous, insular Angels and Devils. “With that record I was really aware that I wanted to keep honing my own craft away from everyone,” he agrees. “The musicians I respect most – and Dylan's certainly in that area – are people who've found a sound that's reflective of their personality and reflects them. I can recognise Earth tracks almost instantly and I would hope people would feel the same about Bug tracks. The real challenge for me in electronic music is how you personalise those machines.”

“That's one thing I feel in common with Kevin,” Carlson chips in. “We've both been sort of, to use the old phrase, the red-headed step-children of whatever realm of music we're part of.” For Martin, Earth had been on his radar since his days as a Wire magazine critic in the early 90s. Carlson though fully became aware of Martin under his King Midas Sound project, when they supported Om at London's Scala in 2012. Carlson has since gone on to write favourably about Angels & Devils for the magazine Electronic Beats, and enthuses on its “numinous quality and timelessness, rare in a lot of electronic music” to us this afternoon; but it's perhaps the dubbier sounds of KMS that reveal some key shared sensibilities between the duo, with Martin pointing out that Earth's use of space between the notes is something that speaks to him as a dub fan. “I share a great respect for dub,” Carlson replies. “That repetition and space, but also the willingness to use whatever was in front of them to create something interesting.

Lee Perry's studio was like a four-track and a space echo.”

As much as The Bug and Earth have somehow always seemed meant-to-be, however, there are certain ironies in their coming together. Carlson's mentions of Hendrix – like the 60s icon he also tunes down a half-step – and dropping a line by Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore about not

MUSIC

Few artists are currently exploring humanity's increasingly blurred lines between the ‘real world’ and our online existence with more insight than Holly Herndon. Effectively turning her voice into data on debut LP Movement, several tracks from forthcoming record Platform seek to humanise the laptop, celebrating its capacity for memorystorage while worrying about its use as a weapon of mass surveillance. Tennessee-born Herndon started out in Berlin's minimal techno scene, but she's long-traversed that to become an increasingly important social commentator for our times.

Liturgy Though rising through the US black metal scene, the group have never shied away from criticising the genre, while their music has constantly sought to expand beyond the paradigms they were lumped with. As latest album The Ark Work proves though, they're now at a point where placing them in the context of black metal is to do a disservice to the grandiose, skyscraping work that they're now pulling together, delivered with a knowingness in the bombast that prevents it ever becoming too much.

Apostille Recalling something of the late 70s Steel City industrialism of Cabaret Voltaire and The Future, Apostille, the moniker of Glaswegian Michael Kasparis, recently released debut LP Powerless on his own Night School Records. Anyone who's ever picked up anything from the label, be it the solo cosmos folk of The Space Lady or Portuguese duo Yong Yong's come down R'n'B jams, will recognise a similarly left of centre wooziness in Apostille's music. They partly obscure the fierce delivery of Apostille's cold wave-indebted songs, which live push Kasparis more towards punk anarchism.

Happy Meals Another Night School signing, the duo of Suzanne Rodden and Lewis Cook approach synth-pop from a much warmer perspective than their label boss.

Formed not much more than a year ago, Happy Meals share a sensibility with many on Night School in that their music gives the initial impression of being quite skeletal in structure; yet there's a hazy ambience that wallows in the space between their spindly synth lines. The pair look more to mainland Europe and disco, meanwhile, for an overall sound that feels entrenched more in late night reverie than punk show ferocity.

Sex Swing An unholy union between members of Liverpool psych stalwarts Mugstar, Part Chimp's Tim Cedar and Dethscalator's Dan Chandler, Sex Swing bring a thrilling sonic malevolence with them. Possessing all the fuzzed up weirdness, mind-bending repetition and textural fire that you'd expect from such a collaboration, the newly formed group truly sound like a mutated progression from their various previous projects.

The Bug

Photo: Morisa Tamaki

Dylan Carlson

It's what makes it so fascinating that the pair have wound up on the same page; what Martin has added over the years to the minimalism and intent learned from post-punk and noise rock, Carlson has distilled from behind the more overt styles of the likes of Todd Rundgren and Black Sabbath's Tony Iommi, to meet somewhere in the middle.

For both, the quest to continue to explore remains fierce too; “I think drugs become a quest to have that feeling,” says Carlson, briefly referencing his well-documented substance struggles of the 90s. “It was that desire to always have that feeling that music gave me. Unfortunately the human body is not meant to feel that way all the time. But music should be mind-altering and affect you otherwise it's not… I think it's funny when all my friends are like, ‘Oh I've got this song stuck in my head,’ because I don't even hear like pop music.

It just passes through me and nothing sticks.”

That those at Supersonic will feel every frequency of sound that two such titans emit is in little doubt. “Hey, Kevin,” Carlson quips as we sign-off, “should I bring earplugs?”

Holly Herndon

The Bug vs Earth's Dylan Carlson perform at Supersonic Festival, Birmingham, taking place 11-14 Jun supersonicfestival.com

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Less a festival, more an ongoing series of gigs – but we'll take it. Inspired not so much by the mythical dearth of shows in Edinburgh as the perception that… well, Nothing Ever Happens Here, this series of shows at the city's grand Summerhall venue vows to reverse live music's local fortunes by attracting up-and-coming acts to the Scottish capital, from these shores and beyond. King Creosote's resurrected Khartoum Heroes (10 May) and krautfolk specialists The Phantom Band (14 May) are stand-outs among the early listings, but an August visit from arch-miserabilists Sun Kil Moon (10 Aug) should help convince Auld Reekie that the scene's worth fighting for. *(See website for full dates) summerhall.co.uk/tag/nothing-ever-happens-here/

14-16 May DOT TO DOT

Credit: Emily Wylde

Insert your own Steve McQueen joke here. Once a year, the entire British music industry decamps to the lovely seaside town of Brighton for a weekend of buzz bands, conferences and general inebriation. One of those guaranteed ‘hot tickets’ you hear about, and with good reason – alongside big draws like The Cribs and Slaves, the place is full of the sort of newer acts upon whom the term ‘top tips’ is usually bestowed by those in the know.

Whoever ‘they’ are. ANYWAY. Not familiar with some of the names sitting proudly on the poster? Chances are you will be before the year's out: the rather excellent Great Escape is both tastemaker and deal-breaker for the up-and-coming. Day tickets £27.50-38.50, weekend tickets £59.50 greatescapefestival.com

Mobile festivals: now there's a concept. Dot To Dot first took place in a clutch of Nottingham venues back in 2005, but has since grown to include Bristol and Manchester, with the same core line-up travelling between the three cities over three days. This year it's headlined by rising starlet Saint Raymond, with sunny popsters Best Coast and riff monsters The Wytches also bringing the ruckus, but we'd politely suggest that the additional stages full of local flavour are more than worthy of your time – Manchester features post-punk she-wolves PINS and the glistening imagination of Rae Christian, and that's really no bad thing whatsoever. tickets £25, dottodotfestival.co.uk

A smaller scale event than the similarly-titled weekender just down the M62, but no less special: Manchester Psych Fest sees the drone legions taking over the Night & Day Café for a compact but enviable bill: San Diego's Crocodiles deal in fuzz-coated über-jangles and The Lucid Dream wander the furthest reaches of territory explored by Spacemen 3. Meanwhile, reformed freakbeatniks July do their irresistible, inimitable thing and some super-secret surprise special guests open proceedings with blown minds high on the agenda. Can't wait til September for your annual dose of cosmic sounds? This should see you through. Early bird tickets £11, facebook.com/manchesterpsychedelicfest

Misfits

17-28 Aug

David Byrne

Taking place by the side of the River Thames, in the glorious surrounds of London's Southbank Centre, Meltdown is a spectacular celebration of music, art, film and performance. Or, to put it another way, there's loads going on here. With line-ups devised by special guest curators – previously including the likes of Scott Walker, Ornette Coleman and Patti Smith – there's always a vast array of phenomenal acts on display, ranging from the rightlyrevered to the oblique-but-brilliant (sample from 2014’s programme: Grandmaster Flash, Neneh Cherry and Max Richter). Scant details thus far, but this year's affair is helmed by ex-Talking Head David Byrne, whose famously esoteric tastes should be enough to have you salivating at the prospect (eurgh, use a tissue please).

Ticket details tbc, southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/ festivals-series/david-byrnes-meltdown See theskinny.co.uk/festivals for the latest festival news and reviews from Scotland and beyond

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Doesn't seem like a decade has passed since the UK's biggest punk festival relocated to Blackpool's Winter Gardens. It's proven to be a recipe for success, however: once seen as a refuge for pierced fifty-somethings in leathers to catch the well-worn travellers like The Damned or UK Subs, Rebellion has expanded to include younger, fresher recruits from around the world, adding hardcore, ska, folk, hip-hop, glam and more to their repertoire, and feeling somewhat refreshed for it. Not that any of this should detract from any primal urges to yelp along to New Rose at the top of your voice, obviously. Weekend tickets £140 until 30 Apr, £150 after, rebellionfestivals.com

A self-described ‘punk rock and keg festival’, Out of Spite turns 15 in style. Pulled from the great and good of the DIY scene, there's noise and melody in abundance: reformed post-hardcore legends Spy Versus Spy should send pulses soaring, while Norway's own Beezewax return with their elegant blend of college rock and emo stylings. If we were really doling out tips, we'd also gesture towards the brilliance of Shield Your Eyes, Former Cell Mates and Tokyo veterans Does It Float, but ultimately this is a great chance to soak up modern punk's posi attitude in Leeds' Brudenell Social Club – quite possibly the UK's best venue. Aceness guaranteed. Tickets £22, outofspitefest.tumblr.com

25-26 Sep ATP 2.0: NIGHTMARE BEFORE

LIVERPOOL INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF PSYCHEDELIA

CHRISTMAS

MOODOID

If the recent resurgence of drone music has been good for anything, it's events like this: two days dedicated to exploring the extremities of sound and expanding consciousness through experimental rock music. Or alternatively: dead good riffs played dead loud.

Set in Liverpool's Baltic Triangle, a redeveloped industrial district, Psych Fest has improved year on year, and while early announcements like Menace Beach, Evil Blizzard and Hey Colossus are pretty exciting, the addition of Jason Pierce's Spiritualized suggests the 2015 showing could be the best one yet. Tickets £50, liverpoolpsychfest.com

MUSIC

7-8 Aug

Brudenell Social Club

Credit: Stuart Moulding

Credit: Ryan McGoverne

MELTDOWN

13 Jun

Toy

6-9 Aug OUT OF SPITE

REBELLION

Credit: Kat Gollock

You've got to love a slogan as catchy yet prosaic as ’ten bands one wristband,’ eh?

Having evolved from the infamous Stag & Dagger bash, Live At Glasgow's sterling lineup includes psych-wracked tunesmiths Django Django, guitar-mangler extraordinaire Thurston Moore and the city's very own femmepop scuzz artistes Honeyblood. Also – and keep this on the downlow; no sense in cheating yourself out of a seat – there's an exclusive screening of Nicklas Rossi's hotly-anticipated Elliott Smith documentary Heaven Adores You. If you can think of a better way to spend a cheery spring Bank Holiday in Scotland's largest city, we'd like to hear it. tickets £23, liveatglasgow.com

22-24 May MANCHESTER PSYCH FEST

WYCTHES

The Cribs

Django Django

Credit: Sam Huddleston

THE GREAT ESCAPE

Broken Records

3 May

27-29 Nov

Fuck Buttons

Some feared the end for the UK wing of All Tomorrow's Parties, following the last-minute cancellation of 2014’s ill-fated Jabberwocky shindig. But no! Back from the brink, the leftfield promoters return to their holiday camp format at a new location in Prestatyn, north Wales. Robert Hampson's drone veterans Loop, Detroit proto-punks Death and delightfully offbeat Canadian quartet Ought are among the first names on the bill – if there's any festival this year where you might find yourself playing air hockey against one half of Fuck Buttons, this is surely it. Early bird chalets from £756, atpfestival.com

THE SKINNY

Credit: Sam Huddleston

Words: Will Fitzpatrick

May-August* LIVE AT GLASGOW

Credit: Mihaela Bodlovic

The penultimate instalment of our 2015 festival guide. Like the idea of a carefully curated festival and a good road trip (even if it is just across the M8), but not the outdoor type? Here's your solution

NOTHING EVER HAPPENS HERE

Credit: Gullick

Indoor UK Festivals 2015

May 2015

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Credit: Steve Slater

guage” is incredibly important. “From the very beginning, our goal was to educate audiences and let them experience hip hop, to show it [being] as professional as possible, not only as a thing for teenagers in the streets,” says Žakevi ius.

And it is important work, changing perceptions and opening up the world of dance to new styles, and to younger audiences and performers. Home Trip received the Golden Stage Cross award for choreography, and of this recognition, Žakevi ius says, “Every recognition brings extra pressure and responsibility. On the other hand it gets easier to continue our creative progress.” And it aids their practice, bringing the dance style into education through the Low Air dance school with a professional, acclaimed gravitas behind their company.

Ahl, by contrast, is working with a crew primarily made up of non-dancers, apart from dancer Rachel Gammon who works with the Figs In Wigs performance company. Divina Kniest, who joins us on the sofa for this interview, met Ahl during a Creative Scotland-funded Shamanic workshop in Austria last October. She studied theatre pedagogy, while Fritz Welch and Jer Reid are both musicians so “they're not really dancers in a conventional sense.” Ahl tells us, “Those are the kinds of bodies I'm interested in seeing rather than technically skilled dancers.” It could of course be said that through this exploration of other bodies, she too is opening up dance to new audiences and new performers. And Ahl also explores education in her practice, through a masters programme she began for herself as an arts project two years ago.

“I call it the Non-Institute for Choreographic Enlightenment (NICE),” she tells us. This institute explores “choreospirituality”, the last module of which is the performance of Holy Smoke. “I've been developing different fake healing practices as part of NICE, and Holy Smoke is a continuation and explosion of all these things, building on different types of healing processes.” Taking up a master's under her own steam, Ahl explores the ideas of when you stop educating yourself. “I'm a bit careful about talking about it as education,” she says, but asks, “isn't making work as an artist a self-education?” – ending the interview on another existential question.

Tramway Digs Dance Louise Ahl of Ultimate Dancer and Laurynas Žakevičius of Low Air Urban Dance Theatre talk about their dance styles and their upcoming performances at DIG, Tramway's six week celebration of dance.

Dance International Glasgow, Tramway, various days until 5 June

Interview: Emma Ainley-Walker

Home Trip/Holy Smoke, Tramway, 15-16 May, 6:30pm, £11/£8

T

he Tramway theatre opened its doors on 24 Apr to Dance International Glasgow, a sixweek festival celebrating dance across the city, mixing together exciting Scottish and worldwide dance companies. Scottish-based Ultimate Dancer and Crew, and Lithuanian company Low Air Urban Dance Theatre present their two works as a double bill, evolving from very different dance styles and backgrounds, showcasing both the festival's diversity and its spirit: bringing dance of all styles and origins, and presenting them side-by-side.

Sitting down in a break from rehearsing at The Beacon Arts centre, Louise Ahl, aka Ultimate Dancer, talks of the “generous spirit” she found in artists and audiences in Glasgow that led her to base herself and her work here. “It was amazing how much people gave. I felt it was a really great place to develop as an artist. I studied in Dartington in England – that course doesn't exist any more, and nobody would stay around to make work there, so I really missed the sense of community. I felt that when I came to Glasgow.” Supported by The Work Room and beginning with Holy Smoke to work as an associate artist at Tramway, it's clear to see how that community has supported Ahl. Low Air, meanwhile, is a company (in their own words) “born out of two very different and together very similar individuals.” This pairing, the now-married couple Laurynas Low and Airida Air, will be making their first visit to Glasgow, but that aforementioned community spirit is one that will lend itself to their show Home Trip. Emailing The Skinny ahead of their trip, choreographer Laurynas Žakevi ius explains, “We are thinking

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Feature

about what the ‘home trip’ would be for Glasgow audiences, and we believe that each of us has felt a gap or distance that separates two human beings; the alienation due to expansion of a social media is huge.” He hopes to provoke audiences to stop and think: “Shall we turn back to our families and give a real hug, instead of a ‘poke’ or a ‘like’?”

“Shall we turn back to our families and give a real hug, instead of a ‘poke’ or a ‘like’?”

Laurynas Žakevičius

At the beginning, Home Trip evolved from the idea of being away from home, but as Žakevi ius continues: “When we started analysing this topic in a more precise way, we came up with the idea of a trip inside ourselves.” It also prompted them to ask the question, “What is home for us?” The piece looks at the gaps between generations and the relationships between parents and children, becoming a very personal work. As he tells us, it became almost a form of therapy in which he could explore his own family distances. “After the premiere,” he says, “my father came to me and said,

‘I got you.’” This illustrates the personal nature of the piece and the emotions it elicits.

According to her website, Ahl's work similarly explores “big existential questions.” She talks about the “exploration of time and space” as a basic structure to choreography. “For me there's lots of ways you can explore space, and the body in space, thinking about us as human beings in the universe. Already that is quite a big existential thing and then you come to questions like ‘Why are we here’ and ‘What do I want?’” For Ahl, dance and choreography can deal with the abstraction of these questions, opening up the exploration.

Through their performance, both companies bring in other areas of art and styles of working.

It is Ahl's first time making work for a group, not just as a solo performance. “Everybody in the piece is performing everything so everybody is on stage all the time and everybody is dancing, playing instruments of different kinds and operating light and sound. Everything is based on the stage so we all have this shared responsibility of making everything happen.” It echoes the community spirit she talked of earlier, and shows how dance as an art form can open out into other areas. For Žakevi ius, combining dance, music and drama in Low Air's work “clashes together” and “forces the audience to think outside of the box.”

Although the themes of the pieces may meander in and out of similar zones, the dance styles are very different. When Low Air established in 2012 they were the first urban dance company in Lithuania, and they believe that urban dance forms being recognised in a professional area for their “creative and powerful choreographic lan-

THEATRE

Credit: D. Matvejavas

diglasgow.com

THE SKINNY

LI FE

Trying To Be Civil

ST Y LE

In an opposite-sex relationship and fancy a civil partnership? Tough luck.

Here's why you should be furious, and what campaigning couple Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan are doing about it Words: Kate Pasola Illustration: Alessandra Genualdo

O

nce upon a time, I got dumped within my first month of university. I became a heartbroken shambles, sobbing undesirably into my ex's school hoodie (it was emblazoned with his surname and hadn't left my torso for a large proportion of Freshers’ – probably a gesture of my unyielding commitment.)

Then, my older sister – a dreamboat feminist and my platinum-haired icon – performed an intervention. She allowed me to spill apocalyptic tears over spaghetti bolognaise and Earl Grey, before asking smoothly if I'd ever heard of Simone DeBeauvoir… or Judith Butler? ...Virginia Woolf?

Sensing she was in elementary feminist territory, she popped a copy of Caitlin Moran's How To Be A Woman under my arm the next morning and instructed me to go home and read.

A week later, my dumper encountered a bout of break-up regret. Meanwhile, I turned my phone on silent and felt a tiny feminist phoenix flap its wings, asking me why the fresh hell I'd been wearing his surname on my back for the past month. ...Cue an omnibus of feminist epiphanies, utterly perplexing to my parents. Why was I so disparaging of Snog Marry Avoid nowadays? Why must I argue with relatives at garden parties about nipples? But the tip of the feministberg was my declaration that I'd only ever get married for the legal rights and tax breaks. And, of course, so I could intoxicate everyone I know and have the opportunity to hire an Elvis impersonator. My mother was disgraced by my disregard for matrimonial tradition.

That was when I realised – no matter how fruitfully you transform the patriarchal institution of marriage into a feminestival of equality, there's always explaining to be done. Explaining to the father-in-law why I didn't change my surname to his. Explaining to my dad why I won't let him ‘give me away.’ Explaining to the Elvis impersonator my rewriting of the line “you may now kiss your bride.” I want something else. I want a civil partnership.

Legalised in 2014 as a form of partnership open to same-sex couples, civil partnerships are a blank canvas stripped of expectation and patriarchal norms. Couples are considered partners, not husband and wife. Both parents of the parties are acknowledged on the certificate, rather than writing women out of history since the beginning of time. There's no obligation to utter any sort of sacred words unless you choose to, it's just a matter of signing on the dotted line. And about surnames? In marriage, if a husband wants to take his wife's name, it's more of a costly and lengthy process. With civil partnerships, you can just pick the best name (or play rock paper scissors), and be done with it – at no extra cost.

The catch? They're not available to opposite-sex couples. Yet. And that's where Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan come into the equation. The couple have adopted the cause from the Peter Tatchell Foundation, who originally campaigned for it alongside the battle for same-sex marriage. When the same-sex marriage was finally legalised in 2004, opposite-sex civil partnerships were left behind. Tatchell implored the government to gauge public interest for new legislation; in 2012, Cameron submitted. Rebecca and Charles

May 2015

told me that the consultation found 78,556 people in support of updated legalisation – 61% of respondents. So why didn't things change?

Oddly, the government asked the question once again in 2014. “Only 8,082 people were opposed to extending civil partnerships. But since this constituted 76%, the government used these figures to justify doing nothing... This seemed wrong to us. So we decided to act,” Rebecca and Charles told me. “Opening civil partnerships to all, regardless of sexual orientation, is the right thing to do. It would uphold the principle that everyone is equal under the law and it would benefit those couples, families and children who are currently without legal rights and protections.”

“Civil partnerships are a blank canvas stripped of patriarchal norms.

The catch? They're not open to opposite-sex couples.

Yet” But why do the Tories have such beef with opposite-sex partnerships? David Cameron has been quoted and requoted on his frets that new legislature might undermine traditional marriages.

Does he have a point? Rebecca and Charles don't think so; “Giving opposite-sex couples that same choice would not undermine marriage; rather, it would strengthen it, elevating marriage to a real choice rather than a route to attain legal rights.”

They also told me that in countries such as the Netherlands, where an equivalent to oppositesex civil partnerships exist, the majority of couples continue to opt for the traditional option anyway.

That in mind, it's hard to understand why Cameron's perspective is so precious.

I decided to email Nicky Morgan, Minister for Women and Equalities for a second opinion.

Sadly I only received a response from her assistant, Luke Tryle. He dryly confirmed no changes were in the pipeline, as quoted from an unspecified ‘Conservative Spokesperson.’ Even Luke didn't fancy getting involved.

So what's the plan? “We expect a ruling on the legality of the government's unequal system of access to civil partnerships sometime in autumn 2015. After that, the matter will go to Parliament, which will have to act in line with the court's ruling.

In the meantime, we are assembling evidence to strengthen the case, gathering more petition signatures and further funding for our legal costs.”

The couple hold high hopes, as the current situation seems pretty much an indefensible violation of human rights. According to expert Prof.

Robert Wintermute, the European Convention

on Human Rights requires that the government shows ‘particularly convincing and weighty’ reasons for maintaining the current status quo, especially now that same-sex couples may marry.

“This is a heavy burden of proof, which the Government will find very hard to meet.”

Promising, but there's still work to be done.

So how can supporters contribute their efforts?

Rebecca and Charles would prefer that the government was persuaded to do the right thing, rather than be forced to do so by the courts.

DEVIANCE

“Please sign our petition, donate to our legal fund, and write to your MP to demand change if you support the principle that everybody should be equal before the law.”

Do you? I do.

The petition can be found at change.org/ civilpartnershipsforall, and donations can be made via gofundme.com/civilpartnerships change.org/civilpartnershipsforall

Lifestyle

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The Monotony of Monogamy Monogamy schmonogamy: Liv McMahon discusses the intrigue of polyamory in a society of tables for two

H

Credit: Marianna Simnett

umans may be animals, but simple creatures we are not. For centuries we've been told monogamy is the only way to live. Rom coms, showbiz and Ed Sheeran dictate that the very essence of our being is to find our soulmate. Until we find ‘the one’, we simply drift through the world, incomplete. Apparently.

Our modern views of monogamy may have evolved slightly from the Greek idea of ‘monos gamos’, but Western and global civilisations still uphold monogamous relationships as the ultimate goal. Today, western society thrives on an adapted form of monogamy – ‘serial monogamy’, a cycle of long-term relationships that comedian Rosie Wilby associates largely with “strange power battles.”

The notion of ‘the one and only’ is rarely subject to discussion, but at the Edinburgh International Science Festival, four panelists came together to analyse the biology behind monogamous relationships. Their debate alerted me to the concept of polyamory, something I'd been aware of beforehand and had liked the sound of, but had never heard widely discussed or even acknowledged.

The Greeks had terms for many different kinds of love, so why is it that modern lovers are

often stuck with a sniper-focus on monogamy?

In a technologically advanced world is it not, perhaps, a bit Victorian that our lives are dictated by fixed frameworks of human relationships and love?

“Sex can be delivered as simply as ‘ordering a pizza’ (or simultaneously, if you happen to be craving a stuffed crust too)” As Wilby suggested, the rise of instant communication has transcended beyond messaging and into the realm of instant sex; through apps like Tinder and Grindr it can be delivered

to us as simply as ‘ordering a pizza’ (or simultaneously, if you happen to be craving a stuffed crust too). Thanks to technology, our sexual horizons are essentially limitless. Take online porn – we are handed greater choice, greater novelty and greater control. To quote Professor Frederick Toates, a speaker at the EISF event, living in a “highly sexualised society” with easy access to porn has potentially rendered our computer keyboards “a stimulus for arousal.”

On one hand we expect stability and security from our relationships. But on the other we desire novelty, excitement and spontaneity – tricky to sustain when you're in a long-term, monogamous relationship. In 2012, the divorce rate was 42% according to the Office for National Stats. There were thirteen divorces per hour in England and Wales. It is no wonder, then, that non-monogamous options are thriving. Swinging is receiving much more publicity lately. Vice magazine regularly takes its readers on secret sex party tours in South London, providing, ahem, “first hand” insights into the benefits of extramarital sex. Meanwhile, at a somewhat less steamy Science Festival, an audience member sings the happy praises of ‘adultery voucher' trades in her consensual nonmonogamous relationship. Contrary to popular

What Will They See of Me - Marianna Simnett, Blood, 2015

belief, polyamory can and often does work.

Consensual non-monogamy might come across as a little utopian, but it's a concept that should be more openly acknowledged. Jules Howard made a good point: since animals don't pursue a single mating strategy, why should humans be any different? However, to base the debate on biological arguments of what is allegedly ‘natural' is also problematic. Zoe Cormier summed that one up particularly well: no one really knows why we are the way we are, that's why this is a matter of debate.

Monogamous, non-monogamous, swinger or serial singleton, human love is diverse and varied.

If we just put down our Sharpies and quit trying to sling labels on each others' romantic endeavours, perhaps we'd be all the more empowered to seek the kind of arrangement that suits us, instead of society.

Quotes taken from The One and Only?, a panel discussion featuring Rosie Wilby at Edinburgh International Science Festival. Wilby returns to the Fringe this year with The Science Of Sex (Sneaky Pete's, 8-15 Aug)

Iberodocs, Favela Gay

CCA Highlights Words: Nicholas Holt

Y

ou there! Urbanite looking for artistic events to attend! Yes, you! From CCA's third programme of the year, we've picked the highlights we think deserve a gander from yourself. With everything from Thurston Moore to Ibero-American culture to Dan Deacon, this line-up's fit to burst with possibilities for your diary in May and June.

First stop: live music. Head to Stag and Dagger's Live at Glasgow and turn your Sunday stroll through the city into a walking music festival.

Django Django, Francisco the Man, Jim Valentine, The Thurston Moore Band and over a dozen other artists will perform at venues within a four block radius of Sauchiehall St. Just be sure to grab your advance ticket from the O2 ABC box office sometime before the start on 3 May at 1pm.

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Lifestyle

Limited by categories like film, art, or music?

Next up's all three in one: Cryptic Nights presents Articulations: immersive interactions between man and machine, wherein musician Craig Ritchie Allan of Numbercult will animate film visuals in realtime to compose corresponding melodies, and create a visual-musical performance rather different from anything we've seen before. Catch Ritchie Allan on Thursday 7 May at 8pm.

After that, we've got the perfect film followup from promoter Love Music Hate Racism, with a screening of The Clash: Westway to the World.

Directed by the band's long time collaborator Don Letts, the documentary includes interviews from band members, plus footage from their backto-back concerts in New York. A Grammy Award winner, this one won't disappoint on Sunday 10 May at 6.15pm.

Speaking of categories, why's it all got to be in English? Unique among film festivals in Scotland, IberoDocs brings Ibero-American culture (that is, culture from former colonies of Spain and Portugal) to Scottish audiences. Last year, documentaries ranged across subjects like emigration, integration, rural landscapes; this year the subject is identity, with confirmed films El Tiempo Nublado, Salt of the Earth, and more. Eche un vistazo Sat 23Sun 24 May. For something a bit more on the art side, check out the Jerwood/FVU Awards 2015: What Will They See of Me? which looks at how much everyone does see in a world where a greater number of waking moments are spent on the internet.

This year's awards go to film artists Lucy Clout and Marianna Simnett – the former's From Our

DEVIANCE / ART

Own Correspondent examines the vanishing private lives of journalists, while the latter's Blood tells the story of Isabel, a convalescent trying to understand her identity. See the exhibit between 30 May and 12 July from 11am-6pm Tuesdays through Saturdays, and 12-6pm Sundays.

Lastly it's back to live (electronic) music, where Dan Deacon would like a word: “Can you feel the lightning covering your skin? / It's the nightmare / ‘Cause you're on fire.” Thus opens Feel the Lightning, the first song off Deacon's latest album Gliss Riffer, a blast of upbeat synths, lyrics coherent enough to think about, nods to minimalism, and a pounding bassline ready for the dancefloor. Deacon will perform in Glasgow on Thursday 18 June at 7.30pm.

THE SKINNY

The Inventors Of Tradition II

Spring Fling 2015 As southwest Scotland's artists and designers open their studios for this year's Spring Fling, we take a look at the array of events in store

Collaborative curators Atelier EB and Panel present a new exhibition exploring the evolution of sportswear and its links to cultural identity

Words: Morgan McTiernan

Words: Fern Logue

Credit: Courtesy of The British Council

N

Quodlibet XXXV, Oil on canvas, Lucy McKenzie, 2014

S

portswear is having a bit of a moment of late.

With the resurgence of brands such as Fila and Ellesse, and the continued love-affair with classic trainer styles, it seems you're never far away from an Adidas Superstar or another classic favourite.

The evolution of sportswear and its cultural and social links is something that Atelier E.B. – otherwise known as Brussels-based artist Lucy McKenzie and Edinburgh fashion designer Beca Lipscombe – are keen to acknowledge in their latest exhibition, in collaboration with independent design curators Panel. The exhibition Inventors of Tradition II will be held at The Palace of Art in Glasgow's Bellahouston Park later this month.

The project seeks to examine the connections between art and sport: areas which initially seem disparate yet, particularly in Glasgow, are both central in terms of cultural identity. The Palace of Art connects sport and art historically, originally being built to house the Empire Exhibition of 1938, but now used as a sports facility. The location highlights the truly collaborative nature of the exhibition, which will feature not only a sports-inspired fashion collection, furniture and artworks by Atelier E.B., but also specially commissioned works by photographer Eileen Quinlan, choreographer Ellen van Schuylenburch, filmmaker Murray Grigor and tapestry weaver Elizabeth Radcliffe. It seems that such collaborations are a means of continuing the approach that Atelier E.B. present in their work, which McKenzie believes allows “independence from a fashion system we find corrupt and tired.” She sees such collaborations as “a fundamental way to challenge power structures” imposed by the fashion world.

Glasgow has a long history of sport, which has been in the spotlight recently with the Commonwealth Games coming to the city last year.

Particularly renowned is the football rivalry that runs throughout the city – the subject of a dance performance which will run as part of the exhibition. Atelier E.B. have been influenced by all areas of sportswear, from Soviet gymnastic leotards to football ‘gang’ styles, and with the recent focus on sport in the city, McKenzie suggests that they have been inspired by “sport and not just sportswear” – hence the focus on the many cultural issues stemming from sport. Atelier E.B.’s sponsorship of Edinburgh-based women's football

May 2015

team Leith Athletic Ladies Club has further fuelled their use of fashion “as a tool to question assumptions about sport.” The duo see fashion and sport as being connected through sportswear as a means of expressing cultural allegiances. It is an area bound up in social and cultural associations, and an extremely fertile area of research.

Concerned with the often secretive nature of the fashion industry, in terms of areas such as manufacturing and production, Atelier E.B. are committed to creating garments in a way which is ethical, and strongly oppose the exploitation and plagiarism that often occurs in the production of garments. The collaborative aspect of the exhibition follows McKenzie and Lipscombe's approach to production, where they work closely with local companies and independent producers. They also sell the garments they have created directly to the public with an aim of creating a “dialogue” through communication and feedback. Their work combines an interest in textiles, artisan production and fashion in order to make fine art accessible through the medium of fashion.

Inventors of Tradition II will run at the Palace of Art from 2-30 May, with garments from the collection available in a pop-up shop within the exhibition space itself. There will also be a programme of events associated with the exhibition, such as screenings of Steel upon the Sward and E. P. Sculptor (by filmmaker Murray Grigor) at the Glasgow Film Theatre, and the aforementioned dance performance – a recreation of Yes O Yes, a collaboration between Michael Clark Company and The Fall, led by Ellen van Schuylenburch, and staged by Panel and Atelier E.B. Performances will be given by student dancers, independent dancers and a live ensemble band created by Glasgowbased Tut Vu Vu, also featuring Sacred Paws’ Eilidh Rodgers and Cassie Oji of Golden Teacher.

After the success of Inventors of Tradition four years ago, which looked at the legacy of Scotland's textile industry, and the subsequent collection Ost End Girls in 2013, the follow-up from Atelier E.B. and Panel is not to be missed.

The Palace Of Art, 1121 Paisley Road, West Glasgow, G52 1EQ wearepanel.co.uk ateliereb.com

ow in its 13th year, renowned open studios event Spring Fling will take place from 23 to 25 May around Dumfries and Galloway.

Focussed on visual art and contemporary craft, the event brought a staggering £1.4 million to the local economy in 2014, attracting over 13,000 visitors to southwest Scotland. Art ranging from photography, painting and jewellery to textiles, glass, ceramics and furniture will be on display, with 95 artists taking part this time round.

Spring Fling is not only an opportunity to see beautiful artwork by Scottish creatives, but also to access their work spaces, with the majority of the events being held in the artists’ working environments. As director Leah Black comments, “Spring Fling is all about unusual places, fascinating people and superb visual art and craft. It’s a chance to see inside the studios and homes where some amazingly talented people live and work.”

This event is perfect for the craft-curious and the downright nosey, with spaces including an old historic grain warehouse; an array of farms, cottages and converted barns and stables; as well as an intriguing working studio belonging to photographer Laura Hudson Mackay, who will exhibit her work in her home – a 16th century tower house that once belonged to Lady Dervogilla of Galloway.

“It’s a dream home for me because I love the ethereal and the otherworldly,” she explains. “This is a fairytale Scottish castle with pepper pot turrets, set in the most beautiful imaginable countryside.” That fairytale castle will host her exhibition, where images will be on display from her camper van treks through Europe and North Africa, to Marrakesh and into the Sahara.

“Spring Fling is all about unusual places, fascinating people and superb visual art and craft” Leah Black

Other exhibitors to look out for include jewellery designer and goldsmith Michael Pell, who was part of the Glasgow School of Art team who created the medals for last year’s Commonwealth games. Having previously studied in Sydney, his studio is now located in rural Galloway, where nature and architecture provide inspiration for his work, together with ideas drawn from individual experiences of location, environment and history.

Contemporary jeweller Joanne Garner, who is based in Brydekirk, and is stocked in galleries such as the Craft and Design Centre in Leeds, is definitely worth a visit. Garner’s work is mainly made from silver and gold but is also peppered with non-traditional jewellery material details such as textiles. Aiming to “create pieces which are a chic, edgy alternative to high street jewellery and which appeal to the individual with a specific eye for design,” she creates structural pieces which are inspired by natural landscapes, as well as vintage costume jewellery. Her use of brightly-coloured gemstones, such as garnets

FASHION

Joanne Garner

set within dark oxidised silver, are striking and extremely wearable.

Another highlight is sure to be Glasgow School of Art graduate Shona Guthrie. Guthrie’s work references the night sky, her surrounding environment and also the written word. Using photography as a fundamental stage of the design process, and constructing visual diaries of environments, she translates this into unique pieces of jewellery that combine precious and non-precious metals in vibrant colour contrasts, and reference shapes found in nature.

If jewellery isn’t your thing, textiles artist Morag Macpherson designs and makes stunning, bold and brightly-coloured pieces with surface pattern designs inspired by art movements in history, different cultures, and forms both urban and natural. These designs are digitally applied to natural linens, crisp cottons, pure silks, fine wools and – recently – wallpapers. In addition to this, Macpherson makes scarves, cushions, bags, throws and even kimonos (our personal favourite!).

Although the open studio weekend begins at the end of May, Spring Fling hosts other exhibitions in the lead up to this main event. The German capital has recently hosted the inaugural international exhibition – as part of Spring Show: Berlin, the Making Art show at Green Hill Gallery in Kulturschoepfer, showed the work of 12 artists and designers from Scotland. As Black tells us, “This exhibition offers Berliners a taste of what’s happening in Dumfries and Galloway, which is one of Scotland’s most creative regions. We hope it will really challenge people’s perceptions of the relationship between visual art and craft.”

Spring Fling is inspired by and centres around the artists of South West Scotland, allowing visitors to gain an insight into the workings of their craft as well as promoting the diversity of talent that Scotland has to offer. spring-fling.co.uk

Lifestyle

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Darren Cullen D

arren Cullen is a self-unemployed artist, writer and occasional musician from Leeds who once studied at Glasgow School of Art and now subsists on various forms of potato products in that London.

He likes to make work about things he hates.

Pocket Money Loans offers payday loans to kids aged 3+ at interest rates as low as 5000% APR (853% cheaper than Wonga.com). The shop was open in London for two weeks last year and loans are still available at pocketmoneyloans.com Action Man: Battlefield Casualties were part of the anti-army recruitment comic Join the Army (bethemeat.co.uk) intended as ultra-realistic depictions of the potential consequences of military service. The project received the backing of Veterans for Peace UK, who are collaborating with Darren on a short film featuring the dolls which will be released for Armed Forces Day later this year.

You may also know Darren as co-writer of The Skinny’s Mystic Mark column or the drummer in that old band Shitdisco.

You can generally find most of this work online:

twitter.com/darren_cullen facebook.com/spellingmistakescostlives instagram.com/spellingmistakescostlives spellingmistakescostlives.com

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SHOWCASE

THE SKINNY

May 2015

SHOWCASE

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ADVERTISING FEATURE

Cocktail Column

G TLK 2 STDNTS Target 30,000 students across the Central Belt of Scotland The Skinny Student Handbook, published Sep 2015 To secure your advertising space or for more information call The Skinny sales team on 0131 467 4630 or email sales@ theskinny.co.uk

hosts are a divisive bunch. Some people find them exciting and interesting to be around, others are terrified by any mention of their presence, while many sceptically point to the almostcomplete lack of evidence for their existence. As we said, they provoke a mixed reaction.

So it's fitting that a cocktail that shares its name with one of your common-or-garden spectres should have a split history. One version of the drink's origin story begins in London at the turn of the 1920s, with notorious American bartender Harry MacElhone. He developed a bizarre green concoction formed of creme de menthe, lemon and Cointreau, which looked about as odd as it sounds. When he opened his new bar in Paris, Harry changed the recipe to include gin, omit the creme de menthe, and take it a little easier on the Cointreau.

That's one version of the story – the other sees the drink originate in London's Savoy Hotel at the hands of Harry Craddock. The man seen by many as the godfather of the Martini, Craddock published his White Lady recipe in his seminal 1930s recipe book, with bumbling comedy duo Laurel and Hardy reported to be fans of Craddock's version in between their various hijinks.

Whichever story you believe, and cocktail history is filled with these kind of authorship rows, The Edinburgh Lady from Heads and Tales adds a local twist to the classic. The Edinburgh Lady pairs local Edinburgh Gin with EG's Elderflower Liqueur, while the egg white balances out the sharp and citrus notes with a little smoothness. A simple but action-packed recipe, and, for once, an origin story that we can all agree on.

The Edinburgh Lady INGREDIENTS: 25ml Edinburgh Gin 25ml Edinburgh Gin Elderflower Liqueur 15ml Cointreau 25ml Lemon Juice 25ml Egg White

@theskinnymag /TheSkinnyMag

METHOD: Pour the Edinburgh Gin, Elderflower Liqueur, Cointreau, Lemon Juice and Egg White into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake well and strain into a cocktail glass.

Rutland Street, Edinburgh EH1 2AE headsandtalesbar.com

Illustration: Verbal Picks

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THE SKINNY

The Rise of the ‘Single-Issue’ Venue We look at the growth of foodie venues which focus their efforts on a handful of dishes, debate the pros and cons, then get distracted by animals and other people’s bad ideas

A

couple of months ago, we spent several hundred words and a not-inconsiderable amount of ire mouthing off about the fact that we're nearing the foodie interior design singularity. You know, the point at which all the streetlights get replaced with ten-foot-high filament bulbs, and the amount of exposed brickwork and industrial venting on display leads to hipsters wandering for days looking for the bar, unaware that they've actually been wandering around a disused warehouse the whole time.

We said that every venue seemed the same nowadays, and decried the fact that it can sometimes be difficult to tell one place from another.

Well, when one door closes, another flies open – say goodbye to the problem of everywhere seeming too similar, and wave hello to the age of the single-issue venue.

Yes, the days of accommodating that one friend who wants something vastly different from everyone else are over, folks – in the brave new world, you can eat Chinese buns at the Chinese bun joint, or chicken wings at the chicken wing place, or you can have yourself a big ol’ bowl of nothing.

Finally, the power in the food world is in the hands of the right people – culinary obsessives with the planning skills to outflank their friends, and the gall to force said friends to a restaurant that only has two things on the menu.

It's a phenomenon which we reckon can be traced to a couple of different places. You can see its roots in the street food movement, which does add up when you think about it – if your kitchen store cupboard consists of the pockets

May 2015

of your 1930s-inspired tweed apron and, if you're lucky, a shelf, you're going to stick to a slender menu.

The other side of the equation was best summed up by hirsute food writer and sometime Masterchef-interrogator Jay Rayner in one word – “Tokyo-isation.” In the Japanese capital, there are somewhere in the region of 150,000 restaurants, so it's important to stand out. You stand out by producing tasty dishes whose reputation then spreads far and wide, and it's easier to put together one classic than it is to come up with a whole set of them – just ask [INSERT SNIDE POP MUSIC REFERENCE HERE].

Making the best use of limited resources to stand out in an ever-expanding market by focusing on doing one thing really, really well; it's hard to see how anyone could disagree, unless they're the kind of person who demands that each part of their meal be more exotic and ridiculous than the last, like some deranged Medieval king. Yep, single-issue venues, all good in our book. All the best, The Skinny.

But then there's the cereal thing. You see, it is a good idea to focus your energy on crafting one dish to perfection before moving on to another, or to say “I make donuts, and only donuts, but they're very good donuts so whatcha gonna do about it?” It is not a good idea to look at a bowl of chocolate-coated bits of rice, stare longingly into the eyes of the cartoon monkey on the side of the box, throw down your spoon and say, “Yep, this. We'll do… let's make… let's have lots of these.”

The Cereal Killer Cafe in “London's trendy

Brick Lane” not only manages to be a crap concept with an even crapper pun for a title, but it also compromises the whole idea of a venue focussing its attention in one area. Like cutting-edge robots that malfunction mid-press conference and start running around in circles, venues like Cereal Killer and The Porridge Cafe make the notion of the single-issue venue seem like a joke. Your macaroon shop is not at the forefront of The New Dining; instead it's “like that cereal place off of the telly, but with macaroons, yeah?”

“A cat cafe is not a cafe, it's a room with a cat in it” Some of these high-profile one-note venues are clearly ridiculous PR stunts, or the frenzied fever dreams of those with more money than sense.

Then there are the play-for-laughs knockabouts like #SimplyCrispy, the Belfast-based crisp sandwich shop who describe themselves as “world leaders in putting crisps in between bread.” Even still, it's coming to something when a press release promoting the launch of an ‘Owl Cafe’ is met with a shrug rather than a gasp. Well, a shrug followed by disapproving grunts and/or howls of contemptuous laughter.

The aforementioned owl cafe, Annie the Owl in London's Soho, received over 80,000

FOOD AND DRINK

Words: Peter Simpson Illustration: Mica Warren

applications from people keen to head down and risk a talon to the face during its limited run last month. For the £20 cover charge, punters got two hours with the owls, and some smoothies. The smoothies are the important part of the story, because initially Annie the Owl was branded as 'A Pop Up Bar' promising 'Creatures and Cocktails', until an online brouhaha forced the organisers to put the bottles down and refocus the event as an educational opportunity.

Which from a food standpoint somewhat negates the whole point. After all, there are already buildings with animals inside, designed to educate folk about said animals. They're called ‘zoos’, are run by professional animal handlers, and tend not to operate on a pop-up basis. Ditto the growing trend of the ‘cat cafe’, where people pay to sit in a room, with a cup of tea, near a cat.

That is not a cafe, it's a room with a cat in it. Every food spot needs a selling point, but it also need to be, y'know, about the food. Not about a cat.

So when you dodge through the morass of blackboard paint and parquet flooring the next time you're out and about, embrace the fact you'll be making your choices early. If you like ramen, go to the ramen place and enjoy deliberating over whether you really want that extra tea-stained egg.

If you want a glass of wine, inspect every bottle in the place in a faux-snooty manner, then order a glass of the second cheapest. And if you like cats, just make friends with someone who has one; they might even throw in your tea for free. theskinny.co.uk/food

Lifestyle

35

Food News In this month's food news, you'll find axes, multi-sensory experiences, dairy-based storytelling, and lots and lots of bacon Words: Peter Simpson

W

e start this month as we mean to go on – with an evening of enormous and delicious burgers. In the first of Spit/Fire's new ‘Gimme Shelter’ series of kitchen takeovers, Newcastle burger supremos Fat Hippo take over the Edinburgh wine and beer bar with a whole host of tasty concoctions, most of which involve bacon in one way or another. Bacon jam? Seriously? If that's a thing, we're both terrified and intrigued, and will be there to assess the situation on your behalf. We may need a bib. 4 May, 26 Dublin St, spitfirebars.com From burgers to beer, and the fantasticallytitled Cambolicious festival in the East Neuk of Fife. It's got everything you might look for in a beer festival – a whole heap of locally-produced cask ales, a nifty country setting, some live music to keep things interesting, and, em… axe-throwing.

Grab a beer, take in the country ambience, throw an axe around, home in time for dinner. Now that is a quality use of a Saturday afternoon. 9 May, 2-8pm, Cambo Estate nr Kingsbarns. Tickets £10, cambolicious.com

Create:Eat:Whisky

Lest you think this month's column has peaked early with all that axe action, may we present ‘immersive’ and ‘multi-sensory’ whisky event Create:Eat:Whisky. Brought to you by award-winning pop-up foodies Jelly and Gin, C:E:W promises to turn your senses against you with a whole gamut of tricks and experiences to go with your evening's drinks. Expect confusing aromas, sounds and sights to sit alongside a range of tasty cocktails. 14-17 May, various times, Gayfield Creative Spaces, 11 Gayfield Sq, Edinburgh. Tickets £33, jellyandgin.com Moving back to beer, but this time in the heart of the capital, the Summerhall Beer FestivALE returns. Festiv-ale, you see? Oh, Summerhall, how droll of you. We'll leave the snark to one side though, because this should be a good ‘un – Williams Bros, Top Out and Thistly Cross will all be in attendance, as will Summerhall's resident brewery Barney's and distillers Pickering's Gin. There will be DJs and street food, and it might even be sunny but if not you can always hide in a former dissection room – sounds good to us. 15 & 16 May, 2-7pm and 8pm-1am, 1 Summerhall Pl. Tickets £8, summerhall.co.uk And finally this month, the Open Jar artists’ collective bring us The Story Behind a Pint of Milk. The collective, who ran a pop-up cafe during last year's Glasgow International art festival, return with an evening looking at the social, economic and environmental costs that go into a pint of the white stuff. You'll learn how to make cheese, you'll discover just what impact your bowl of cereal has on the planet, and you'll hear from the folk behind the milk. The farmers, we mean, not the cows.

There's some leftfield stuff going on this month, but that might be a bridge too far even for us.

29 May, 5pm, Kinning Park Complex, 43 Cornwall St, Glasgow. Free (ticketed), facebook.com/ OpenJarCollective theskinny.co.uk/food

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Feature

Phagomania: Lollipop, Lollipop We indulge our sweet tooth this month with the sugar-packed and somewhat saucy creations of photographer Massimo Gammacutra

A

re these all sweets that you see before you?

Sweets, or ‘candy’ if you have been living in the USA, as photographer and Rome native Massimo Gammacurta has for the last 15 years.

“Food is such a primal need,” states Gammacurta, explaining the driving forces behind these creations. “It goes into your veins, into your blood, and without it we do not survive. For me it is all about the relationship between food and art. Art is what we are. It is innovation or whatever you want it to be. I wouldn't survive without art... it is one of my primal needs.”

Rousing stuff, yet we wouldn't expect anything less from a passionate Italian. But why go in the sticky direction of sugar, water and corn syrup?

“Choosing candy as my media was dictated by the vibrant colours and imperfections you can achieve with it. Also, it is dangerous and

unpredictable, just the way I like it.”

Turning the everyday alphabet into exotic, kaleidoscopic lustre dripping with alluring chewy fun, Gammacurta crafted a series of letters called Eat Me. He says, “It is all about lust, really nothing more than that,” and if you thought his alphabet was tantalising, you should see his Kama Sutra inspired series KamaSugar. That even made Phagomania feel a little bit prudish, so Google at your own risk.

Gammacurta describes himself as having dual roles – as a still life commercial photographer for clients such as Emporio Armani, with a sideline as a conceptual photographer in fine art and sculpture. “I like to create sculptures out of sugar,” he says, “but it is the nature of the beast; they decay over time, so I have to take pictures of them.”

Casting with sugar has proven a popular sub-

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Words: Lewis MacDonald

ject for him though. “I have had great reactions from my fine art candy project,” he states. “It has brought me notoriety and new projects, both commercially and in the fine art world.” The latest such project is a commission for more foodinspired lollipops as part of the Tempting Art show at Milan Design Week.

So what exactly is the appeal of Gammacurta's palatable creations? “Like I said before, food is a primal need,” he says, “and anything primal will stimulate our brain. That is what makes food such an interesting subject and media.” There's our lesson for the day – make your food sexy and you can grab anyone's attention – now go forth and unashamedly lap it up. gammacurta.com

THE SKINNY

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Illustration: Lucas Jubb

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THE SKINNY

RE V IE

Credit: Claus Heiberg

Credit: Dave Kerr

Credit: Heidi Kuisma

W

Rob St John

Tyler, Tyler,The TheCreator Creator

Hot Chip

Gig Highlights Words: Katie Hawthorne

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tart this summer with a flashback to the space-race in Glasgow, as Public Service Broadcasting bring their special blend of aural collage to the O2 ABC. The duo combine archival soundbites, video footage and roaring guitars for an experience far more involved than your typical live show – and this time they’ve turned their attention to the cosmos.

Then comes Happyness to Sneaky Pete’s on 8 May; the London three-piece proffer fuzzy slacker indie pop that’s guaranteed to put a smile on yer gub. 9 May rings in the first of several major clashes: Over at Glasgow’s Stereo, you’ve rising indie stars Foxygen bringing feel-good weirdo pop and some stellar dance moves. The same night, Dan Willson, aka Withered Hand, will be spinning beautiful yarns at Nice n Sleazy. Meanwhile in Edinburgh, TeenCanteen are hosting ‘The Girl Effect’ at Summerhall, boasting a lineup of The Vaselines’ Eugene Kelly, Broken Records, Stanley Odd’s MC Solareye, The Spook School and many many others playing classic

tunes from girl-groups past and present – with all proceeds going to the Scottish Women’s Aid. The clashes continue on 12 May, where you’ve got the choice between a dance party with electronic maestros Hot Chip at Glasgow’s Art School, an evening of bratty rap with Tyler, the Creator and his new album Cherry Bomb at Barrowlands, and a chance to get up close and personal with this year’s hotly tipped prince of disco Shamir at Stereo. Soul pop purveyors Years and Years stride into Edinburgh Liquid Room on 20 May. Slick, shiny and supremely confident, don’t miss this rising trio before they blow up this summer’s festival circuit with their imminent debut album. If you like your indie rock lo-fi and soaked in Madrid sunshine (and don’t we all, eh?) then we’ll see you down the front at Broadcast on 21 May. Spanish band Hinds bring their summer-scented mix of surf rock and concrete grit.

Now, 22 May sees Belle and Sebastian grace The Hydro with the Scottish Festival Orchestra in tow for their largest indoor show at home...

ever. Enough said, really. Their January return with Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance showcased the band digging deep into disco, and this gig of the most mammoth proportions is not one you should be sleeping on. That said, the reformed Ride also bring their sublime dream pop to the Barrowlands for the first time since 1992 that same night. Does your Joe Bloggs jumper still fit?

Eccentric piano wizard Nils Frahm takes the reins at the O2 ABC on 23 May. The Berlin-based trailblazer combines the classical and electronic in entirely original ways. If you’re after a taster, he’s also just released an album for free over on his website, in support of the newly coined Piano Day. For a quick injection of old fashioned rock’n’roll sleaze, The Bohicas are fresh out the gate – this May roadtrip is their first ever headline tour. Expect huge, greasy hooks and boatloads of energy when they hit King Tut’s on 27 May. Keeping it filthy, our favourite self-confessed “Stooges rip-off” are back on the road this year –don’t you dare miss iconic Sub Pop flagship band

Mudhoney take to the stage at the O2 ABC on 28 May. The definitive Seattle quartet still sound as bitingly muscular as ever, and promise an absolute schooling for any would-be grunge upstarts.

The Glad Cafe on 29-31 May hosts the inaugural three day mini-fest Sucker Punch. Presented in conjunction with Gold Flake Paint in honour of the popular music blog’s fifth birthday, the lineup boasts the likes of Babe, Kathryn Joseph, Tuff Love, Rob St John and WOLF amongst a whole host of equally stellar features, before winding down with a screening of recent Elliott Smith documentary Heaven Adores You. And, finally, 30 May – the Manic Street Preachers perform their 20 year old post-punk masterpiece The Holy Bible at Edinburgh’s Usher Hall. A record so important to so many people, played in all its weighty, defiant entirety – an extraordinary way to see out this month.

Do Not Miss Stag and Dagger or Live at Glasgow? What's in a name? An absolutely bloody great bill, whatever the title. Musical bargains don't get any better, and this year's roster is a genuine cracker. Django Django are back with their brand new album, Sonic Youth hero Thurston Moore is bringing his band to town, and our very own Honeyblood sit tight at the upper end of the line-up, but there's a glittering array of returning veterans and up-andcoming names from all across the globe to explore.

To give you just a faint idea of what you're in for: Try Dutch Uncles, Childhood, Amber Run,

May 2015

Black Honey, Spring King… There's Scandinavian punk hedonists Iceage, the inimitably creative Micah P Hinson, baroque Canadian crooner Tobias Jesso Jr, as well as John o’ Groats-viaGlasgow boys Neon Waltz and soulful sisters The Staves. And electro trio Atom Tree, JP Cooper, C Duncan, Hannah Lou Clark. Really, if there's not something here that's piqued your interest, I'll eat this laptop. As the posters say: ten venues – one wristband. That's a whole load of bass for your buck with plenty left over for a beer or five.

[Katie Hawthorne]

Credit: John Graham

Live at Glasgow, Various venues (see listings), 3 May

Atom Tree

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Preview

39

Photo: Kat Gollock

Photo: Oli Erskine

Warpaint

album finally gets a look-in with an extended segue from Intro into Keep It Healthy – and it's rapturrrrr rously greeted. Whirring, driven and royally huge, it proves a perfect playground for a band so psy“It sounds like you're shouting horrible things, but chically in sync, yet so determined to stretch those I'm hoping they're nice? Is that just the Scottish boundaries. Known for live sets that are more jam way?” asks Warpaint's Theresa Wayman. She's ans- session than practised precision, it's with an elecwered by a roar of reassurance from a crowd ready tric nervous energy that Warpaint try out Teese – to kiss the feet of the LA four-piece. a track from 2014 they've not yet performed; all Opening with a run of tracks consisting of the ghostly harmonies and a magnificently nonchasuper new and the firmly established, the band lant bass-line from Jenny Lee Lindberg. make a firm statement on where they've been and The set wraps up with Disco//Very: “It's time to where they're headed. Last December, drummer dance,” asserts co-vocalist Emily Kokal. The brilStella Mozgawa voiced the group's intentions to liantly creepy, seductive floor-filler has Glasgow “reimagine” the album format, and they've made all riled up and vigorously demanding an encore. good on the promise, releasing a double A-side Thankfully the band oblige, and storm through of I'll Start Believing and No Way Out. Aired along- Love Is To Die before finishing with yet another side long-term fan favourites (Composure and oldie, Krimson. It's a testimony to a band on top of Undertow, from debut album The Fool), these new their game – but with so much more to bring. tracks sound crisp, victorious and tantalisingly [Katie Hawthorne] unpredictable. Last year's triumphant self-titled O2 ABC, Glasgow, 24 Mar

Låpsley / Oceaán

Sneaky Pete's, 19 Apr

rrrrr

Mancunian outfit Oceaán open tonight, their compositions transformed into gnarly, tangled assaults live. Frontman Oliver Cean on keys, modulating his vocals from soulful keening to warped howls; drummer Ty thwacking both drumpads and an analogue snare. Beats and scraping sounds then collide, mid-air, so coordinated and yet so unpredictably syncopated. There's a bristling, lo-fi soul to this duo, like the tender Jai Paul or Autre Ne Veut; Mount Kimbie and James Blake get a look-in, too, thanks to the crackling loops and impressive vocal on Cean. But it's all so heart-wrenchingly divergent from its influences that we, blinking, swoon at its satisfying novelty.

In a way, the noisy support have wrecked the place, and it's up to the street-smart sweetness

of Låpsley to pick up the pieces. Holly Fletcher snuck up on us about a year ago with her ghostly aural minimalism. Since then she's become a touring band, a little in the CHVRCHES mould (flanked by two dudes on drums and synths) but refreshingly far from any squeaky synthpop.

Instead, her sturdy vocal is front and centre, piano by her side.

The set is solid; she falters once or twice, some tracks lacking the polish she'll soon earn on the circuit. A few songs have pre-recorded pitchshifting, suggesting that perhaps even Station will suffer the same automation. But to close, she grabs a second mic for that staggering one-person conversational duet. ‘Well I will ring you up / Say I want you back,’ she sings to herself, an androgenous baritone, ‘I could walk you back to the station,’ she loops back, pained. At only 18, Fletcher is tonight's siren of the rocks. [George Sully]

Sleater-Kinney

O2 ABC, Glasgow, 25 Mar

rrrrr

When Sleater-Kinney declared ‘indefinite hiatus’ in 2005, the time seemed right. Corin Tucker in particular seemed exhausted, while Carrie Brownstein's determination to sail across choppier waters with seventh album The Woods seemed to have run the band aground. That their unexpected comeback should be so gloriously received, or that accompanying album No Cities To Love should be such an unalloyed triumph could surely not have been forecast, but tonight simply cements the spectacular nature of their return.

In these capacious surroundings the band seem more tightly focussed than ever, with Brownstein eschewing the high kicks of yore in favour of liquid solos and crushing power chords.

Newer material slots effortlessly alongside familiar friends like Little Babies and One Beat; indeed, it sounds like the trio have recently

40

Review

awoken from suspended animation, such is the natural feel of their evolution despite nine years away. Tucker's voice – commanding, bluesy and thrillingly volatile – stretches to full pelt as she surrenders her guitar for a scintillating Gimme Love, but it's drummer Janet Weiss who steals the show. An endlessly inventive powerhouse, her thunderous, but controlled pummeling is utterly hypnotic, whether on a rare outing for bubblegum-flavoured favourite You're No Rock N'Roll Fun, or the dizzying tumbles of Entertain.

The crowd seem almost overawed by a performance of such magnitude, whooping and hollering at appropriate moments (particularly Tucker's encore-leading cry for sexual equality), but reverentially silent during others. “As a fan, I can say this song is not about Glasgow,” announces Brownstein, ahead of a white-hot blast through the new record's title track. The city most assuredly loves them all back.

[Will Fitzpatrick] sleater-kinney.com

Photo: Kat Gollock

Photo: Alexander Bell

warpaintwarpaint.com

Nothing Ever Happens Here: Broken Records / Garden Of Elks / Fuzzystar Summerhall, Edinburgh, 27 Mar

rrrrr

Can't fault the folks behind Nothing Ever Happens Here for their noble intention to reignite the Edinburgh live scene; enthusiastic cheers please, everyone. Things get off to an unremarkable start, admittedly; openers Fuzzystar have the sort of name you'd expect from a late-80s Boston college rock outfit, so it's disappointing that half their set consists of blandly wet balladry. Still, there's an agreeable Mark Kozelek-ish quality to frontman Andy Thomson's sombre vocal, and when they – inevitably – get their Buffalo Tom on and kick the pace up a notch, they're plenty of fun.

Garden Of Elks, meanwhile, go straight into noise and don't let up. Louder and more chaotic than on their (actually very fine) debut album A Distorted Sigh, there's a sense of chaos bubbling

MUSIC

underneath their manic, grunge-inflected fuzz-pop that makes it difficult to keep your eyes off ‘em.

Niall Strachan rambles enthusiastically about sprouts while Ryan Drever pogos with delightfully oblivious abandon; feedback blaring and hearts pounding amid the melodic maelstrom. It all ends with Strachan nonchalantly launching his guitar at the front row: more please.

Difficult to follow, you might think, but the audience is ready and primed for Broken Records’ grand vision. The first act of the evening to truly elicit an ecstatic reaction from the now-bustling Summerhall, their grandiose, violin-led microdramas evoke Scott Walker one moment and Bruce Springsteen the next, and if we've done our maths right that should add up to Arcade Fire. There is, however, a warmth to Sutherland's stage presence that isn't quite equivalent to Win Butler's elegiac otherness, most eloquently demonstrated when everyone present loses themselves to All Else Can Just Wait's blissed-out refrain. [Will Fitzpatrick] summerhall.co.uk

THE SKINNY

Under the Influence: Thurston Moore From the Blitzkrieg Bop of 70s New York to hardcore fury in the Hollywood hills, Sonic Youth's founder humbly presents “the five fucking greatest records in the world!”

Interview: Dave Kerr Photography: Trent McMinn

I

t's like Lou Reed said on Metal Machine Music – at the end of his liner notes he goes: “My week beats your year.” It's such an antagonistic thing to say. My five records beat your thousand!

1.RAMONES – RAMONES [1976] Punk rock is what radicalised me when I moved to New York at the age of 19. Certainly the first album that I can remember being a bit of a life-changer would be this one, which I bought when it came out in ’76. It was really special for me because it was right when my father was in the hospital – right before he died of a brain tumor. I remember making these trips with my mother to this hospital which was about 45 minutes away from where I lived, in Newhaven, Connecticut. At one point we were coming back and stopped at a record store along the way. I saw that record, which had just been released, and was very curious about it. So my mother bought it for me and we went home, where we had lots of family – aunts and uncles – visiting because of this crisis that was going on. It wasn't the best of atmospheres, but I remember putting this record on and everybody kinda just got up and started dancing to it. It brought this sort of joy into the room and everybody started smiling and laughing.

I'll never forget that – it was a very strange thing.

This record has a beautiful memory attached to it just because of that.

To me, they exemplified a break from the past; I've always loved that story of The Ramones playing at The Roundhouse, with all the punk rockers like Joe Strummer, Sid Vicious and Johnny Rotten climbing through the window to hang out and watch them – thinking they were going to see this really strung out junkie-rock band puking onstage or something. What they saw instead was this precision powerhouse – well rehearsed and super focused attack. Joe Strummer said that changed everything; that idea of discipline, of coming out and being so good because you rehearse so much and you're so together. There's no mess. That meant a lot. If one important thing came out of the Ramones being the forefathers of punk rock, it was that exchange.

listening to these records at Kim's parents’ house in Los Angeles in the 80s, the one record I was really drawn to was A Love Supreme by John Coltrane.

That to me was what spirit music really was – the idea of wanting to make manifest the idea of what spirituality was in music or art. That was achieved in this recording. That was really affecting for me and it led me into this place where I did intensive research into jazz history… got so immersed in it I became like a complete freak about it and started collecting the recordings in a very big way and it sort of led to me into the avant-garde, obviously.

It was really exciting and radical for me, to think about this music that has the same very personal value as punk rock did.

3. TAPPER ZUKIE – MAN AH WARRIOR [1978] Three, I would say, is this record by reggae artist Tapper Zukie – it was on this label called Mer that was run by Patti Smith and Lenny Kay for a little bit. I bought it only because it was on Patti's label. I'd never known too much reggae music at that point. I listened to Bob Marley and whatever but was never a superfan. But this record made me a superfanatic about reggae; everything about it was awesome. The front cover is this Robert Mapplethorpe photograph of a black, bald head and it's beautiful and Penny Reel – who used to write for NME and stuff in the 70s, back when the NME was actually a readable newspaper – wrote the liner notes.

I loved this record because it was so stark – it's basically just a guitar making a kind of percussive clicking sound. Very simple notation. And this rasta vibration voice just intoning on top of it. Very stark and minimal; really a strange sounding record.

I'd play it all the time over and over and it led me into investigating Jamaican reggae culture and how it went into ideas of otherworldliness, which I really liked. Man Ah Warrior was really important to me.

4. SUN RA ARKESTRA – STRANGE STRINGS [1967] In a way this was a holy grail for people who collected Sun Ra records, of which I was one. Get2. JOHN COLTRANE – A LOVE SUPREME [1965] ting in to avant-garde jazz certainly led me into I didn't know jazz music growing Sun Ra. Then when I started finding out about up – my father was a classical the fact that he'd recorded so many records on his music enthusiast. He played clas- own labels – like El Saturn and Thoth, I started sical music and that's the music picking them up while we were touring around the we had around the house – it was that or the United States. Like, how could somebody make rock'n'roll that me and my brother would bring in. 200 records? I'd be in all these little record stores So jazz was something I was not familiar with – it unearthing these Sun Ra records. In those days was really obscure to me – and I knew that people they were pennies per pound. Now they're imposlike James Chance and the Contortions were refe- sible to find and trade for high value on the interrencing jazz. I knew that Tom Verlaine would talk web. I met a record collector in Atlanta, Georgia about Albert Ayler's records. That sounded curious who had about 140 of ‘em. So I said “What can I do to me; so I would see these records in the store for you to get all these records from you?” I didn't and they'd look like they were from another planet, have any money to buy them. He said “Well, there's as far as what I was dealing with. The two people things I'm looking for like some Sonic Youth collecwho turned me on to it were Byron Coley – a music tibles and other things.” journalist who I became friends with in the 80s, So I gave him all these Sonic Youth test preswho was a big jazz listener and collector – and Kim, sings that I had signed and then I had this one who listened to jazz growing up. record that Steve Albini gave me of a Big Black Byron made me all these cassettes of classic record that was encased in metal. A very limited jazz music – hundreds of hours – and then just by edition that Steve made for friends, and I had

May 2015

boneheaded thug punk stuff that I wasn't interested in. But I was drawn towards it for different reasons – certainly the Raymond Pettibon drawing on the front of the Jealous Again 12 inch. I remember buying that and it sounded so nasty – the guitar sound was crude and wild and didn't have this refined aesthetic that I was getting into with, say, Scritti Politti!

So it was this throwback, but it was a new kind of throwback. I kept going back to it and finding myself getting more and more into what the vocabulary of hardcore was until I became a convert. Black Flag's Damaged was an essential text 5. BLACK FLAG – DAMAGED [1981] to it. It wasn't the generic hardcore formula – it The record is Damaged, the band alluded to it but it was also blowing it out and going is Black Flag. For me, one of the in different places. A very important record and a greatest groups of all time. I was very important band because of how industrious completely in love with ‘em when they were in ignoring the typical industry stanI first started getting into underground hardcore dard of how you're supposed to put a record out records in the 80s. Sonic Youth had already been or tour. They created a new standard of activity. around for a little bit, and I kind of felt like – coming When Henry Rollins joined the band – listening to out of punk rock and getting into no wave and post- him sing on Damaged was curious, because it sounpunk – certainly we were post-punk. Then all of a ded really brutal; in a live context it was like blood sudden these bands were showing up that were spilling off the stage. Every time you'd see them, younger than us and they were only referencing every night they'd come out, rip their skin open and day one punk rock – stripping it down and making flail themselves onstage. They would leave themit more feral and primal. I was curious about It, so selves and the audience wasted.

I remember buying the ‘Circle Jerks’ first record, Thurston Moore Band play Live At Leeds on 2 May, Live At and the first Dischord 7 inches by Minor Threat Glasgow on 3 May and Liverpool Sound City on 23 May and S.O.A., and then hearing about the singer from thurstonmoore.com S.O.A. joining this group Black Flag, which I was aware of but I thought it might've just been some

one. I really didn't want to get rid of it because it was this big, heavy, great thing at the time. This collector says “If you throw that in I'll give you all of these Sun Ra records.’ I thought it was a fair trade.

They're both Chicago musicians… kinda makes sense. I loved this particular record though, Strange Strings was such a difficult Saturn record of Sun Ra's to find. It's treated really heavily with all this reverb and it's definitely one of the more out there records that the Sun Ra Arkestra – the Astro-Infinity Arkestra – had issued.

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Album of the Month Blanck Mass

Dumb Flesh [Sacred Bones, 12 May]

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If 2012’s White Math EP wrong-footed those tuned into Benjamin John Power's evolving brand of cerebral electronica, they might want to check their balance before approaching Dumb Flesh, his second album proper under the Blanck Mass moniker.

Shifting beyond the dreamlike haze of his eponymous debut, this is an at times propulsive, often fractured and ultimately towering work of cutting-edge production, obsessively evoking themes of gothic science fiction.

Yet despite the underlying dystopian narrative, it's also a record flush with subtle revelations and its fair share of banging techno tunes. “There has to be some kind of underlying melody,” Power recently told us. “It's something that I can't really operate

Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufeld Never Were the Way She Was [Constellation, 27 Apr]

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Blanck Mass plays The Skinny stage at Electric Fields, Drumlanrig Castle, Dumfriesshire on 29 Aug blanckmass.bandcamp.com

Faith No More

Rozi Plain

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Sol Invictus [Reclamation/Ipecac, 18 May]

Saxophonist Colin Stetson and violinist Sarah Neufeld, known as much for their prolific collaborations (see: Tom Waits, Bon Iver, Arcade Fire) as their solo enterprises, join forces here for the first time. And in doing so, both leave behind the stark, austere loneliness of previous solo works for something fleshier. Never Were The Way She Was is still minimalism in the extreme, with protracted periods of repeated motifs.

But the two instruments complement each other beautifully, arriving at a sum that vastly exceeds its parts. Neufeld's violin offers an elegant counterpoint to the more jagged, aggressive baritones of Stetson's saxophone. It's an enigmatic and often foreboding record. And The Dark Hug Of Time, with its distant vocal wailing and foundation-wobbling ripples of bass, feels like a terrifying daydream; while the album's title track is like an angry, pared down version of Arvo Pärt's Fratres. Which is to say, it's brilliant. [John Nugent]

Hell-bent on reaching higher than before (rather than pissing on their life's work), trust these perennial non-conformists to creep back into the fray with a lofty album title that conjures the same smirking self-awareness that always made them dangerous. We've served you well, now we're comin’ back,’ Mike Patton rasps on the ecstatic Matador, essentially levitating ut of the coffin in his white suit to ride the clichés of renewal, pulling it off more convincingly than most.

Faith No More's self-proclaimed “Second Coming” is given weight by Sol Invictus – ‘The Unconquered Sun’ – a 40 minute trip driven by charisma, invention and Patton's characteristic tracheal terrorism. Close your eyes and stick pins in the tracklist for highlights; Superhero stumbles through the door like a demented sequel to Epic, their age-old hit, while Separation Anxiety is a convincing update on the sort of juddering thrash-funk they made their own with Angel Dust. Passionate, hungry and still hearteningly uncompromising; this is the real thing. [Dave Kerr]

cstrecords.com

Playing O2 Academy, Glasgow on 14 Jun | www. fnm.com

The Tallest Man on Earth

Joanna Gruesome

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Peanut Butter [Fortuna POP!, 11 May]

Dark Bird is Home [Dead Oceans, 11 May]

without.” The evidence of this is scattered liberally throughout Dumb Flesh, with early track Dead Format building from an existential howl into an apocalyptic rave, or the giddy Double Cross spilling forth from the off with a certain buoyancy that marks this as wholly different machine from parent outfit Fuck Buttons. It's a volte-face of staggering ambition, and while newcomers and longterm listeners alike can expect to be bowled over, Power himself sounds rock solid on his feet here. [Darren Carle]

A shimmering influx of Scandinavian countryinfluenced singers – First Aid Kit and the like – have graced the international stage of recent years. Who knows where the fascination or the perfected accents came from; either way Kristian Mattson can still claim to have been one of the mighty at the crest of it all, debuting with 2008’s Shallow Grave. Four albums in and he continues to bring eversentimental anthems to his songbook, albeit with a voice that's dropped a tone or two as of late – no stress, it's still adorable.

With his biggest sound yet he's added a full-on Sigur Rósstyle backing to the mix. It works for opener Fields of Our Home but elsewhere his vocal talents can sometimes drown in the happy-clappyness: steering this material into a strict verse/chorus format doesn't always totally translate. That first album had it right: Mattson really needs no more than his voice and guitar to prove himself. [Luisa Brown]

Cardiff's finest mess returns with another twenty-one minutes of explosive noisepop. Not much to show for two years’ work, you might think, but J-Gro get more right across this action-packed second offering than most bands do throughout entire careers.

Short-fused opener Last Year sets the tone, slamming into an incendiary chorus, with Owen Williams and Alanna McArdle's dual murmurs a superbly soft yin to the band's raging punk yang.

Williams claims this record is lyrically more obtuse than predecessor Weird Sister, but when vocals are buried this deep in deafening fuzz, we'll have to take his word for it. Instead thrill to the chest-swelling refrain of Psykick Espionage and a seriously addictive arrangement of Black Terror‘s Separate Bedrooms – voluminous magic poised equidistant between cuddlecore and hardcore.

Crunchy, smooth, whatever: Peanut Butter is a refreshing antidote to indie rock's traditional sophomore slump. [Will Fitzpatrick]

Playing Glasgow O2 ABC on 20 Oct | thetallestmanonearth.com

Playing Islington Mill, Glasgow on 24 Sep | joannagruesome.bandcamp.com

Friend [Lost Map Record, 4 May] Emotional – rather than sonic – clout is its energy source, and Rozi Plain's third album connects at a level beyond mere volume and muscle. The opening Actually sets a scene whispered but devastating: ‘It will be reported to be a tumultuous year…’ Arrangements are thrillingly sparse – shuffling percussion, needlepoint acoustic guitar, vintage synth. Plain sings, as ever, with a keen sense of wonder, but this time around she inhabits a freer, warmer world.

The sleepyhead vibe of Best Team, replete with epic, abovethe-clouds middle eight, as with much here, masks a sharply focussed vision. Aided by a supporting cast that includes Serafina Steer and Hot Chip's Alexis Taylor, Friend's ten songs are slim but far from slight and Plain emerges as a distinct and sophisticated songwriter. Repeated listenings reveal its homespun charm. Shot through with elements of folk and psychedelia, its timing is spot on: it feels like the coming of spring. [Gary Kaill] Touring the UK extensively Apr-Jun. Playing Edinburgh Summerhall on 1 May and Monorail, Glasgow on 4 May | roziplain.co.uk

Prurient

Frozen Niagara Falls [Profound Lore, 18 May]

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As with the rest of Prurient's unforgiving discography, Frozen Niagara Falls is an assault on the senses with barely a moment of respite; however in what has been described as Dominick Fernow's ‘magnum opus’, the suffocation lies not just in the noise but the emotionally battered destruction within. Amid the scatter of gunfire of Myths of Building Bridges, the dystopian soliloquy of Shoulders of Summerstones, and the John Carpenter-esque synthesis lies a ditchwater destitution, like a distress call from a war-torn country.

The album's centrepiece Greenpoint encapsulates the dystopian journey of the album best; a lonesome guitar galvanising silt and muck into a pulsating techno rhythm only to disintegrate, allowing a plaintive voice to remind the listener that ‘you don't want to hurt anyone’; all the while electrostatic feedback constantly stabs and slices in the background. Frozen Niagara Falls digs beyond human emotion into a dizzying journey of large scale disaster. [Jon Davies] prurient.bandcamp.com

METZ

Doomtree

II [Sub Pop, 4 May] rrrrr

All Hands [Doomtree Records, 4 May]

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‘I got my own nation’ goes the hook from All Hands’ second track, an appropriate rallying cry for its seven-piece rap ensemble that's as much it's own cult as it is a recording project. Minnesota's idiosyncratic Doomtree continue to operate on a wavelength all their own on their third record, delivering 13 pulverising tracks that mine everything from EDM to pop-punk in aid of maximising their anthemic potential.

Their populist-leaning beats secure the group a broad appeal despite their predilection for regional in-jokes, abstract metaphors and anorak pop culture references – the sort of specialised knowledge essential to any enthusiast community. Quite what Doomtree have to offer prospective inductees isn't so clear however; while confidently massing a riotous campaign, All Hands never quite pinpoints a definitive target for its vitriol: ‘I've been lookin’ for someone to blame,’ admits Sims on .38 Airweight, to which P.O.S. responds ‘I've been thinkin’ ‘bout motives/I've been runnin’ in place.’ [Andrew Gordon]

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When METZ kicked down the doors of a complacent post-hardcore scene in 2012, they were touted in some quarters as another ‘new Nirvana’ – mainly as they are a trio who deal in devastating riffs, and they signed to Sub Pop. But with II, we can finally drop that claim for good. The Toronto group haven't hired Butch Vig, or given their second album any polish, but have instead ramped up the intensity of their debut and kept straight ahead on a rather scary-looking road which has led to them being hailed as one of North America's finest touring rock bands in recent years.

Spit You Out could be the best example yet of the sort of nerve-shredding, paranoia-inducing power they possess, which is just kept in line by a killer hook. Kicking A Can of Worms proves they can pull back from the edge if required, before another powerdrill bass riff sends your heart racing. Social anxiety has rarely sounded this thrilling. [Chris McCall] facebook.com/metz

Django Django

Born Under Saturn [Because Music, 4 May]

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It's serendipitous, really. Just as the sun threatens to show its face Django Django return with a roaring, resoundingly summer-vibed record. In measures weird, rooted and transcendent, Born Under Saturn is an extraterrestrial kind of pop beast – here to guarantee you enjoy the ride, but ultimately mysterious in its movements. The Edinburghformed four-piece have definitely got something a little spooky afoot this time. Space-age synths open High Moon, and Shake and Tremble comes on thumping and ominous, unfurling into waves of hazy psychedelia. Closing track Life We Known is all creepy ‘outlines of past lives’ by lyric, but floor-filling foot-stomping escapism in body. Django Django's self-titled first effort proved that they're masterful party planners, and in 2015’s incarnation every click and stomp has hip-shaking purpose. Bells, whistles, brass, choral backing vocals – Born Under Saturn's got it all, and in its determination to get you on your feet, we've got a record that feels like August's come early. [Katie Hawthorne] Playing Live At Glasgow on 3 May | djangodjango.co.uk

RECORDS

THE SKINNY

Tyondai Braxton

Ava Luna

My Morning Jacket

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HIVE1 [Nonesuch, 11 May]

Infinite House [Western Vinyl, 4 May]

The Waterfall [ATO, 4 May]

It's no secret that former Battles member Tyondai Braxton is one of the most talented musicians around today, but as displayed on the bloated and indulgent Central Market that isn't always beneficial. Thank goodness his new collection HIVE1 is so clinical, near utilitarian in its approach. Using his highly acclaimed ensemble performances from the past 12 months as a starting point, HIVE1 has the impression of a variety of ideas conversing, heading into impossible tangents only to agree with each other in a roundabout way.

The constant shift of textures from the swarming microcosms showcased in K2 and Outpost to the crisp, clubby Amlochley pace the whole record fantastically whilst able to create and dismantle worlds of their own. The finale Scout1 reassembles the album and gives it the percussive treatment, concluding one of the most exhilarating minimalist albums of recent memory. [Jon Davies]

There's a thin line between having catholic tastes and a predilection for dicking about. You say eclectic, I say make your fucking mind up. Certain chin strokers of the hipster blogosphere love Ava Luna, but then they would. Ever more, as our beards and our Portlandia box sets leave us ever further from knowing who we are and where we've come from, we laud the ludicrous just in case. Infinite House, the Brooklyn ‘nervous soul’ (puh-lease) collective's third album, cares little for identity as it goes genre-hopping like an over-indulged child.

From the spoken word Steve Polyester to the clipped funk of Company (think Jamiroquai rather than Chic), Infinite House dispenses with integrity, song craft, and most importantly soul. By the time Black Dog and Billz arrive – both baffling, horrible guitar workouts – the game's up. Noodling on this scale should really attract a custodial sentence. [Gary Kaill]

On The Waterfall, Jim James sounds like a man at ease. My Morning Jacket's first record in four years returns the veteran Kentuckians to their midnoughties best: where Circuital could sound forced, and James’ proggy urges had infiltrated their music to the point where one more freewheeling guitar solo would have invoked the spirit of Rick Wakeman, Believe and Like A River are lighter, simpler and relentlessly upbeat.

There's barely an ounce of fat on show as the record veers between the band's country rawk roots, revelling in dashes of blues on In Its Infancy and the delicately finger-picked Get the Point. The Waterfall will rightly go down as a high point in My Morning Jacket's output; an album to restore some faith in the somewhat directionless Americana genre. Above all, it's a hugely enjoyable ten songs where Jim James’ voice soars to heights this band haven't been in nearly a decade. [Stu Lewis]

tyondaibraxton.com

avaluna.bandcamp.com

mymorningjacket.com

Du Blonde

Welcome Back To Milk [Mute, 18 May]

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Beth Jeans Houghton's transformation from screwy troubadour to her new alter-ago is surely standard issue music career car crash, right?

Think again: Du Blonde is a triumph on nearly every level and her new MO (in short – loud guitars, rage) is a blast. Hunter is tremendous, a hefty soul ballad whose classic form, you suspect, could quench the mainstream's current thirst for originals re-fitted with modern production slicks.

When she steps it down on this and the Orbison-esque Black Magic, it's no surprise to learn that Bad Seed Jim Sclavunos is on production duties. As on his recent work with New Jersey chanteuse Nicole Atkins, his unfussy arrangements give his charge room to breathe. In Du Blonde's case, fire. When, on Four In The Morning, she roars ‘Shut the fuck up and let me bore you / I'm not sure I adore you,’ it's a potent reminder that watching a hungry artist at play remains one of life's great joys. [Gary Kaill] Playing Glasgow Broadcast on 10 Jun | dublonde.co.uk

Jackson Scott

Prefuse 73

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Rivington Não Rio Temporary Residence Ltd, 12 May

Sunshine Redux [Bloodmoss Records, 4 May] Jackson Scott's debut album Melbourne had been knocking around online for months before Fat Possum gave it a full release in 2013. With reviews ranging from ‘a winning introduction’ to ‘pointless’, his hazily lo-fi bedroom pop called to mind Bradford Cox and Phil Elverum – at least until an oblivious Scott admitted this was not, in fact, the context of his influences.

Follow-up Sunshine Redux explores his sound further, blending sunspot-flecked guitar riffs with simple, stoned melodies; offkilter blues with hypnagogic lucidity.

When he's good – Ripe For Love's dizzying six-minute sprawl, the druggy goo of PRPLMTV – he's very good indeed, with tempos lurching like a Syd Barrett record left on a radiator. By contrast, Pacify fails to scale the same heights, languishing in dizzied psych production while also being distinctly forgettable. Scott is far from without his charms, and there's a certain joy to be found in simple melodies so gleefully obscured by sonic debris. A little tidying wouldn't go amiss, mind. [Will Fitzpatrick]

Four years since Scott Herren's last release under any of his multiple guises, and it appears he has enjoyed his thinking time. Returning to the very essence of sampling he became known for, Rivington Não Rio refuses to let groove dictate the flow; beats, bursts and melodies are blended down by an electronic furriness which in many ways dictates the lead. It's only his Excusing 140 Jabs Interlude (feat. Milo & Busdriver) that flashes back to Herren's R'n'B affections, lyrics hilariously mismatching the comparatively gentler beauty of the record: “Use my little finger to spread shit on far-fetched items.”

With gritty synth, Infrared (featuring Chicagoan songwriter Sam Dew) tidally pulls you in and out of gigantic waves of vibration, migrating between easy listening and abstraction – Herren reinstates his talent for reframing the harshest sounds to something smooth and compatible. While every track is not a revelation, it still takes some sorcery to stretch spectrums of texture and space as far as Prefuse 73. [Luisa Brown] prefuse73.com

The Fall

Mac McCaughan

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Sub-Lingual Tablet [Cherry Red, 25 May] These are relatively stable times for The Fall, with guitarist Pete Greenway and bassist Dave Spurr having clocked up an impressive nine years’ service in a group where some have lasted only one gig. But Prestwich's most curmudgeonly band leader still doesn't sound happy. “How bad are English musicians?” Mark E Smith asks, more than once, on Auto Chip 14-15. This could be just another example of MES provocation, but he then makes a disdainful remark about royalty payments on Fibre Book Troll – a title inspired by a wellknown social media website.

Fall fans groan whenever a new LP is hailed as a ‘return to form’, but this – their 31st – is easily the best since 2007’s Reformation Post TLC. The group have written the sort of sharp garage rock nuggets that Smith is now best suited to, and he responds in kind – delivering clear vocals (by his standards) and plenty of the characteristic snarling that keeps us coming back. [Chris McCall]

If you're seeking the buzzsaw powerpop that Mac McCaughan perfected across Superchunk's quarter-century career, this may disappoint you. Only briefly, mind: the first full release under the Merge chief's own name, Non-Believers retains his freewheeling melodicism but replaces squall and velocity with light synth touches and a wistful sense of space. There are still earworms-a-plenty – Barely There and Box Batteries provide further proof of his knack for instant, perky choruses – but this time they're gentler, and no worse off for that.

Skillfully balanced against the mortal themes of recent ‘Chunk opus I Hate Music, Mystery Flu and Wet Leaves find him back in the midst of teenage romance, articulating directionless intensity with a youthful fervour that belies his 47 years. Indeed, these songs of love, cars and suburbs evoke a middle-class American adolescence with such eloquent warmth that you may end up confusing it for your own – masterful pop craftsmanship at its absolute best. [Will Fitzpatrick]

thefall.org

mergerecords.com/mac-mccaughan

Mew

And So I Watch You From Afar

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+ - [Play It Again Sam, 27 Apr]

Heirs [Sargent House, 4 May]

Danish alt-rock dreamboats Mew return with an ode to the album format; a labour of love that navigates its emotional peaks and troughs with the precision of a captain's eye for the stars. Jonas Bjerre and co. reunite with ex-bassist Johan Wohlert, and sound nothing short of thrilled about it: a balancing act of candied vocals and crunchy, full-bodied percussion, + - is a softer record than many in their 18 year-spanning catalogue, but by no means is it less urgent. Lead single Witness is a journey on the grandest of scales, hugely satisfying in its anthemic strides, but with the lightest of touches given to elegant, intricate detailing. Making Friends is balladeering at its best, mapped out by horizon-spanning guitar work. Mid album, Bloc Party guitarist Russell Lissack joins the adventure, adding his trademark angularities to My Complications. Mew haven't lost their claws, rather gilded them with fresh, glittering accuracy.

[Katie Hawthorne]

The last few years have seen a glut of so-called ‘post-rock’ bands finding synths down the back of their respective sofas and attempting to redirect their sound towards the dancefloor. Vessels and PVT have succeeded to some degree, and it's a trick Belfast's And So I Watch You From Afar pulled off with 2013’s All Hail Bright Futures.

So it's interesting that their fourth album is all about the guitar again. That's not to say that this is a step back. Far from it; the jaunty feel remains and trademark chanted vocals have morphed into a more conventional vocal arrangement on People Not Sleeping and These Secret Kings I Know, pitched up on typically crunchy riffs. Elsewhere, A Beacon, A Compass, An Anchor crackles with boundless energy. Heirs neatly summarises everything And So I Watch You From Afar have created so far – moody and glowering but with an increasingly sunny outlook. A compelling experience from top to bottom. [Stu Lewis]

Playing Glasgow O2 ABC on 17 May | plusminus.mewsite.com

Playing King tut's, Glasgow on 28 Apr | asiwyfa.bandcamp.com

May 2015

God Damn

Non-Believers [Merge, 4 May]

RECORDS

Vultures [One Little Indian, 11 May]

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Even if you're not convinced of Wolverhamptonbased hard rock duo God Damn's outstanding technical ability by the first slew of torrential drum fills on When the Wind Blows, there's no getting past the tsunami that is the title track's opening bars – demonstrating a rapid, pummeling furiousity, it's likely earned the band a devoted following on the local club circuit.

The thrill of such showmanship doesn't translate to record however, and while there are occasional moments of dynamite among these tracks, God Damn too often substitute craftsmanship for a sheer brute force that isn't enough to sustain interest levels for the duration of their debut. While the bluesy chug of Horus and the leftfield chord progression on aforementioned Vultures hint at distinctiveness God Damn might yet accomplish, their first effort is a fairly anonymous album that will likely appeal to fans of Queens of the Stone Age without offering them a whole lot new. [Andrew Gordon] goddamntheband.com

The Top Five 1 2 3 4 5

Blanck Mass Dumb Flesh

Faith No More

Sol Invictus

Django Django

Born Under Saturn

Tyondai Braxton

HIVE1

Rozi Plain

Friend

Review

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From Russia With Love Long-term partners and now musical collaborators, Suzanne Rodden and Lewis Cook look beyond their roots with their brand of minimalist European disco. It’s already proved a hit in Moscow. Now it’s the turn of Supersonic festival

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t is New Year's Eve in Moscow and a party is in full swing. Russian men dressed in ski suits dance on the frozen ground, seemingly oblivious to the minus 22 degree temperature. On a makeshift stage housed in a tourist information booth, a new synthpop duo are playing an addictive line of minimalist European disco. The vocalist sings in fluent French. Those unfamiliar with the group may presume they are from Paris, or perhaps Brussels.

In fact, Happy Meals originally hail from Dumfries and Galloway, and are now based in Glasgow.

The story of how Suzanne Rodden and her partner Lewis Cook ended up seeing in the bells in the Russian capital – despite only beginning to make music together last year – involves an international love of “noisy techno” and a dash of Scotland's most infamous fortified wine. When The Skinny meets the couple at Glasgow's Flying Duck venue, ahead of the final show of their spring European tour, it's easy to think of them as battlehardened veterans of the continental music scene.

But their eastern adventure was actually their first gig outside of the central belt. “Before this tour, we had only played three cities before – Glasgow, Edinburgh and Moscow,” explains Lewis.

“I did a release under a secret alias on a Russian label, and the promoters got in touch with me, heard about Happy Meals, and asked us to go out and play.”

Their hosts were not entirely unfamiliar with Scottish culture. “They specifically asked us to bring across Buckfast,” Suzanne adds. “I think they had a friend who had been to Scotland before, and he asked for it. When we were in the airport, we had picked up this beautiful whisky, Scapa, which I know from Orkney – it's normally like 80 quid for a 70cl bottle – and we got it 50 quid for a litre. So when we were in Russia we were passing around Buckfast as well as this high-end Orcadian whisky.”

“They like a lot of drugs out there,” deadpans Lewis. “Speed is their drug of choice. Buckfast seemed to complement that.” Muscovites may

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share a fondness for drink and proscribed substances with many Glaswegians, but Happy Meals found the two places also have other, more wholesome recreational pursuits in common. “Their music scene is very segregated from mainstream society, more so than the UK,” he continues. “It's actually very similar to Glasgow, in terms of the people you meet, and the sort of music people listen to. I asked a friend out there what kind of music people like in Moscow, and he told me ‘noisy techno kind of stuff’, and reeled off a few labels, and one of them was Opal Tapes – Steven Fisher, who runs the label, mastered our album. You go to the clubs here and people are listening to the same kind of stuff. But in Moscow, there's a segregation from mainstream society, which is good in some ways, as it's a little bit freer, and untamed.”

“Moscow is actually very similar to Glasgow, in terms of the people you meet and the sort of music people listen to” Lewis Cook

There are of course downsides to being a promoter in a country led by Vladimir Putin.

“They put on a lot of Russian stuff, but they also bring in a lot of artists from outside the country,” says Suzanne. “But with the crash of the ruble it's made it so much more difficult for them, having to pay for visas and flights.”

Suzanne and Lewis got together at high school eight years ago, but it was only in 2014 that they finally worked together on the project that would become Happy Meals. Lewis is no stranger to the stage or studio; recording material as Mother Ganga (in Suzanne's flat no less), and as one quarter of Glaswegian psychedelic rockers The Cosmic Dead. While the latter revel in branding themselves ‘Scotland's foremost Hawkwind tribute band’, Happy Meals are a rather different prospect – more sultry synthpop, in the mould of Stereolab or Goldfrapp, than sky-scraping riff merchants.

“I can't speak for them, but they've all expressed that they've really liked it,” insists Lewis. “Happy Meals has come on shuffle on the iPod in the car a few times, and there have been no complaints.

All of our music tastes in The Cosmic Dead are very eclectic – it's not too far-fetched, really, that the rest of the guys like it.”

The first Happy Meals tracks that would eventually surface on mini album Apéro were formed at Glasgow's Green Door studio, a crucible for many of the city's musicians. “We went into Green Door kind of on a whim really – Suzie had some recording time as part of a workshop she was doing, so we went in together and started making music. We hadn't picked up any instruments, but we had song names, and a kind of idea of how we would do it. Some of the songs were written around an abstract idea rather than a structure.”

“I think because we have been together for so long, we have a lot of different ideas,” Suzanne chimes in. “The atmosphere of the Green Door is fantastic – Stu and Emily who run it, you can play the same thing over and over again for hours and they'll still be into it, or you can cut things short and they'll give you constructive criticism as well.”

With additional touches added at home in Glasgow, Apéro was released in November last year on Night School Records to positive reviews.

It's a confident first statement that suggests even better things can be expected from them. With an experienced synth player like Lewis on board,

MUSIC

Interview: Chris McCall Photography: Vito Andreoni

nailing down a tune was unlikely to ever be an issue, but it's Suzanne's French lyrics and pure voice that mark them out as something different. Given that she teaches the language for a living, her mastery of it is unsurprising.

“When we were in London I overheard somebody saying, ‘Oh, it's a French band that's on next,’” she smiles. “I've sung in French before, but it's the first time I've properly written lyrics in the language. We were just jamming, and I just started singing in French. I find I can express myself a lot better in it.”

When asked if it was deliberate decision to adopt a more European sound, Lewis suggests it was more of an organic process between two people who already knew each other inside out.

“When we started the band, we didn't set out to make a type of music – it just became easy to share those abstract ideas between the two of us because we are so close. You can just say a few words, or a sentence, and then take something from that.”

The couple are already planning to record more tracks, hopefully in Suzanne's newly adopted home of Orkney, where she moved to teach last year. While it involves fairly regular weekend trips back south to Glasgow, she is clearly in love with the place and its incredible history. “There are burial tombs all over the islands, and some of them haven't even been opened. I've become a bit of a broken record as when I come down I rave about it!”

Next on the Happy Meals agenda is an appearance at next month's Supersonic festival in Birmingham, an event known for attracting inventive and sometimes challenging musical talent for the benefit of a curious and appreciative audience.

Having already won over Muscovite partygoers in a cold climate, a summer trip to the Midlands should pose the duo no significant problems.

Happy Meals play Supersonic, Birmingham, 11-14 June. nightschoolrecords.com/introducing-happy-meals/

THE SKINNY

May 2015

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THE SKINNY

Clubbing Highlights Among our picks this month are Neil Landstrumn, ItaloJohnson and Borrowed Identity

The following weekend we reckon The Berkeley Suite warrants a visit, as Cryptiq and Boogaloo team up to bring German producer Borrowed Identity to town. Increasingly well-renowned for producing quality deep house music, Borrowed Identity is a producer who seems able to adapt his style with each record, sometimes replacing his trademark moody house music with tracks of an altogether different hue – see his bubbling acid release on Glasgow's Ander-Traxx label for evidence of the latter. With more recent work coming for the likes of Ostgut Ton and DVS1’s Misstress Recordings, it would appear the German's stock is on the rise. Support comes from Boogaloo residents (8 May, £6-10).

Our final Glasgow pick takes us to La Cheetah where the club's label series continues in impressive form with the showcasing of Shed's Power House outlet. Rene Pawlowitz, when he's not belting out stark techno as Shed, also takes on the monikers WK7 and Head High, who will feature here. This alias presents a slightly more househeavy approach to production, though the kick drums often have the power and pace of straightup techno and there are also elements of rave and jungle which seep into the sound. Basically, this is good old fashioned party music, plain and simple. Joining Pawlowitz will be Finn Johannsen, an avid record collector and buyer for Berlin's famous Hard Wax store – a sure sign of a trusted selector. We expect a boisterous evening in the basement of Max's (15 May, £10 adv).

Other tips for this month include Daniel Avery and Barnt's turn for i AM at the Sub Club (1 May, £15), Dark Behaviour's Queer Futures party in Glasgow (9 May, The Arches, £10/14) and the Nightvision closing party with Kerri Chandler and Dusky in Edinburgh (24 May,Liquid Room, £15-20).

Full Spectrum

dosing out hearty house-disco with live vocals from the ever-classily-clad Danielle Moore.

3D glasses multiply visuals ten-fold – literally – with fellow punters becoming holographic ghosts. There's an obvious rift in dance style between those who had their lenses off/on; i.e. giving/not giving an utter shit; highly recommended for any sober clubber. The surprise lightfilled balloon explosion kept energy high midway, but the ‘large-scale’ visuals weren't cutting-edge and had difficulty fitting around the awkwardlyshaped venue, and promised ‘audio-reactive installations’ were less obvious.

A bit rough around the edges, then, but it's clear that the curators of this event have totally nailed (if so far hypothetically) what Edinburgh clubbers crave. Giving us something with more imagination than a cheap bar and a faceless DJ always means we'll happily cough up the extra dosh. [Luisa Brown]

Credit: Rita Azevedo

Words: Ronan Martin Illustration: Stewart Armstrong

mainstream and underground classics alike – check out his Boiler Room set for a sneak preview of the kind of party he brings when he's on form.

(22-23 May, £29.90-£49.90).

In Glasgow, the opening weekend is all about The Art School, with the first highlight coming from the Huntley & Palmers and their Mayday event, which features a wide range of live performances and DJ sets. In the former category is Border Community head honcho James Holden, who has a well-deserved reputation as a gifted producer and remixer which has been built over a number of years in the game. Also playing live is local artist, Alex Smoke, whose first two albums via Soma presented a more interesting approach to minimal techno than many of his contemporaries could muster. His classical background and propensity for experimentation have led him down various different paths over the years, so his set should be well worth catching. DJ sets come from increasingly impressive German artist Helena Hauff, Bristol's Hodge and the heads behind Glasgow's most interesting new band in recent years, Golden Teacher (1 May, £15).

The next night, the venue has blistering techno on the menu courtesy of Head Front Panel, the initially secretive project now confirmed to be the work of Liverpudlian producer John Heckle.

As with most things released from the Tabernacle stable, the HFP releases have been of a remarkable quality and have showcased considerable range, though all are uniformly relentless in the way they evoke the best of the 90s techno scene, with clear reference points in the work of the likes of Jeff Mills and Surgeon. We suspect Substance have lined up one of the parties of the month with this, so you'd be silly not to head down and get your bounce on (2 May, £8).

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e kick off this month's selection with a nod in the direction of Aberdeen, where Binary School have a cracker lined up as they invite wonky techno whizz Neil Landstrumm to 42 Below.

Born and bred in Scotland, Landstrumm has been one of the country's most respected and enduring talents over the years, with a host of records released on the likes of Tresor, Peacefrog and Planet Mu. Though most associated with techno, the producer's range is not limited – he has also produced work featuring elements of hip hop, bass music and ragga. His live set runs on a bill which also includes Autumn Hang and Rollright Knights, with DJ support coming from Neil Birnie (9 May, £8 adv, £10 door).

Over in Edinburgh, we recommend heading down to The Mash House on 22 May as Lezure present an all-night session from secretive Berlin trio ItaloJohnson. Releasing records through their own imprint since 2010, the Germans take a no-frills approach to what they do – records are released

May 2015

with simple packaging and are frustratingly untitled, which adds some confusion when trying to identify and recommend particular tracks. To be clear though, the music contained within each hand-stamped offering has so far been uniformly brilliant. Whether offering raw jacking house, straight techno or other dancefloor variations, ItaloJohnson seem to have a simple commitment to quality and consistency, and their records have developed buy-on-sight status for many. Their mammoth DJ sets are increasingly lauded too, so this one looks like a safe bet as far as we're concerned (£7/9).

Also in the capital that night is the city's first ever X Music Festival, held at the Gypsy Brae Recreation Ground. The event takes place across two days and though full line-up details are yet to be revealed at time of writing, we sense this one will be worth keeping an eye out for. What we do know is that the event's bill includes UK garage maestro DJ EZ, whose frenetic sets whizz through

Edinburgh International Science Festival

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There's a mysterious hum about Summerhall Courtyard tonight: bassy grumblings echoing from the pre-event warm-up dome, and The Royal Dick bar filling to the brim. Insatiable hype levels building up to the Science Festival's first ever club night have already proven the worth of getting their occassionally neglected demographic of 20/30-somethings involved in the programme.

Funk, soul and electro mixes are delivered by four-way speakers from five DJ acts in the Dissection Room, but despite the total advance ticket sell-out, it takes until midnight to fill out – the warm-up event definitely deserved more of a shout-out. DJ Astrojazz is the first to give the builds and drops the crowd is thirsty for, and Crazy P keeps the throng hypnotised til the late hours,

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When the Sun Goes Down We take a look at this month’s Electric Frog and Pressure Riverside festival, with a particular focus on the brand new Sunset Stage Words: Ronan Martin

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hank heaven for the summer months, when we can look forward to increased opportunities to bring clubbing out from darkened sweatpits and into the light, as festivals of all shapes and sizes start to appear across the country, many making use of some great spaces to offer a different kind of partying experience. One such event, which has grown considerably since its inception, is the Electric Frog and Pressure Riverside Festival. Held at the end of the month on the site of Glasgow’s Riverside Museum, the party is spread across two days and features a varied and impressive line-up of local and international talent.

Friday this year is heavy on techno with the likes of Detroit legend Robert Hood performing a DJ set under his popular Floorplan guise, Blawan and Pariah belting out their brand of dark dancefloor wreckers as Karenn, and Pressure regular Len Faki joining residents Slam to keep things rolling along nicely. There is also an appearance

by Siriusmodeselektor – the live collaboration of the Modeselektor duo and label mate Siriusmo – as well as a set by German house maestro Prosumer. For our money, the appearances of Ben UFO, Joy Orbison and Midland should be among the main highlights, all coming with a trusted reputation for excellent selection and energy. The

bill is rounded off by sets from local party crews Animal Farm and Thunder Disco Club.

Saturday sees the appearance of Cocoon heavyweight Sven Väth, while the visit of another Detroit legend in the shape of Carl Craig will no doubt be a highlight for many. We can also look forward to the ever-engaging Ricardo Villalobos, minimalist magic from Magda and POPOF, and the soulful sounds of Ron Trent (see this month’s main feature for an interview with the man himself). Russian techno queen Nina Kraviz will also be a big draw for many, having belted it out for Pressure at The Arches in recent years. Finally, there are welcome places on the bill for Horse Meat Disco, Theo Kottis and the Wrong Island DJs, whose parties have been among the most interesting held within Glasgow’s underground scene in the last few years.

The festival is split between different areas and the addition of the Sunset Stage sounds like a particularly intriguing prospect, making this year’s event the biggest yet. Among those on the line-up for the new arena are Glasgow institution Optimo (also playing the main stage). Over the years, duo Twitch and Wilkes gained local notoriety and later international acclaim with their innovative approach to throwing parties. They will be on hand to showcase their masterful take on

selection, which takes in sounds from a dizzying array of styles and pays no attention to the folly of having to represent a certain scene. “I’d argue we don’t have an ‘anything goes vibe’ though,” says Keith McIvor (aka Twitch). “Rather, we are looking for a certain feeling in music in general that connects various forms, and thus everything we play shares that perhaps indefinable bond.”

“But 99% of music out there offends our ears, so we are only working with a tiny percentage of the music that exists. We generally find what we do can often translate better in a more intimate arena, and the other artists playing with us will hopefully complement each other, rather than battling to see who can get the most fists pumping the air.”

Also bringing their brand of partying to the Sunset Stage are Melting Pot, whose resident DJ Andrew Pirie echoes McIvor’s sentiments: “Playing in smaller, more intimate spaces is always preferable as it means you can get away with playing a wider variety of music than you might be able

to on a big stage.” He suspects the styles covered will range from disco and house to funk, soul, jazz and everything in between. “Everyone that’s playing is a huge music lover, which means they’ll be digging deep and playing some incredible music whatever the genre.

“The line-up for our stage is full of people we really like and admire. Whilst most people will know about Ron Trent and Horse Meat Disco, I think they should also keep an eye out for the others – after seeing Kelvin Andrew play a fantastic sunset slot at Electric Elephant, he’s definitely one to catch. He’s someone that can really read the crowd and situation and soundtrack it to perfection. His partner in Down To The Sea and Back, Balearic Mike, is also a big favourite of mine. These guys have great collections and make sure there’s never a dull moment!”

The Electric Frog and Pressure Riverside Festival takes place on Fri 29 & Sat 30 May. Day tickets are priced at £40.

Weekend passes are £75 riversidefestivalglasgow.com

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Preview

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THE SKINNY

Monthly Events Credit: Ross Fraser McLean

Words: Adam Benmakhlouf

Hugo Canoilas Cooper Gallery

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The reading list – slipped in the middle of the handout for Hugo Canoilas’ gallery-saturating exhibition Someone a long time ago, now – is as alienating as it is endearing. Let loose on the entire gallery, Canoilas stripes the Cooper's corridor walls upstairs and carves broken stanzas into the gallery downstairs. It's this list of Camus, Sartre and Kierkegard that finally belies the wholehearted earnestness of the big doodles on the walls.

There's a clunky poetry to the works, with (probably literally) old-school OHPs shining ducttaped transparencies onto large, unprimed canvases. From an upturned car to the documentation of an ‘action on the streets of Vienna’ (which looks like Canoilas draped in inked yellow fabric), the imagery is without obvious coherence and between each there's an (admittedly soft) colliding.

Working in the corridor and conventional gallery space upstairs, Canoilas sets up two very different spaces. Running hand-painted lines,

large line drawings and text writ large along the walls of the corridor space (along with some small sculptures), just next door hosts the most conventionally set-out room of the exhibition. Even still, the unprimed canvas is almost postered directly on the wall, and there's probably too many large scale paintings (of dinosaurs speaking melodramtic poetic text), making for a more subtly jarring encounter than is set up in the other spaces.

The most exciting and poignant moment of the exhibition comes in the comic hanging from the ceiling in the upstairs corridor, above a triangular chair – which appears in the comic itself.

In the accompanying publication, Canoilas’ friend and former classmate Francisco Sousa Lobo records his pains in forming a response to the exhibition, and finishes instead with a sensitive frustration that criticism is impaired by friendship.

From references to Jackson Pollock to pained Rimbaud quotes, its clashing of boisterousness with (at times adolescent, though seemingly self-aware) poetic sensibility overall feels more double-jointed than disjointed.

[Adam Benmakhlouf] Mika Rottenberg, Ponytails, 2014

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The full eight yards

What Remains Generator

rrrrr Literally off-kilter, Hans K. Clausen sets the tone of What Remains with a skip hanging at a strange angle in middle of Generator's exhibition space.

Skilfully made of cardboard, it's without effacement, sudden and interjecting. While Clausen's objects often have some obvious textural or surface interest, whether made or midge raked, it's of a secondary importance to the generation of a kind of unmediated and not completely uncanny encounter.

On the wall nearby and into the next room, Kim W. Wilson presents sculptural drawings by mashing and grinding bone-ash and oil-shale waste into goldenrod gridded paper. Something like impasto painting, and just as scatalogical, they're thick but not overwrought. While the material sits heavily on the paper, they feel quick and delicate. The material is impressed on the paper without any sense of brute force.

May 2015

Behind Clausen's skip (titled The Full 8 Yards), there is From Edinburgh With Glove. Along the back corner of the space, Clausen has pinned over 1000 gloves, loosely grouped together by colour. Though wall-mounted, the effect is to sensually alter the space directly before the piece.

There's a delicate muffling of sound, an absenting of the usual corner reverberations. And after being picked from various pavements between Edinburgh and Dundee, there's a kind of intensified second-hand clothes-shop musk. It's soft, dirty and strangely comforting.

Without much processing, Clausen hangs and pins his found objects and very literal figurative sculpture, while Wilson presents by-products of industry in their crude form. They interfere only so much with their inelegant materials.

Yet this isn't a celebration of garbage, and stops short before becoming a provocation. Rather than a trite subversion of ugly and attractive, What Remains is a sophisticated deployment of the force of imposition. [Adam Benmakhlouf]

wo years on from his stunning show at The Modern Institute, this month Nicolas Party presents Boys and Pastel in Inverleith House, his first major solo exhibition in the UK. As before in The Modern Institute, Party will cover the entirety of the exhibition space with wall murals painted in situ, through all seven galleries, stairwells, hallways and corridors. Also in the exhibition, there will be displayed new painted and drawn works, including landscapes, still life and portraits in Party's characteristic and superlatively 3D irreality. Boys and Pastel is open from Saturday 2 May until Sunday 5 July.

Also from Saturday 2 May until Sunday 7 June, Tramway will exhibit a film by German artist Grace Schwindt, titled Only a Free Individual Can Create a Free Society. In this film work, within open film sets situated on a vantage point that overlooks London, a ‘tightly scripted choreography’ of dancers, lighting, camera and sound takes place. Set within large photographic prints referencing cityscapes, country sites and domestic spaces, OFICCFS poses explictly questions of ‘how freedom was and is understood,’ who can access it and what can be done create a freer society. At 73 minutes in length, this is one to set aside a bit of time for.

Elsewhere in the magazine on p15, you can find our interview with iconic stylist, photographer and designer Maripol. Accompanying the exhibition Spring/Summer 2015 at Dundee Contemporary Arts is a series of talks, performance and screenings throughout May. On Thursday 14 May, fashion historian Mairi Mackenzie contextualises Maripol's work, specifically looking at the music, fashion and popular culture she has inspired and been inspired by. Artist and writers Laurie Figgis and Valerie Norris have prepared performance and prints as their respective responses to the exhibited work. On Sunday 17 May, curator

ART

Graham Domke will give a tour of the exhibition ahead of a screening of Maripol's Downtown ‘81, described as ‘a classic day-in-the-life picaresque tale of the then unknown Jean-Michel Basquiat.’

On the following Sunday, there is an Artists’ Choice screening of cult 80s sci-fi Liquid Sky, which combines a UFO landing with modelling, clubbing and dancing decadence.

Back to mid month, it's officially the height of spring as Jupiter Artland reopens for the season.

Located in 100 acres of woodland and meadows just outside Edinburgh, Jupiter Artland is a vast collection of outdoor sculpture, and on Saturday 16 May, the park's spring programme opens to the public. For the first time, the collection will be open to the public every day throughout July and August. We'll be covering the opening on the website, with interviews from the two featured artists, contemporary Argentine artist Mika Rottenberg and London-based artist, composer and performer Edwin Burdis.

Artist-designer duo Lucy McKenzie and Beca Lipscombe's Atelier EB (standing for ‘Edinburgh Brussels’, their respective places of origin) have got an exciting May planned. From 2-30 May, Atelier EB and Panel (the independent curatorial practice led by Catriona Duffy and Lucy McEachan) will present The Inventors of Tradition II in the Palace of Art – which sits in the grounds of Glasgow's Bellahouston Park. Both an exhibition and a shop, Atelier EB will present their new collection for sale. Accompanying the exhibition is Steel Upon Sward: The Films of Murray Grigor, a series of three screenings in GFT throughout May. For 40 years, Grigor has contributed to the arts in his positions as filmmaker, writer and exhibition curator. Three double bill screenings take place on the 9, 10, and 30 May, spanning Scottish cultural subjects including new town Cumbernauld, renowned Dundee-educated artist Eduardo Paolozzi, and finally The Fall and Rise of Mackintosh.

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Credit: Mika Rottenberg

Installation view, Someone a long time ago, now

Film Event Highlights There's a music connection to this month's best movie happenings, with the Scottish premiere of St Etienne Live: How We Used to Live and a screening of The Clash: Westway to the World among May's film highlights Words: Becky Bartlett

Timbuktu

Timbuktu

Director: Abderrahmane Sissako Starring: Fatoumata Diawara, Abel Jafri, Hichem Yaboubi, Toulou Kiki, Ibrahim Ahmed Released: 29 May Certificate: 12A

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very month the Cameo in Edinburgh brings a great selection of cult and classic films back to the big screen. Top picks this month include slacker favourite Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (11 May) and Fellini's Oscar-winning avant garde masterpiece 8½ (17 May). If you only have time to see one retrospective this month, however, see Freaks (24 May)! Famous for destroying director Tod Browning's career and being banned for over thirty years in Britain, this tale of love, murder, and betrayal at the circus is a must-see.

The GFT in Glasgow, in association with Monorail Film Club, is hosting the Scottish premiere of St Etienne Live: How We Used to Live (19 May). A collaboration between the electro pop group and British director Paul Kelly, the documentary features archive footage of London from the 1950s-80s set to an enigmatic score by the band. St Etienne will be performing at the event, playing a selection of new and old hits.

Guests are invited to dress in their finest attire for Club Noir's latest film screenings at the Grosvenor in Glasgow. This is cinema at its most sexy and glamorous, presented by the world's largest burlesque club. Two films are being shown on 29 May: classic noir Gilda, featuring Hollywood sex bomb Rita Hayworth as the ultimate femme fatale caught between two men; and Paul Verhoeven's neo-noir erotic thriller Basic Instinct, most notorious for revealing a bit more of Sharon Stone than expected in that leg-crossing scene.

Punk fans should head to the CCA in Glasgow (10 May) for a free, ticketed screening of The Clash: Westway to the World. This Grammy awardwinning documentary by long-time friend and collaborator Don Letts, who has made a career out of making punk-inspired movies, features archive footage, exclusive interviews and filmed performances. The result is the most comprehensive portrait of the iconic British band. The screening, organised by Love Music Hate Racism, will be followed by a panel discussion with local activists and trade unionists.

Liquid Sky

Sticking with the punk theme, the DCA in Dundee is showing Liquid Sky (24 May), a punk/ new-wave play on science fiction starring Anne Carlisle as both a bisexual female and a drug-addicted male model. Featuring invisible aliens who land on top of an apartment block in New York in search of heroin, only to discover that human pheromones created during orgasm provide a more potent hit, this is a low-budget, weird and wonderful movie.

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Review

One of the many memorable sequences in Abderrahmane Sissako's Timbuktu depicts a group of teenage boys playing football without a ball, as ball games have been outlawed by the jihadist regime, some of whom were earlier seen debating the merits of Zidane and Messi. In such moments, Sissako brilliantly highlights the absurdities and contradictions of these zealous attitudes for comic effect, but he also depicts with lucid anger the suffering faced by ordinary people whose lives are destroyed by the Sharia law imposed upon them.

A beautiful interlude showing a group of friends playing music in their home is followed by a harsh punishment being administered to them; a woman who declines a marriage proposal is taken into wedlock by force; a child is left alone to face a future we cannot imagine. Shot with a brilliant eye for composition by Sofian El Fani, Timbuktu is an essential work; it's a vital plea for understanding, compassion and peace that is marked by a deep wisdom and humanity. [Philip Concannon]

The Tribe

The Tribe

Director: Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy Starring: Grigoriy Fesenko, Yana Novikova, Rosa Babiy, Alexander Dsiadevich, Yaroslav Biletskiy, Ivan Tishko, Alexander Osadchiy, Released: 15 May Certificate: 18

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The Tribe, Myroslav Slaboshpytskiy's devastating ensemble piece, is told entirely in Ukrainian sign language, with no dialogue and no subtitles. Rather than being intimidating or impenetrable, this remarkable film clues viewers in on how to watch it almost immediately, relying on context, body language and incident.

Taking place in a school for the deaf and beginning with the point of view of new kid Sergey (Grigory Fesenko), what one might think is going to be a tender story of teenage adjustment soon becomes a chronicle of a vicious underground gang, and the passions and loyalties within. Unfolding as a series of ever-graver surprise turns rendered in haunting long takes, The Tribe recalls such classic school kid shockers as Lord of the Flies and Gus Van Sant's Elephant. Slaboshpytskiy has made a film with a unique hook but one that doesn't rely on gimmickry – underneath its method is a substantive emotional compendium that's passionately, hypnotically shattering. [Ian Mantgani]

Tokyo Tribe

Clouds of Sils Maria

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Director: Sion Sono Starring: Ryôhei Suzuki, Young Dais, Riki Takeuchi, Tomoko Karina, Akihiro Kitamura, Hiroko Yashiki, Shôta Sometani, Released: 22 May Certificate: 18

Director: Olivier Assayas Starring: Juliette Binoche, Kristen Stewart, Chloë Grace Moretz, Lars Eidinger Released: 15 May Certificate: 15

Bringing ‘slammin’ beats from the ass-end of hell’, Sion Sono's manga adaptation Tokyo Tribe is a hysterical hybrid of The Warriors, Yakuza movies, and Escape from New York, spliced with video games Jet Set Radio and Streets of Rage, and a dash of Scott Pilgrim. Also, it's a candy-coloured rapbattle musical where maybe 15% of the dialogue isn't sung or grunted to some kind of beat. So in that sense it's like The Umbrellas of Cherbourg but with added beatboxing, tanks, Clockwork Orange-riffing human furniture, and virgin sacrifices to Satan. Fun for all the family.

For those willing to fully embrace the two hours of constant extreme but tight formalism, which can admittedly be exhausting on occasion, Sono's delirious oddity of gang warfare and renewed hope offers a phantasmagoria world unlike much else visualised in live-action cinema. There's one real bugbear, though: there are a few too many references, depicted or uttered, to sexual violence aimed at women, which sits uncomfortably alongside the film's more cartoonish brutality elsewhere. [Josh Slater-Williams]

In her youth, Maria Enders (Binoche) made her name in Maloja Snake, a play in which a young woman seduces her boss – an older woman – and drives her to suicide. Now, years later and in a new production, she's recast as the older woman opposite a rehab-regular tabloid starlet (Moretz). Enders retreats to the Alpine town of Sils Maria with her assistant (Stewart) to prepare for the role and reflect on the concept of power.

Twilight star Stewart recently told The Hollywood Reporter that a film like this “would never be greenlit” in the States: “It's two women sitting in a room basically talking about being women and movies and their lives and their perspectives,” she said, “and it never really cuts away from that.”

She's absolutely right. Oliver Assayas's film is about women, which should be no great cause for celebration as it's also exciting and unashamedly intellectual, but when many films still can't even pass the Bechdel test, Clouds of Sils Maria feels like a revelation. [David McGinty]

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Girlhood

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Director: Ana Lily Amirpour Starring: Sheila Vand, Arash Marandi, Dominic Rains Released: 22 May Certificate: 15 Junkies, dealers, swindlers, pimps and chancers, all shimmering in the dark night. As Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez did with their decidedly masculine Sin City, so writer-director Ana Lily Amirpour has captured Los Angeles on gorgeous black-and-white video to create the fictional Persian town of Bad City, for what she describes as “the first Iranian vampire western.”

And as a gunslinger would rain justice down in those Wild West narratives we've seen countless times before, so the moral arbiter here is the female bloodsucker.

As disparate as its influences are the emotions Amirpour's languid, moody, topsy-turvy piece inspire: it's righteous, shocking, terrifying, iconic, funny, twistedly romantic and refreshingly unpredictable. The film also contains the year's most erotically charged scene, which is all the more astonishing for being chaste: all it contains are two lonely young people listening to a record and longing to touch. [Ian Mantgani]

FILM

Director: Céline Sciamma Starring: Karidja Touré, Assa Sylla, Lindsay Karamoh Released: 8 May Certificate: 15 The inaccurate English retitling of Céline Sciamma's Bande de filles has led some to draw comparisons with Boyhood, but where Richard Linklater's film was a generalised account of growing up, Girlhood is much more complex and specific in its exploration of race, gender and class. Each of Sciamma's films has concerned young women struggling to find their identity, and Girlhood focuses on a black teenager from the Parisian suburbs, who reinvents herself and finds both friendship and trouble when she is inducted into a girl gang.

This may be a less perfectly formed picture than Sciamma's Tomboy but it's also a more ambitious one, and the director's most visually accomplished work to date, with sharp images and a potent use of colour throughout. But the film's biggest strength lies in Sciamma's magic touch with young actresses: the cast of first-timers give uniformly excellent performances, with Karidja Touré and Assa Sylla in particular showing a real star quality. [Philip Concannon]

THE SKINNY

Bad Land: Road to Fury

Director: Jake Paltrow Starring: Nicholas Hoult, Michael Shannon, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Elle Fanning Released: 4 May Certificate: 15

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Originally titled Young Ones for its US release, Bad Land: Road to Fury has seemingly received a name change in an attempt to capitalise on the hype surrounding the forthcoming Mad Max: Fury Road.

Despite the presence of that film's co-star Nicholas Hoult, plus desert vistas and a post-apocalyptic setting where a fleeting water supply is a key plot point, Jake Paltrow's sci-fi Western has little in common with the Mad Max series. It actually resembles, of all things, the sprawling 1956 land epic Giant.

There's a definite ‘everything but the kitchen sink’ approach to storytelling, which produces momentarily arresting visual touches here and there. The problem is that the film is in perpetual fast-forward mode (and particularly overzealous with dissolve cuts), speeding through all its flash and developments, never slowing down to allow any of its beats to have meaning, or any of its characters to be interesting. [Josh Slater-Williams]

Satyricon

Director: Federico Fellini Starring: Martin Potter, Hiram Keller, Max Born, Salvo Randone, Mario Romagnoli, Released: Out now Certificate: 18

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Set in Rome during Nero’s reign, Satyricon’s loose story follows a young man (Potter) as he fights to retain the affection of his lover.

We watch as he attends the dinner party of a rich man, is captured by pirates and kidnaps a hermaphrodite demigod. If this sounds surreal, that’s because it is, and the film makes zero concessions to comprehensibility; the audio even placed out of sync with the footage to increase the viewer’s sense of alienation.

It’s a carnivalesque journey through a decadent society on the verge of collapse, one that speaks to the film’s present – a politically and sexually liberated late 60s Europe – as much as Italy’s past. The overblown nature of the piece renders it dated, yet the film’s twisted visual aesthetic and narrative sense of the bizarre would echo in the work of those later masters of the surreal, Lynch and Herzog. [Sam Lewis]

Director: Brian Yuzna Starring: Billy Warlock, Evan Richards, Ben Meyerson, Conan Yuzna Released: 8 Jun Certificate: 18

Director: Paul Schrader Starring: Nastassja Kinski, Malcolm McDowell, John Heard, Annette O'Toole, Ruby Dee, Released: 25 May Certificate: 18

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Made between his milestones American Gigolo and Mishima, Paul Schrader's Cat People is a blend of the more commercially-minded concerns of the former and the stylistically experimental features of the latter. Like The Thing, its Universal stablemate from 1982, Schrader's film is a very loose remake of a beloved thriller, and one that's only become more interesting with age.

Paced more like a mood-focused art film than overt scare-fest, it's so imbued with Schrader's key themes in his directing and screenwriting work (sex, obsession, violent destinies, and Bresson nods) that it almost feels like an artist mythologising his own hang-ups through the framework of fantasy fiction.

Goofy at times and structurally questionable (the electric Nastassja Kinski's full plight of being a leopard lady isn't explained until nearly 90 minutes in), Cat People, an icy art-horror that opens with what's aesthetically a 2001 homage scored by Giorgio Moroder, nonetheless has a hypnotising quality. [Josh Slater-Williams]

Society is part of the long tradition of horror as social commentary.

Initially, however, Brian Yakuza’s 1989 debut, with its flat cinematography and wooden performances, doesn’t look much to write home about. It’s set within an upper-class Beverly Hills community and follows an all-American high school jock (future Baywatch hunk Warlock) who’s feeling alienated from his rich peers and family. Catch it while channel-hopping and you might mistake it for a glossy teen soap. But beneath the whiff of TV movie cheesiness there’s a political fury that makes Yakuza’s picture irresistible.

This bubbling rage explodes in a debauched finale that makes recent social satires like Wolf of Wall Street and Spring Breakers look quaint. The stomach-churning make-up effects, by the appropriately-titled Screaming Mad George, could be ripped from a Cronenberg picture. With the general election fresh in our minds, Society ’s crudely effective evisceration of the elite classes feels even more potent. [Jamie Dunn]

Day of Anger

Thief

Director: Tonino Valerii Starring: Lee Van Cleef, Giuliano Gemma, Walter Rilla, Christa Linder Released: Out now Certificate: 12

Director: Michael Mann Starring: James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Jim Belushi, Willie Nelson, Dennis Farina, Released: 1 Jun Certificate: 15

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Lee Van Cleef followed The Good, the Bad and the Ugly with this similarly tough Spaghetti Western. Van Cleef (as Frank) marches his spare strut and coyote stare into the town of Clifton, where he tutors Guilano Gemma’s bullied yet hulkingly handsome Scott in the ways of gunslinging. Unfolding as a series of numbered lessons (“Lesson number four – don’t get between a gun and its target!”), it transitions to Scott getting strident with power and Frank drunk on it, creating conflicted loyalties and a showdown.

The developmental beats and sweaty close-ups are routine, but there’s a muscularity and focus to Day of Anger that makes its power dynamics and violent turns clear, direct and engaging.

Meanwhile, director Tonino Valerii’s stylistic flourishes – a gunshot framed between a man’s legs; a shotgun duel arranged like a horseback game of chicken; a rousing, twanging Riz Ortolani score – are inventive enough to be noteworthy. [Ian Mantgani]

The Wolf Border

The Way Out

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By Sarah Hall

Society

Cat People

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One last big job and then he’s out for good. Frank (Caan) is a master jewel thief operating under the same illusion as the gangsters, dealers and hitmen of a thousand films before him, and it's a story we know far too well to ever think that it can end happily. Ultimately, they’ll either pull him back in or wipe him out.

Thief wears its genre as a badge of honour from the very first scene. It opens at night in a dank back alley, rusted fire escapes creeping up the sides of dilapidated apartment buildings and rain pouring down. With its noirish, crime flick intentions announced loud and clear, the rest of the film is free to revel in Michael Mann’s slick camerawork and Caan’s formidable charisma. Finished off with a pulsating electronic soundtrack courtesy of Tangerine Dream, the full effect is darkly hypnotic and very, very cool. [Ross McIndoe]

Don’t Try This at Home

By Vicki Jarrett

By Angela Readman

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Rachel Caine moves back to Cumbria after a decade spent protecting wolves on an Idaho reservation.

Thomas Pennington – an Earl – owns lots of the Lake District and is determined to reintroduce the grey wolf into the English countryside. Rachel runs the project, against a background of political and personal tumult: Scottish independence, the death of her mother, the unplanned birth of her child, hot sex with a vet.

Sarah Hall’s fourth novel is a masterly thing, with characters so real they live like people inside your head. Hall captures Rachel’s emotional complexity with economy and precision, exploring grand themes of motherhood, power and wildness.

The prose is mesmerising – from the expert detail of a handbrake croaking into position, to the description of the wolves moving like grey fire over the hills.

Rachel behaves like a real person: rough round the edges, unresolved. She’s kickass, for sure, but she’s never idealised. Through her, Hall examines the ways in which commitment creeps up on a life – instinctual motherhood, the modern relationship and the emotional forest of a fractured family.

None of that really gets to how good this book is. This reviewer had to stop in the street to finish a chapter, before the working day could begin.

Only Hilary Mantel and Alice Munro have similar powers of storytelling. [Galen O’Hanlon]

“This book,” says Vicki Jarrett of her new collection of short fiction, “is dedicated to all those who dream of escape.” Indeed, the characters we encounter in the twenty-two stories are lonely, abstractly dissatisfied and often misunderstood by the people closest to them. They often exist in a world full of inertia, in an atmosphere as dampening as an afternoon spent in and out of the charity and pound shops of a suburban shopping centre.

Usually in these stories, small extraordinary events occur in each character’s life. An old man finds a woman’s hand in a garden after a gas explosion, a barefoot woman follows someone who has stolen her shoes. There is, however, a repetitive cycle to too many of these tales. We meet a character, something happens and right at the end there is a revelation. This becomes tiresome over so many stories; there is more power in the snapshot shorts that put less effort into being complete. The brevity in a story like How to Not Get Eaten by Tigers, for example, manages to show a huge amount of depth and range of emotions over just two pages. The skill of craft here renders the need for a twist at the end successfully unnecessary. If anything, the collection might have done with slightly better curation, but readers will surely seek out Jarrett’s 2012 debut novel on the back of this reading. [Sacha Waldron]

What if one summer your mum was Elvis? What if you met yourself in the future and you were homeless? What if you were born with the face of a dog, or became a witch’s apprentice? Angela Readman’s collection of short stories Don’t Try This At Home is surreal, fantastical and carefully everyday.

Readman, also a published poet, builds these small worlds with care and efficiency. Short, rhythmic sentences create tangible and down to earth settings for remarkable developments. In many of these tales, the narrator will be a child trying to get to grips with the adult world. For these children, the prospect of adulthood can be simultaneously dizzying with possibilities and frustrating with limitations. Your mum can fall in love with another woman and transform overnight into the hip-swivelling, velvet-voiced legend of the chip shop, and then be brought crashing to earth by the smallmindedness around her.

Transformation unites these stories. Although they’re most often set in everyday situations, magic seems to infuse these worlds. Yet the reader may never be totally clear on whether these are genuine miracles or acts of the mind. Often we seem to be witnesses to terrified people using their imagination to protect themselves from the unspeakably banal horrors of their reality. Either way, this is an enchantingly absurd marriage of the ordinary and extraordinary. [Chris Lynch]

Out now, published by Faber & Faber, RRP £17.99

Out now, published by Freight Books, RRP £8.99

Out 5 May, published by & Other Stories, RRP £10.00

May 2015

DVD / BOOKS

The Zoo

By Jamie Mollart

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James Marlowe is a marketing man at the top of his game. To all appearances, he’s the very image of success: wowing big clients like clockwork, commanding the respect and reverence of his coworkers and coming home to a big house and a beautiful wife. But of course this shimmering surface covers an emptiness inside. Deep down James is torn up by the ethics of his industry, dulling his doubts with an unbroken tirade of drink and drugs which pushes him ever further from his wife and son, and ever closer to a total psychological breakdown.

It all sounds a little too familiar and that feeling never really wears. It’s a little Mad Men and a lot American Psycho, but without the subtlety and depth of the former or the acerbic anger of the latter. There are plenty of works that thrive on the meticulous detailing of drug-fuelled excess but The Zoo’s attempts always come off with the forced casualness of someone trying to appear cooler than they are. Nonchalantly name-checking narcotics and sex acts is a favoured trick of creative writing types trying to appear edgy and mature. It does not work. [Ross McIndoe] Out now, published by Sandstone Press, RRP £8.99

Review

51

We Can't Live Without Our Lives

O is for Hoolet

BEHAVIOUR 2015: Lippy and O is for Hoolet

Ueinzz Theatre Company

A

rika is a Japanese word which can, amongst other things, be translated to mean: ‘a place where maybe you might find the thing you desire.’

This ethos brings conversation and participation to the forefront of these experimental programmers' Episodes — the term they use to describe their three day events, which are not entirely performance, or, indeed, entirely any one artform.

The themes of each Episode spring from those of the previous programme, creating a trickle down effect that can lead Arika from ballroom to aesthetic identity to this series, which poses the question “Could the ways we attend to each other's joys and pains help us to generate different futures together? Could we give humanness a different future by re-imagining what bodies and minds can be?”

Taking place at the Tramway theatre between the 15 and 19 April, Episode 7, We Can't Live Without Our Lives, explores the infrastructures of care and empathy through a series of multi platform events. With a strong focus on 'sexy logistics' – making sure companies, performers and audiences are comfortable in the space and free to move around – Arika cater as much as they can to the needs of those involved. Each event provides live captioning and BSL interpretation.

Thursday, Friday and Saturday sees, or rather hears, the TLRS ‘morning show’, hosted by Laurence Rassel and Terre Thaemlitz and broadcast live from Tramway via Resonance FM, talking feminist theory and interviewing guests from the Episode.

The broadcasts provide a way in to Arika for those who can't attend, or a moment of respite to those listening in the Tramway cafe bar. Applying the tropes of morning radio, with big personalities and silly sound effects, jars confusingly with the important discussions of feminist theory. This jarring sensation raises questions about how easy it is to tune in to something trivial, and the important things that could be missed beneath that.

Arika's Episodes are iterative, with each evolving out of questions raised during the last. One of the ways the programmers bring this into focus

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Review

is through conversations with participants and audiences, facilitated by their team. Providing context for São Paolo's Ueinzz Theatre Company through conversation on Friday night proves difficult solely for the speed at which a single translator has to keep up with a multiplicity of voices.

The conversation moves from politics and love to the running of the company itself. It is clear that conversation is a huge part of Ueinzz as they disagree and debate with each other even as they explain their practice. Their performance, No Ready Made Men, on the Sunday afternoon is complex, not only because it is not translated entirely into English. At times the performance resembles devising exercises, but in the way that Ueinzz are continually exploring their practice, using theatre to explore themselves and to open up wider questions. The programme tells the narrative. They explore language, playing with the dichotomy in this performance between English and Portuguese, but there are still gaps for the audience to fill in.

Also raising questions for the audience are New York artists Park MacArthur and Constantina Zavitsanos with their film and performance It's Sorta Like a Big Hug, exploring in detail the care that they need and the care that is provided for Park on a daily basis to manage her disability. They ask the audience to think of these acts as scores and directly to attempt the ‘score for crossing an open field’ — the process of crossing someone's legs on their behalf. It is equal parts awkward and engaging for the audience as they choose to either take on or sit back from this task, sparking discussion all around the room. This brings the questions of care at the heart of Arika to the forefront, more directly than other performances and conversations may do. It forces audiences to consider their bodies and the spaces they occupy.

If Episodes are iterative, it will be interesting to see which questions lead forward into Episode 8 and how the questions raised here are answered, if that is even possible. These questions, the discussion, are perhaps the most important thing that Arika create.

Dead Centre's Lippy is a play in three acts. The first is humorous and wrong-foots the audience, and while the second and third acts are much darker, starker, and quieter, the humour still drips through.

Lippy tells the sadly true story of four women, an aunt and three sisters, who barricade themselves in their home and starve themselves to death. Both the girls and the audience are haunted by a single Snickers on stage as we watch them fade – although the actuality feels much more violent.

The performance manipulates. It explores lip reading and the danger of putting words into people's mouths, but the third act, a Beckettian monologue, does just that. It is a powerful closing image, but the question remains whether Dead Centre should impose any words on these women, or simply allow silence to speak instead.

Ishbel McFarlane's O is for Hoolet, winner of the Platform 18 award, is a very different production; a one-woman exploration of the Scots language. McFarlane is engaging as herself and as the linguists, philosophers and writers she embodies. She talks of our habitus and what builds us from within, and powerfully shows the change in four-year-old Ishbel's understanding that ‘O is for Hoolet’, to a complete rejection of the language brought on by education.

At times it resembles a lecture, but it is the personal nature of the performance that is most powerful, captured by the running theme of The Jock O’ Hazeldean, which McFarlane plays a recording of her mother singing at age 19. It is a play about roots and identity as much as it is about language and tradition, and McFarlane is confident in hers throughout. [Emma Ainley-Walker] Behaviour Festival 2015, til Sun 17 May | Various times and dates | Festival Pass: £60/£53 O is for Hoolet, Traverse Theatre, run ended thearches.co.uk/events/arts/behaviour-festival-2015

Credit: Drew Farrell

Credit: Alex Woodward/Arika

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Credit: Irene McFarlane

Interview: Emma Ainley-Walker

Whisky Galore Sunart Centre

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Iain Finlay Macleod's new Gaelic adaption of Compton MacKenzie's Whisky Galore (with English surtitles) captures the spirit of storytelling, of community and of reliving – but not dwelling in – our history.

On opening night, at the Sunart Centre in Strontian, the audience are offered a wee dram as they enter the performance – one they'll become very grateful for as it becomes apparent that there is no whisky to be had in The Cabinet Minister; the ferry has not yet come in.

Macleod's version brings the story – based on the real events of the SS Politician found, full of whisky, off the coast of Eriskay in 1941 – to modern times. It is through hats and playacting that the cast bring us back to MacKenzie's original story.

It requires a nuanced and deft performance, which

THEATRE

the cast provide with high energy; none more so that Iain Macrae, who is on excellent form, and Julie Hale, who switches nimbly and amusingly between the overbearing 1940s mother, the Biffer, and her modern counterpart.

There are moments when the jumping story seems heavy-handed, particularly in the burgeoning relationship between bar owner Michael (Calum MacDonald) and his acerbic barmaid (MJ Deans), and the handy coincidence of newcomer Maire (Roseanne Lynch)’s roots coming straight from Duncan's stories. However, the romance beneath it is sweet, and the action leaves the audience wanting little more than a night in the local pub, drinking whisky and sharing stories. This production is more than suited to a Highland tour, and definitely a fun night out. [Emma Ainley-Walker] National Theatre Scotland, touring various locations, 10 April-15 May nationaltheatrescotland.com

THE SKINNY

What the Duck?

Our troll hunter Fred Fletch leads horny cyber-spacemen into a honeytrap Illustration: Zhang Liang

Win T in the Park Tickets!

T

T

his month I'd set my heart on interviewing Kenneth Marshall from the film Krull (1983).

You might remember Krull as the greatest movie ever made and what's playing while I have sex with you. Marshall, though, seems to have vanished. So, without having an article ready, I did what any selfrespecting writer would do: I drank six beers, posed as astronaut Molly Woods (as played by Halle Berry) and posted the plot to Spielberg's sci-fi series Extant on a lonely hearts site under the section for no-strings sex.

The ad ran: Married Spacewoman seeks open minded soulmate Hi, I'm a 47 year old African-American woman looking for connections in a confusing world. I work for NASA, and have been away from my husband for the last year, working alone on a secret spacerelated mission.

My husband and I have been drifting apart for some time now. He is a very intelligent man who builds cybernetics but sometimes I feel like he loves his robots more than me. Things got complicated when I ended up pregnant (oops, my husband isn't the father). I can't remember how it happened but I think I'll just blame aliens.

The whole space-pregnancy thing has got my boss super suspicious and I feel disconnected and unloved during this complicated time. Obviously, I'm not looking for commitment, just hoping to find someone to remind me that there is still passion in this universe of space-eggs and robots.

Get in touch if you can help me remember what it is to be human.

P.S. I have awesome tits. I got them out once in an adventure involving computers and an elaborate bank robbery.

Against all odds and reason, within the hour I received over 80 replies from local men wanting to put their genitals deep inside a lady-astronaut filled with space-babies. Not wanting to disappoint, I answered their replies: Rob: Hi. I'm a good looking 42 year old guy and think we would get along. Are your tits really awesome? Prove it.

Fred Fletch: Mmmmm. Tell me exactly how big your duck is?

R: LOL straight to the point. It's 6 inches and more than enough for you to enjoy.

FF: A 6 inch duck? That seems a little small.

Is it just a baby?

R: That's average size and good and thick.

You'll love it.

FF: According to the internet, the average size of a duck is 20 inches. When you say it is thick, do you mean it is cognitively impaired? Ducks are usually quite intelligent.

R: What? I'm confused. 20 inches or are you talking centimetres? 6 inches is average.

FF: *sends picture of duck* I'm talking inches, but I guess some confusion might be over wingspan. I'm measuring tail to beak.

May 2015

R: Fuck off.

The next reply came from Brad: Brad: Hey baby. You for real? You sound crazy but crazy good. You want me to fuck those big milky tits for you? If your husband is too busy with robots let a real man like me make you feel human. I would go down on you for hours and you'd love it.

FF: I admire your promise to ‘go down on me for hours', but the duration of the act does not necessarily equate to quality of experience. I could play Monopoly for hours but it doesn't mean anyone is having any fun.

B: You crazy girl. You like doing it outdoors?

I got a car we could go somewhere and fuck each senseless. How far gone are you? Lol you'd maybe need to go on top. Don't wanna fuck you so hard you go into labour. Lol that would mess up my car seats.

FF: I'm no expert on space-pregnancies, but if my water breaks it will eat through your car like acid and we might need to get home Fred Flintstone-style. (Maybe we should park on a slope prior to all that orbit-breaking fucking you promise). Should I also bring my Travel Monopoly, or do you prefer Boggle?

B: Fuck off weirdo Perhaps I'd do better with Paul, who sounded like a nice guy: Paul: I would love to remind you of what it's like to be human. I'm also an attached guy who is drifting from my partner so if you are interested let me know.

FF: Thanks for the message Paul. Sorry to hear that you're drifting from your partner. Do you think your troubles have anything to do with the size of your duck?

P: No troubles in that area. I just don't seem to be getting enough attention from her in that department. You will be happy to know that I've never had any complaints. Do you have a pic? I'll send you mine if you show me yours.

FF: I'd love to see a picture of your duck Paul.

I'd love one of my own. I could play with it all day.

P: *Includes blurry picture of penis* Hope you like the look of mine. Now it's your turn.

FF: That's a very unusual looking duck Paul.

Was it in some sort of horrible accident? Poor thing, I'd probably take it to a vet – where the fuck are its feathers?

P: Fuck off you stupid time-wasting asshole FF: Hello. I am Mr Spaceman, my wife's husband. Why are you talking to a married woman about ducks and sending her pictures of what looks like a urologist's suicide note?

P: Fuck off cunt, I'm reporting you.

By 4am, I had received over 150 replies to my advert but became bored. If you happen to see Krull's Ken Marshall, tell him to reply to the ad that says his fucking destiny is calling.

Krull played in cinemas in 1983

his summer, T in the Park takes up residency in the beautiful grounds of Strathallan Castle, the festival's new home, from 10-12 July, and the stellar line-up features some of the world's biggest artists and breakthrough talent. Headliners including Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds and The Prodigy will be joined by St Vincent, The War on Drugs, Wolf Alice and more.

Camping? Pre-order chilled cans of Tennent's Lager and Magners Original Cider thanks to Be Chilled, Tennent's Lager's popular pre-order service – check out tennents.com/ bechilled for more information.

Don't miss out – get your T in the Park tickets now from tinthepark.com.

Thanks to festival organisers DF Concerts and founding partner Tennent's Lager we have a pair of weekend camping tickets to give away plus return travel with Citylink and Be Chilled vouchers!

To enter, go to theskinny.co.uk/competitions and answer the following question: Tell us which night Kasabian will headline: a) Friday b) Saturday c) Sunday

For more information and regular updates from The T Lady visit tinthepark.com Citylink travel is valid from designated Citylink depots, for more information visit citylink.co.uk For the facts about alcohol drinkaware.co.uk Competition closes midnight Sunday 21 June. Entrants must be 18 or over. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. The names of the winner will be on the guest list.

Our Ts&Cs can be found at theskinny.co.uk/about/termsand-conditions

Win the SAY Award longlist!

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he SAY Award is back with a brand new longlist featuring the best albums released by Scottish artists between January 2014 and March 2015. Championing Scottish music in all its influential, inspiring and idiosyncratic glory, the twentystrong longlist will become a shortlist of ten on 28 May before the winning album – which picks up a £20,000 first prize – is chosen at the award ceremony held in O2 ABC Glasgow on 18 June.

You can see the longlist in full on p7. For your chance to win all twenty titles from this year's longlist and a pair of tickets for the award ceremony just head along to theskinny.co.uk/competitions and answer the following question:

COMEDY

Which Young Fathers album won last year's SAY Award? a) DEAD b) Tape Two c) White Men Are Black Men Too Competition closes midnight Sunday 31 May. Entrants must be 18 or over. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. The names of the winner will be on the guest list.

Our Ts&Cs can be found at theskinny.co.uk/about/termsand-conditions

Feature

53

54

Listings

THE SKINNY

Glasgow Music Tue 28 Apr

PURITY RING (BORN GOLD)

THE ART SCHOOL, 19:00–22:30, £13.50

Future pop duo offering a vision of synth pop as polished as bloody crystal, with Corin Roddick's productions incorporating sugarsweet melodies, with a liberal use of side-chained beats and synths.

Amen.

VILLAGERS

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £14

Conor O'Brien-fronted folk outfit that began life as a nameless collection of musical poems (penned

by O'Brien).

AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR (MYLETS) KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £12

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

SHAWN SMITH

CLASSIC GRAND, 19:30–22:00, £16

Seattle-based singer/songwriter who's also a member of Brad, Satchel, Pigeonhead, Malfunkshun, and The Twilight Singers. Busy chap.

FLYING LOTUS

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £20

Brainfeeder label boss and universally-acclaimed producer, also known as Steven Ellison.

OVER (SCIENCE MADE US ROBOTS + RISING PACIFIC)

ARCHES BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £8

Philadelphia duo busily brewing a psych and pop-straddling brand of alternative rock, playing their debut gig with their new band line-up.

GAZ COOMBES

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £15

The Supergrass frontman (and his impressive sideburns) continue to go it alone.

THE GREAT ALBATROSS (DAVE FRAZER AND THE SLAVE LABOURERS)

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, FREE

Glasgow-based experimental popsters apparently formed over a pair of bootcut jeans and a girl's desire for a star tattoo.

TECTONICS GLASGOW: OPENING CONCERT

OLD FRUITMARKET GLASGOW, 21:30–00:00, £24 (£18) FESTIVAL PASS

A bustling line up including Marian Rezaei, Justin K Broadrick and members of the BBC SSO help open the first night of Tectonics Glasgow 2015.

KING TUT'S, 20:00–23:00, £12

Sat 02 May

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £3.00

The Stornoway thrashers deliver their usual wall of head-banging, foot-stomping fuzz.

WHILE SHE SLEEPS + CANCER BATS

O2 ABC, 18:00–22:00, £16

Co-headline set from Sheffield metalcore troops While She Sleeps and all-ragin’ Toronto rock'n'rollers Cancer Bats.

JOSH ROUSE

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £16

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

TRIBAL HIGH (MADE AS MANNEQUINS + SWEET CREEPS)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

The fast-rising Glaswegian indie newcomers do their thing.

Thu 30 Apr STEALING SHEEP

BROADCAST, 19:00–23:00, £10

Three otherworldly Liverpudlian lasses mixing organic and electronic sounds, all medieval synths, hypnotic beats, spiraling whammy guitars, and apocalyptic thunder drones.

DIANE CLUCK (WOUNDED KNEE + HONEY AND THE HERBS)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £10 (£8)

The intuitive folk New York-based singer/songwriter returns to Glasgow for a rare solo outing.

THE DISTRICTS

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £10

Pennsylvanian band of young things who caused a rocky roots stir at last year's SXSW.

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £5

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING (SMOKE FAIRIES) O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £18.50

Experimental duo who sample old public information films and archive material and set them to new music.

XSM

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £13

Ex-Simple Minds drummer Brian McGee and 80s singer Owen Paul team up to play classic Simple Minds hits.

THE SNEAKY RUSSIANS (THE NIBLICKS + DE MELLO)

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

Coatbridge indie-rockers who've been earning their chops on the live circuit for the past few years.

TIDINGS

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £TBC

The Edinburgh-based cinematic post-metallers bring their usual brand of noise.

THE DIRTY BLONDE (ASIAN BABES + ANTIQUE PONY)

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS , 19:00–23:00, £3

The Glasgow-based noise quartet play an intimate show to kick off their string of summer dates.

THE GROWLERS

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

American ensemble known for blending fuzzy surf with sexy psychedelia, throwing in some hypnotic melodies and tripped out lyrics for good measure.

HAIKU SALUT (THE COLOUR OF WHISKY + THE OCCASIONAL FLICKERS)

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £7

Derbyshire-based trio using accordions, ukeleles, glockenspiels, pianos, loopery and laptopery to create their own unique brand of sounds. That do ye?

STORNAWAY

AKALA (MIC RIGHTEOUS + MISTA BOHZE + EPIK)

THE ART SCHOOL, 20:00–23:00, £15

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £10

Oxford-based alternative indie folksters led by singer/songwriter and guitarist Brian Briggs.

Fri 01 May MAN OVERBOARD

ORAN MOR, 18:30–22:00, £9

New Jersey pop-punk quintet, formed by childhood buddies Nik Bruzzese and Wayne Wildrick.

May 2015

CITY HALLS, 19:30–21:10, £24 (£18) FESTIVAL PASS

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra present a selection of challenging and exciting new music, including the world premiere of Cassandra Miller's Cello Concerto.

Late night showcase session, featuring experimentations in sound from Attila Csihar, Mariam Rezaei, Julia Scott and Joel Stern.

Wed 29 Apr

THE BROKEN RAVENS

TECTONICS GLASGOW: BBC SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 1

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £7

ALL SHE KNOWS (TETRA + WE WERE HAUNTED)

A stellar line-up of locals help raise funds for Love Music, Hate Racism.

MODEL AEROPLANES

The Glasgow metalers do their best to burst some eardrums with their usual noisy musical onslaught.

TECTONICS GLASGOW: LATE GIG (ATTILA CSIHAR + MARIAM REZAEI + JULIA SCOTT + JOEL STERN)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Fledgling Dundee-based rockers who recorded their first single whilst they were finishing their Higher exams. Go them.

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

Collaborative project featuring Wesley Chung and a revolving door of contributors, making laid back vibes drawn from Chung's Californian roots.

LOVE MUSIC, HATE RACISM: MAY DAY FUNDRAISER (PRONTO MAMA + CUTTY'S GYM + QYEEN + YOUNG PEOPLE'S ARMY + BIGG TAJ)

Italian pop-rockers of suitably heavyweight proportions.

RAZORBLADE SMILE (DOG MOON HOWL + FILTH SPECTOR + BUDGIE MCGUBLIGAN)

Award-winning hip-hop artist and younger brother of rapper Ms. Dynamite, currently carving out his own path with his rap, rock and electro influences.

THE RAIN EXPERIMENT (TRICK BABY + ALL THE FRANKLINS) O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £7

Glasgow-based alternative rock quartet led by Dylan ‘Cheggy’ Dickson.

OLD FRUITMARKET GLASGOW, 21:30–23:30, £24 (£18) FESTIVAL PASS

PENNYCRESS: FAREWELL GIG (POOCHES + SECONDS + THE SINKING FEELING) THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–01:30, £4

The Glasgow indie-popsters bid a fond farewell.

JOSHUA BURNSIDE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 20:00–23:00, £4

Northern Irish experimental folk songwriter and producer.

Sun 03 May

THE HEARTS (ENEMIES OF THE STATE + ACRYLIC + SONIC TEMPLARS) KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

South Wales band of buddies of the guitar rock persuasion.

TECTONICS GLASGOW: BBC SCOTTISH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA 2

CITY HALLS, 19:30–21:00, £24 (£18) FESTIVAL PASS

The BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra present a selection of challenging and exciting new music, including the UK premiere of Enno Poppe's Altbau.

TECTONICS GLASGOW: CLOSING CONCERT

OLD FRUITMARKET GLASGOW, 21:00–22:00, £24 (£18) FESTIVAL PASS

This year's three-day festival draws to a close in suitably eclectic style, with highlights including a performance of Daniel Padden's Glass Hundreds, another outing from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra and more.

STAG AND DAGGER PRESENTS... LIVE AT GLASGOW

BROADCAST, 02 ABC, THE ART SCHOOL, THE GARAGE, NICE 'N' SLEAZY, CCA & CODA HAIRDRESSING, 12:00–01:00, FROM £15

Annual multi-venue musical marathon, commandeering ten venues and the whole of your Easter Sunday – with band highlights this year including Django Django, Honeyblood, Thurston Moore, Atom Tree, Neon Waltz, Moon Duo and more.

Mon 04 May ROZI PLAIN

MONO, 20:00–23:00, FREE

The Lost Map Records label lass showcases her new LP Friend – a gem-like batch of ramshackle folky tunes, built on hand-picked guitar lines and groove-laden drums, atop which her voice sits spell-like and understated.

SET IT OFF

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £10

Florida-based orchestral pop rock fivesome out on their spring break tour.

Tue 05 May SUPER FURRY ANIMALS

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £30

The Welsh psychedelic rockers play their first batch of gigs since 2009, out celebrating the reissue of their fourth LP Mwng.

THE ONCE (BEC SANDRIDGE)

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £7

Canadian trio treading the line between folk, roots and indie.

CARONTE (ATTIC + PYRE OF THE EARTH)

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £8

Italian purveyors of old school doom, with a sludge edge to it.

PANIC ANCHOR (EASY OCTOBER + JOHN LINDEN)

THOMAS MCCARTHY (MULDOON'S PICNIC)

PRETTY HURTS (LOST LIMBS + THE CHERRY WAVE)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £8

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £5

Glasgow-based alternative country two-piece.

BATTLE LINES (DEER LEADER)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £7

The post-rock dream popsters celebrate the launch of their new EP on No Sleep Records.

DUSTIN KENSRUE

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £18.50

Orange County vocalist and rhythm guitarist, best known as founder of rock quartet Thrice.

Wed 06 May BETH HART

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £23.50

American singer/songwriter who found fame with LA Song, which aired during the final season of the mighty Beverly Hills 90210.

SWEETHEARTS OF THE PRISON RODEO (ADAM STAFFORD + EMILY SCOTT)

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £TBC

Falkirk-based music collective based around the idiosyncratic compositions of songwriter D. King, out launching their new LP. Stellar support – worth the ticket price alone – comes from Adam Stafford and Emily Scott.

ORKESTRA DEL SOL

STEREO, 20:00–22:00, £10

The Edinburgh-based ensemble play a special set, continuing to reinvent the global brass band sound as they go.

PENTATONIX

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £18.50

Vocal quintet from Arlington, Texas, presenting a instrumentfree brand of electronic pop.

GARDEN OF ELKS (SHARPTOOTH)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Alternative indie newbies composed of PAWS, Bronto Skylift and ex-Vasa members.

PETER BRODERICK (BRIGID POWERRYCE)

MONO, 19:30–22:00, £10

Oregon-based muso with releases on the likes of Erased Tapes, Bella Union and Type, as well as collaborations with Efterklang and M.Ward (aka his reputation truly does precede him).

STRINGS, WIRES, THREADS AND GUTS

CITY HALLS, 20:00–22:00, £6

Premiere of Matthew Whiteside's new work for viola d'amore and live electronics.

LEE BAINS III AND THE GLORY FIRES

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £7

Alabama rock'n'rollers led by Lee Bains.

NOW, VOYAGER (LAY SIEGE)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £8 (£7)

Plucky Belgian upstarts of the rock-meets-metal variety.

Irish folk singer from Co. Offaly with a distinct and unusual unaccompanied singing style.

The dark and noisy German punk unit get, er, dark and noisy on your asses.

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

Mon 11 May

APE MAN ALIEN (REWIRED)

Glasgow-based alternative rockers who describe themselves as ‘sometimes punk, sometimes anthemic, slightly sinister’, which is nice.

ELEMNTS #2 (DRESSIN RED + FREDWAVE+ INKKE + ARM WATCHES FINGERS VS PHOENE)

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

THE RUM SHACK, 19:30–00:00, £5

The 2015 shenanigans get underway, kicking off with a launch party manned by reggae stars Lady Lex, Bass Warrior and Hectorrr, plus Fringe faves The Creative Martyrs, Barefoot Bren, Black And White Boy and Howlin’ Radio.

FRAM (MONICA QUEEN + CHIARA BERADELLI)

THE OLD HAIRDRESSERS , 19:30–23:00, £5

The experimental music-makers launch their new LP (on Strength in Numbers Records) Against Nature.

THE BEAT MOVEMENT (JAMIE COLEMAN + KIERAN FISHER + JAMIE REILLY)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £10 (£8)

Greenock rock'n'roll foursome built on a bed of soulful grooves and R'n'B soundscapes.

Sat 09 May

PAPER AEROPLANES (LEWIS AND LEIGH)

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £12

Acoustic alternative folkies from Wales, led by vocalist and songwriter Sarah Howells.

WITHERED HAND

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £13 (£11)

DIY folk fairytales are the order of the day as Edinburgh boy-donegood Dan Willson (aka Withered Hand) performs a special set.

TWIN ATLANTIC

THE SSE HYDRO, 19:00–22:00, £20.00

The Glasgow alternative rock fourpiece do their Brit-rock thing, built on stabbing guitars and vocalist Sam McTrusty's distinctive style.

KATZENJAMMER

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £13.50

All-female Norwegian quartet whose musical style is a fusion of pop/rock and country-folk.

FOXYGEN (H. HAWKLINE)

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £10

The incomprehensibly popular psych bandwagoneers call in with their latest LP. PRETTY VICIOUS

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £6

Sun 10 May

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £5

Frantic punk unit on tour from hardcore's spiritual home of Cleveland, Ohio.

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £6

SOUTHSIDE FRINGE: LAUNCH PARTY

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £TBC

BAD NOIDS (NEW AGE + BAD AURA + SICK OF TALK)

DAWN OF HUMANS (CLOCKED OUT + GLUERASH + FEEBLE BASTARD)

THE POETRY CLUB, 20:00–02:00, £5

New DIY art-meets-music night, taking in a selection of live bands, visuals and spoken word.

Thu 07 May

Luxembourgish four-piece making indie/math rock flecked with synthetic and electronic elements.

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT

Ohio-born synthpop duo on the Fueled by Ramen roster.

NYC-based punk mutants featuring members of Crazy Spirit, Hank Wood and the Hammerheads and Perdition.

Fledgling Welsh rock foursome former in early 2014.

MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY (DIALECTS)

TWENTY ONE PILOTS

THE WARLOCKS

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £TBC

STRIKING MATCHES

Country rock duo who've been featured on the NBC hit drama series Nashville.

Tue 12 May

ARCANE ROOTS (GALLERY CIRCUS + SOLEMN SUN)

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £10

Surrey-based rockers pushing the genre in some fresh and unexpected ways.

HOT CHIP

THE ART SCHOOL, 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT

TYLER THE CREATOR

BARROWLANDS, 19:00–23:00, £20

Californian rapper and record producer, rarely seen without a baseball cap. Obv. SHAMIR

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £8

LA songwriter who's becoming the latest Youtube sensation, with nearly a million hits for recent single On The Regular.

VELVETBOMB (THE MANIC SHINE)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Big ol’ dose of alternative rock.

Wed 13 May J. COLE (JHENÉ AIKO)

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £34.50

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £14

Otherworldly French project created by Niege (also of Amesoeurs, Peste Noire and Forgotten Woods), taking its inspiration from a faraway fantasy world of his childhood dreams.

HALO TORA (RETURN TO THE SUN + IN:TIDES) BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £TBC

Glasgow-based ensemble blending rock sounds into something fresh and interesting via soaring dual lead vocals and three part harmonies, guitars and piano.

MOBB DEEP

O2 ABC, 18:00–22:00, £26.50

The East Coast hip-hop duo take to the road for their 20th anniversary tour.

MORE METAL THAN YER MAW'S KETTLE (OF ONE BLOOD + CO-EXIST + AYE-AYE + SATIRACY) IVORY BLACKS, 19:30–22:00, £6

Showcase night of some of Scotland's best metal bands, moving from grindcore to death metal.

DUB FX

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15

CAÏNA (OMMADON + SKELETON GONG + VOE)

British cinematic black metal ensemble formed back in 2004 by multi-instrumentalist Andrew Curtis-Brignell.

AMERICANA ON THE FRINGE (ANTON AND THE COLTS + KING OF BIRDS + SEAN C KENNEDY)

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £5

Pretty much as the title suggests – a special Americana showcase as part of this year's Southside Fringe Festival.

RAYMONDE MEADE

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £10

Glasgow singer/songwriter whose uplifting and melodic brand of tuneage is steeped in classic rock'n'roll roots, out launching his new LP. THE VEGAN LEATHER (THE NINTH WAVE + HOUSE OF CARDS + ROBBIE HUTTON)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £5

MEW (ALL WE ARE)

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £19.50

Danish trio known for their experimental otherworldliness, with lead singer/whiner Jonas Bjerre at the helm.

TYLER OAKLEY

O2 ACADEMY GLASGOW, 19:00–22:00, £34.50

Young musical activist currently out tourin’ the world.

MOON KING

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £6

Ethereal Toronto duo Daniel Benjamin and Maddy Wilde tour their debut LP Secret Life.

CHILLI AND THE WHALEKILLERS (BEC SANDRIDGE) MONO, 19:30–22:00, £TBC

The Vienna-based power popsters take to the road with their new mini-album.

PALE FIRES

STEREO, 19:30–22:00, £6

London and Suffold-straddling unit of the psychedelic rock'n'roll variety.

AMERICAN FOOTBALL

SWG3 GLASGOW, 19:30–22:00, £20

The returning emos come to the UK for the first time, for a rapturously received tour.

Mon 18 May FIVE

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £27.50

Those five bad boys with the power to rock you return to a live setting.

JAD FAIR + NORMAN BLAKE

MONO, 20:00–23:00, £12.50

Co-founder of lo-fi alternative rockers Half Japanese, Jed Fair plays a collaborative set with American instrumentalist Norman Blake.

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £6

Up-and-coming Baltimore popsters of the melodic indie-rock variety.

GIUDA

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £8

The Rome glam rockers continue their Let's Do It Again 2015 tour.

MEAT WAVE (ANTIQUE PONY + MANUSCRIPTS)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

ARTIE ZIFF + OCEAN OF YOU + LAFLEUR

Thu 14 May

KING TUT'S, 20:00–23:00, £10

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £6

The soulful Glasgow singer/songwriter launches her new LP. The album is slated for release Spring 2015.

JESSE MALIN

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £12

New York singer/songwriter who began playing live at the tender age of twelve, in seminal hardcore band Heart Attack.

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £7

SUN CLUB

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £6

Two white middle class guys named Slaves. Hmm. Standard two-piece rock.

SOPHIE ROGERS (MISS IRENE ROSE + OLD BOHEMIA + KEVIN P GILDAY + PATERSANI)

Stripped-down acoustic loveliness from the contemporary Irish singer/songwriter.

Co-headline tour from Brightonvia-Minneapolis pop-rockers As It Is and Californian acoustic duo This Wild Life.

Fri 08 May

ALCEST

THE ART SCHOOL, 21:00–01:00, £10 (£9)

Glaswegian three piece chucking every imaginably musical influence into the mix – think Gypsy folk, dance, and swing – resulting in high energy, danceable tunes.

ELEANOR MCEVOY

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £10

Sat 16 May

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £9

SLAVES

THE JOHN LANGAN BAND (ROSS AINSLIE + JARLATH HENDERSON + DALLAHAN + DJ DOLPHIN BOY)

The psychedelic space rockers take to the UK armed with a 28-strong back catalogue of albums, celebrating 30+ years of music-making.

AS IT IS + THIS WILD LIFE (SEAWAY + BOSTON MANOR)

THE POP GROUP

The legendary Scottish soulmeets-funk outfit play a set of hits.

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £15

The frontman of Welsh band The Alarm continues his solo quest.

OZRIC TENTACLES

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £15

The Glasgow art popsters hit up Sleazy's to launch their debut LP.

The Chicago garage punks plunge y'all into slacker rock heaven.

The Creeping Bent-signed combo tour their first LP in a staggering 35 years, Citizen Zombie.

MIKE PETERS

Sun 17 May

North Carolina MC (aka Jermaine Cole) – the first artist signed to Jay Z's Roc Nation label – still out on his 2014 Forest Hills Drive tour despite the fact it's, er, 2015.

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:00–22:00, £17.50

AVERAGE WHITE BAND

Fri 15 May

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £6

DADDY LONG LEGS

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £8

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £18.50

MONO, 19:30–22:00, £5

Drum machine-powered alternative trio out airing tracks from their debut LP.

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £8

NYC residing rock'n'blues trio deriving their moniker from their longlegged harmonica-blastin’ frontman.

Hit Me! promotions debut night featuring bands hailing from Glasgow and Wishaw, moving from synth-pop tunes to fast rock.

Minneapolis punk rockers fronted by brothers Jim and Mike Blaha.

JOEY FOURR

Former Twitch band member, who built his subsequent solo career busking on the streets with a loop station.

Rock trio hailing from Essex, fresh from touring with McBusted, the poor swines.

THE BLIND SHAKE

The UK disco veterans continue to mix it with the freshest sounds some 20-odd years after forming.

The geeky London popsters arrive with their kit-bag of electronics, playing a sold out set cherrypicked from their sixth LP (and second on Domino Records) What Makes Sense?

Sunny LA-residing rockers formed back in 1998 by guitarist/singer Bobby Hecksher, moving between the psychedelic and drone soundscapes of the genre.

NEW CITY KINGS

CRAZY P STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £13

STRUGGLE (MIN DIESEL + SHUDDER)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Monthly punk and post hardcore selection of bands from DIY collective Struggletown.

PENFOLD (DEETEES + GENTLEMEN ROGUES)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £5

The Livi quartet offer up another smack-to-the-face slice of alternative rock.

MASKED INTRUDER (MURDERBURGERS)

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

Four melodious felons in ski masks with rap sheets, matching Converse and a moderate supply of catchy tunes.

BLACK RIVERS

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £10

The brothers behind Manc outfit Doves (aka Jez and Andy Williams) regrouped as a new duo.

MICKEY 9S (COLONEL MUSTARD AND THE DIJON 5 + THE GIROBABIES)

Glaswegian foursome offering up a manic fusion of bass, beats, onstage bodypopping and ski masks (yes, really), out welcoming their new LP into the world.

KEEPING DIRT CLEAN (FRANKLIN)

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £3

Indie-meets-grunge ensemble spawned from a south Glasgow spare back bedroom, out celebrating the release of their second EP. MERRYMOUTH

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £14

Contemporary folk-rock unit formed in 2012 by Ocean Colour Scene's Simon Fowler, joined by John McCusker, Dan Sealey and Adam Barry.

RICHARD DAWSON (HOWIE REEVE + CHRISSY BARNACLE)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £7 (£5)

Newcastle troubadour hailed for his skewed delivery; singing and playing guitar with a rare intensity and a very singular style.

THE DYNAGLIDES

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £10

Nine-piece ensemble specialising in playing the classics of the 50s and 60s.

TERRY REID

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:30–22:00, £15

English rock-meets-soul singer/ songwriter affectionately known as ‘Superlungs’.

OTHER HUMANS

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £10

Tue 19 May

PINACT (THE BELLYBUTTONS + BREAKFAST MUFF)

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £5

Brash Glasgow duo playing hyperactive punk-rock rich with energy and catchy melodies, launching their new LP on the night.

INDIANA

THE ART SCHOOL, 20:00–22:00, £11

Nottingham singer/songwriter Laura Henson, better known as her stage name, Indiana.

SWERVEDRIVER

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £15

The resurgent Oxford quartet hit the road, with Adam Franklin's gift for penning hypnotic, widescreen rock'n'roll all well and in place.

BELLA AND THE BEAR

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £3

Fledgling Scottish duo built on a traditional acoustic sound, backed up with rhythmic and percussive guitar playing and two-part harmonies.

THE HOTELIER + EMPEROR X + FLAKES

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Punk Rock Rammy showcase night, headed up by American emo funsters The Hotelier.

Wed 20 May YOUNG FATHERS

THE ART SCHOOL, 19:00–22:00, £10

Synth-pop trio chock with 80s synthesizers and suitably dark vocals.

The Scottish hip-hop trio return with their rather glorious line in DIY rap and synchronised dance moves.

STEREO, 23:00–03:00, £4

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £TBC

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £6

TYCI (YOUTH MAN)

For TYCI's May event, the collective welcome Birmingham trio Youth Man on their Hill of Knives tour.

DAWES

North Hills, Californian quartet of the Americana soul persuasion.

Listings

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BENJAMIN CLEMENTINE

BELLE & SEBASTIAN

COLLEEN GREEN

BABES IN TOYLAND

GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 19:30–22:00, £14

THE SSE HYDRO, 19:00–22:00, FROM £27.50

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £7

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £15

London-born singer/songwriter of Ghanaian origins, who honed his craft while busking on the Paris metro.

TARIBOWEST (BEARDED YOUTH QUEST + CANAL CAPITALE)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

A selection of super-heavy live band sounds curated by Vasa's J Niblock and Detour's Ally McCrae.

STICKY FINGERS

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £7

Australian reggae/indie fusion outfit who win extra points for having a kitten on the front of their new LP Land of Pleasure.

FLOTSAM AND JETSAM

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £16

The Arizona-formed thrash metalers drop by, like its still the 80s.

Thu 21 May

THE NIGHTINGALES (TED CHIPPINGTON + PSYCHIC SOVIETS + BREAKFAST MUFF)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £9 (£7)

The Birmingham-formed postpunk outfit get back on the live circuit.

BOOK GROUP (MEKLA)

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £6

The guitar'n'drums-styled Edinburgh ensemble do their noise-pop thing.

RX BANDITS (CIRCA SURVIVE)

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £14.50

Groove tech quartet from California, out touring their latest LP Gemini Her Majesty.

THE RIPTIDE MOVEMENT

STEREO, 19:30–22:00, £10

Irish rock outfit with a fondness for big riffs and even bigger choruses.

REPEATER (PITY SEX + WOMPS + GET WELL)

The longstanding Glasgow indiepop troupe celebrate the release of their new (ninth) LP Girl In Peactime Want To Dance by playing the not-so-intimate surrounds of the Hydro.

SKETCHES: A TRIBUTE TO JEFF BUCKLEY (BILLY BATES + TOM VEVERS + GRAEME QUINN + JONNY TERREL)

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:00–23:00, £5

A selection of local musicians and songwriters pay homage to one of music's briefest but brightest shining lights. Part of Southside Fringe Festival.

SKATE PARK FUNDRAISER (TUT VUVU + PAWS + THE SINKING FEELING)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £5

Fundraiser night featuring a threestrong line-up of talented locals.

Sat 23 May

HANS CHEW (ANGUS MUNRO)

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £10

American pianist originally from Tennessee, now based in New York City, where he's holed up with a typewriter, some New Orleans records and a piano.

SWANS

THE ART SCHOOL, 19:00–22:00, £20

NYC-based post-punk lot, built on Michael Gira's affecting baritone, unprecedented levels of volume and oodles of sheer visceral bloody energy.

WALK THE MOON

THE ARCHES, 19:00–22:00, £12

The Cincinnati lyrical indie lot cherrypick tracks from their new LP Talking Is Hard.

BLACK AND WHITE BOY (SOMETHING, SOMEONE + TERI BOOTH) THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, FREE

Post-hardcore DIY gig/club effort, with a selection of live acts dropping by.

Ayrshire native Andrew Nicol plays under his folk-pop Black and White Boy guise, launching his new LP on the night.

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £8

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £20

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

SAINT MOTEL (EDGAR)

NILS FRAHM (DAWN OF MIDI)

Los Angeles indie-rockers who do a good line in dreamy pop soundscapes.

Berlin-based contemporary composer touring in support of recent live LP Solo.

GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 19:00–22:00, FROM £30

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £9

TOTO

STEVE GUNN

American rock unit nearing their 40th year of music-making.

New York-based guitarist and songwriter out touring his latest LP Way Out Weather.

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £8

Sun 24 May

HINDS

Lo-fi garage rockers hailing from sunny Madrid.

JOSEPH MILLER + AISLING QUINN + JOHN HARVEY

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £7

Specially curated night of singer/ songwriter loveliness as part of this year's Southside Fringe Festival.

Fri 22 May

ADAM HOLMES AND THE EMBERS

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:30–22:00, £12

Young rootsy-pop singer/ songwriter Adam Holmes plays accompanied by his five-strong band of players, The Embers.

SMACK WIZARDS (ANTIQUE PONY + SHAM GATE)

THE FLYING DUCK, 20:00–00:00, £4

More semi-improvised, looselywritten pop songs from the twisted brain of Smack Wizards.

THE SAINTS

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £13

On-and-off rock lot formed in 1976 in Australia.

FIREWORKS

CLASSIC GRAND, 18:30–22:00, £8

Michigan-hailing pop-punk ensemble out touting their new LP (Oh) Common Life.

YORKSTON / THORNE / KHAN

GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 20:00–22:00, £14

Collaborative project of Scottish folk singer/songwriter James Yorkston, sarangi player and classical singer Suhail Yusuf Khan and Lamb's double bass player Jon Thorne, formed after a chance meeting.

RIDE

BARROWLANDS, 19:00–23:00, £25

English rock outfit out riding the wave of their reunion, playing their first batch of shows in 20 years.

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Listings

DOLDRUMS

STEREO, 19:30–22:00, £8

Canada's latest electronic sensations combine anthemic indie rock and techno-influenced improv electronics to suitably bloody lovely effect.

COAL CHAMBER (SOIL + AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE)

O2 ABC, 18:00–22:00, £20

The Los Angeles-based nu metalers bring the racket.

More stoner pop sounds from the west LA-hailing lo-fi artist.

DON MCLEAN

GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 19:30–22:00, FROM £25

Legendary folk singer/songwriter (aka ‘im wot wrote American Pie).

WILL HAVEN (RAGING SPEEDHORN + PALM READER)

O2 ABC, 19:00–22:00, £10

Californian noise metal outfit, out celebrating the release of their (honestly titled) latest LP Open The Mind To Discomfort.

ERIC CHENAUX (LUMINOUS MONSTERS)

Mon 25 May AXIS OF

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £5

The Belfast hardcore outfit bore a hole through the stage as per.

NEEDTOBREATHE

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £14.50

Charleston-based southern rockers led by guitarist and lyricist Bear Rinehart.

MONUMENTS

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £10

London-based progressive metal ensemble headed up by Chris Barretto.

Tue 26 May

THE WINTER TRADITION (HOTEL MOSKVA + GHOST ALASKA + GOODCOPGREATCOP)

KING TUT'S, 20:00–23:00, £7

More in the way of noisy powerpop-meets-rock from the loveable Scottish quartet.

West Dunbartonshire rock'n'rollers fronted by vocalist James Cairns.

SUCKER PUNCH (TUFF LOVE + KATHRYN JOSEPH + BRUISING)

THE GLAD CAFE, 17:00–22:00, £20 WEEKEND

HUNTER HAYES

Some Italian left-field guitar abuse for your general aural pleasure.

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £14.50

The Grammy nominated country star stops by.

Wed 27 May MIAOUX MIAOUX

STEREO, 19:00–22:00, £8

Multi-tasking chap Julian Corrie (aka Miaoux Miaoux) and his now full-band ensemble – with drummer Liam Chapman and bass player Liam Graham adding new depth to his pedals, drum machines, synth and guitar combo.

FATHER MURPHY (HOWIE REEVE + MICHELLE HANNAH)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £5

Experimental art rockers building their sound on the back of some hellish guitar noise.

HOZIER

BARROWLANDS, 19:00–23:00, £16

Irish soul-meets-blues one-manband, aka Andrew Hozier-Byrne, who joined his first band at the tender age of 15.

THE BOHICAS

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £7

The Essex/London rock'n'roll foursome gear up for the release of their debut LP. THE DICTATORS NYC (THE MEDIA WHORES)

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £17

New York-hailing proto-punk noisemakers, led by Handsome Dick Manitoba (birth name, obvs).

HANNAH IN THE WARS (WOODWIFE + ERIN TODD) BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

New Zealand-born, Londonbased singer/songwriter Hannah Curwood and co.

Thu 28 May

GREAT COP (THE CHERRY WAVE + SLOWLIGHT)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £5

O2 ABC, 18:30–22:00, £16.50

Southside Fringe Festival bows out with a special finale bash in Govanhill Baths, joined by the cream of the Fringe across performance, music, DJs and cabaret, plus summat they're calling the ‘MyBiltong’ BBQ. Mmm.

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £6.50

GLASGOW ROYAL CONCERT HALL, 19:00–22:00, FROM £35

ZEUS! (BABOBO + CUT)

GOVANHILL BATHS, 16:00–23:00, £10

SOUTHSIDE FRINGE: GRAND FINALE

HOLY PISTOL CLUB (THE NUMBER 9S + VIDA)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £7

Experimental troubadour with a body of solo work documented across five albums released on the Constellation label since 2006.

The lead singer of indie-rock outfit Art Brut goes it solo.

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £10

Fri 29 May

The Glad Cafe join forces with music webzine GoldFlakePaint for the inaugural Sucker Punch mini fest, with local highlights including Moshi Moshi electro-wonders Babe, hometown fuzz-meisters Tuff Love and Edinburgh folky hero Rob St. John.

Glasgow-based punk-rockers led

by Joe Campbell on vocals, drums and official sweating duties, out raising funds for their forthcoming LP.

EDDIE ARGOS

The reformed all-female American punk rockers time machine y'all back to the 90s with a set of classic hits.

MUDHONEY

American grunge rock bunch, formed in Seattle from the ashes of Green River.

TORCHE

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

Bridging pop and metal like no one else'd bloody dare, the Miami ensemble continue to realise their crazed, yet delicate balance between doom metal, grunge and power pop.

EAST INDIA YOUTH (LUMINOUS)

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £10

William Doyle's one-man experimental soundscapes, built on vocal and instruments that wander down alleyways of electronica, techno, Krautrock and pop.

OBLITERATIONS

BROADCAST, 19:00–22:00, £6

The US-of-A noisemakers bring their thunderous touring racket to a venue near you.

STEPHEN GREW (GEORGE LYLE AND FRITZ WELCH + JER REID AND DOUGAL MARWICK)

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–22:00, £TBC

The imaginative pianist does his e'er impressive thing, free from the constraints of traditional harmonic, melodic and rhythmic structure.

BRYAN FERRY

The Roxy Music frontman takes to the road, cooler than ever after featuring on Todd Terje's magnificent cover of Johnny and Mary.

THE ZIP WIRE TRAMPS

13TH NOTE, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

Wistful alternative country five-piece hailing from Glasgow and Fife.

Sat 30 May

LARRY MILLER (THE MENTULLS)

O2 ABC, 18:30–22:00, £14

Hard-rockin’ bluesman known for this mesmerising guitar playing served at high octane.

SUCKER PUNCH (BABE + WOLF + C. DUNCAN + ROB ST. JOHN + SOPHIE JAMIESON)

THE GLAD CAFE, 15:30–22:00, £20 WEEKEND

The Glad Cafe join forces with music webzine GoldFlakePaint for the inaugural Sucker Punch mini fest, with local highlights including Moshi Moshi electro-wonders Babe, hometown fuzz-meisters Tuff Love and Edinburgh folky hero Rob St. John.

POLLY AND THE BILLETS DOUX (THE BIG NOWHERE + JILL BROWN)

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £7

Winchester and Bristol-straddling eclectic quartet dipping their toes into genres of folk, pop, rock'n'roll, soul, country, blues and gospel.

BLACK BOMBAIM (SMACK WIZARDS + DEAD OTTER) NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 19:30–23:00, £5

Heavy acid jammers hailing from the musically prolific small city of Barcelos in Portugal.

Sun 31 May WOVENWAR + AS LIONS

KING TUT'S, 20:30–23:00, £12

Co-headline set from American heavy metalers Wovenwar and London rockers As Lions.

Edinburgh Music Wed 29 Apr TELLISON

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £8

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £6

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £10 (£8)

EVA PLAYS DEAD

Derby-based alternative rockers built on the powerful female vocals of Tiggy Dockerty, bolstered by feisty guitar riffs and a powerhouse rhythm section.

SHAWN SMITH

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–23:00, £16

Seattle-based singer/songwriter who's also a member of Brad, Satchel, Pigeonhead, Malfunkshun, and The Twilight Singers. Busy chap.

STAER + BRUTAL BLUES (DAMN TEETH + BRITNEY)

HENRY'S CELLAR BAR, 19:30–23:30, £5

Double-bill from Norway, taking in sets from thundering experimental noise trio Staer and grind duo Brutal Blues.

Thu 30 Apr

MODEL AEROPLANES (INDIGO VELVET)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £13 (£11)

West Virginia stoner rock trio made up of guitarist William Mecum, bassist Rich Mullins and drummer Rob Oswald.

NICK CAVE

THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE, 20:00–22:00, FROM £44

Nary putting a cloven hoof wrong, the Bad Seeds mainman alights in Scotland for a set of hits – including songs from recent LP Push the Sky Away – joined by Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey, Thomas Wydler and Barry Adamson.

CAHALEN MORRISON + ELI WEST

THE PLEASANCE, 19:00–23:00, £10 ADV. (£12.50 DOOR)

The innovative Seattle roots duo stop by Edinburgh on their way to the Shetland Folk Festival.

The Leeds-based pop-rockers take to the road to air their new LP Brain Waves.

Mon 04 May

JED POTTS AND THE HILLMAN HUNTERS

BANNERMANS, 18:00–23:00, FREE

BELLA HARDY

THE QUEEN'S HALL, 20:00–22:00, £14 (£12)

KING EIDER (DELIGHTED PEOPLES)

THE CAVES, 19:30–22:30, £6

Edinburgh-based folk-blues quintet rich with alternative and oft-dark melodies, out launching their new EP. AKALA

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £10

Award-winning hip-hop artist and younger brother of rapper Ms. Dynamite, currently carving out his own path with his rap, rock and electro influences.

SAMH FUNDRAISER (ONZLO + FACEHANDLE + MONOSAPIENS + SHARPSHOOTER + NORMAN SILVER AND THE GOLD)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5

Annual musical fundraiser in aid of the Scottish Association Of Mental Health.

THE AMORETTES

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:30, £8.00

All-girl, all-rockin’ Scottish trio who've spent a chunk of time solidly gigging both at home and abroad.

The Neu! Reekie! chaps host a special event to launch their poetry anthology and double compilation album with guests including Aidan Moffat, The Sexual Objects, Liz Lochhead and Jenni Fagan.

LOST MAP RECORDS AND TRADFEST PRESENT... (ROZI PLAIN + EAGLEOWL + SUPERMOON)

SUMMERHALL, 21:00–03:00, £10.00

DIY label Lost Map Records and Tradfest join forces for the next instalment in Summerhall's Nothing Ever Happens Here gig series, with label lass Rozi Plain launching her new LP on the night.

Sat 02 May

REMEMBER CHERNOBYL (ACTIVE MINDS + JOCK SPARRA + HAPPY SPASTICS + CRITIKILL)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5

Hardcore punk benefit showcase in aid of Chernobyl Children Lifeline UK.

THE ANGLES (THE OOH LA LA'S + THE VIBE + LOGAN'S CLOSE)

SNEAKY PETE'S, 19:00–22:00, £5

The Edinburgh-based alternative rockers launch their new single.

SUMMERHALL, 20:00–01:00, £10.00

Glasgow folk-pop melody merchants Randolp's Leap man the next instalment in Summerhall's Nothing Ever Happens Here gig series, with suitably stellar support from The Son(s) and Book Group.

MAZ O'CONNOR

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £8

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £7

Fri 08 May

THE ONCE (CARO BRIDGES)

THE CAVES, 19:00–22:00, £12

BILLY LIAR (WILL VARLEY)

The Scottish guitar slinger alights for a special set.

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £7

Canadian trio treading the line between folk, roots and indie.

SOUNDHOUSE @ TRAVERSE THEATRE: DEAN OWENS AND THE WHISKY HEARTS BAND

TRAVERSE THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £10

Tue 05 May

Acclaimed Peak District singer combining traditional styles and ballad forms into one poetic, fairytale-like whole.

RANDOLPH'S LEAP (THE SON(S) + BOOK GROUP)

Rising star of the British folk scene, fusing traditional and contemporary folk sounds.

Fri 01 May

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £5

THE BANSHEE LABYRINTH, 19:00–22:30, £5

More intimate and electric blues from Potts and his merry band.

Fledgling Dundee-based rockers who recorded their first single whilst they were finishing their Higher exams. Go them.

Tue 28 Apr

KARMA TO BURN (GOAT LEAF)

EUREKA MACHINES (THE SCARAMANGA SIX + BUZZBOMB)

Continuing its weekly gig residency at Traverse Theatre, departed Edinburgh music venue Soundhouse welcome velvet-voiced Dean Owens and his live band ensemble for an intimate set.

LA BELLE ANGELE, 18:00–22:00, £5 (£4)

Classic Long Beach hip-hop ensemble whom we will forever love for their witty ditty, Meatshake (‘Meat to the shizzake’, etc).

Loud, aggressive and bass-heavy Scottish combo signed to Beef Wellington Enterprises.

DARK GREEN TREE (BEN BEDFORD)

Alternative folk and Americana project of Ross Cockburn and Jay Brown.

Edinburgh Music UGLY DUCKLING

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £10

West London trio built on drums, bass, cowbells, keyboards, two guitars, four vocals and one battered laptop. Amen.

NEU! REEKIE!: #UNTITLEDONE, THE LAUNCH (THE MERRYLESS + THE SEXUAL OBJECTS + AIDAN MOFFAT + LIZ LOCHHEAD + JENNI FAGAN + KIRSTY LOGAN + WILLIAM LETFORD + MIRIAM GAMBLE)

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:00–23:00, £12.50

Sun 03 May

BRITNEY (MIN DIESEL + PJARO + DAMN TEETH)

ADAM HOLMES AND THE EMBERS

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £10.00

Young rootsy-pop singer/ songwriter Adam Holmes plays accompanied by his five-strong band of players, The Embers.

JET SETTER

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £6

The Dublin-based guitar rock foursome tour their new EP.

Wed 06 May

JAMIE AND SHOONY (AC RID + VICTOR POPE + SI PATCHETT)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5

Edinburgh indie-rock trio imbued with catchy riffs and an unstoppable live energy.

RM HUBBERT (LIPSYNC FOR A LULLABY + TISSO LAKE)

SUMMERHALL, 20:00–01:00, £10.00

Chemikal Underground instrumental guitar virtuoso RM Hubbert mans the next instalment in Summerhall's Nothing Ever Happens Here gig series, with suitably stellar support from Lipsync for a Lullaby and Tisso Lake.

THE HEARTS

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £7

South Wales band of buddies of the guitar rock persuasion.

SONG, BY TOAD DINGUS ROCK SLOP FEST (HALFRICAN + DUNE WITCH TRAILS + WENDELL BORTON)

PARADISE PALMS, 19:00–23:00, FREE

Local blog-cum-record label Song,

by Toad curates a special set of gigs giving a batch of under-the-radar bands their chance in the spotlight.

Thu 07 May

DAVID FORD (DAVID FORD)

THE CAVES, 19:00–22:00, £11

East Sussex singer/songwriter and former Easyworld frontman, touring on the back of his fourth solo LP. ORKESTRA DEL SOL

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:00–22:00, £10 ADV. (£12 DOOR)

The Edinburgh-based ensemble play a special set, continuing to reinvent the global brass band sound as they go.

ELDORADO (BLUE PRINT)

BANNERMANS, 22:00–23:00, £7

Madrid-born and based rock'n'rollers founded by bass player Cesar Sanchez and guitarist Nano Paramio.

GOLDEN TEACHER (HUGO MENDEZ DJ)

THE MASH HOUSE, 20:30–03:00, £6

Silk Cut and Ultimate Thrush collab, equal parts playful, experimental and danceable – taking cues from leftfield disco, acid house, electronic body music and various forms of African dance music.

PAPER AEROPLANES

Acoustic alternative folkies from Wales, led by vocalist and songwriter Sarah Howells.

BREABACH

THE QUEEN'S HALL, 20:00–22:00, FROM £13

Scottish folk ensemble powered by flute, fiddle and double bagpipes.

Yes, double bagpipes.

QUIET AS A MOUSE

WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5

CC SMUGGLERS ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £8

The roots-styled busker band tour their latest LP Write What You Know.

THE UNDERCOVER HIPPY (SKYAMAN)

SNEAKY PETE'S, 19:00–22:00, £8

Singer/songwriter Billy Rowan, (aka The Undercover Hippy), blending together elements of folk, reggae and hip-hop.

Sun 10 May LENE LOVICH

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £16.50

Detroit-born legendary post-punk pop singer Lene Lovich leads a live band outing.

MCKENZIE SAWERS DUO

ASSEMBLY ROXY, 18:00–22:00, £10 (£6)

Scottish saxophone and piano duo encompassing classical, jazz, world and folk music influences.

KHARTOUM HEROES (ADAM STAFFORD + C. DUNCAN)

SUMMERHALL, 21:00–03:00, £10.00

Elusive superband Khartoum Heroes – who count King Creosote, Vic Galloway and Captain Geeko amongst their ranks – come out of retirement to play as part of Summerhall's Nothing Ever Happens Here gig series.

MARY BLACK (SHARON SHANNON)

THE QUEEN'S HALL, 19:30–22:00, £29.50 (£27.50)

The Irish songstress embarks on her last ever tour of the UK, navigating traditional and modern Irish music with charm and grace.

STRINGS, WIRES, THREADS AND GUTS

Edinburgh indie-meets-country quartet riding along on mainman Alex Moran's vocals, guitar and harmonica-playing, out launching their new EP.

THE FRUITMARKET GALLERY, 19:00–21:00, £6

SNEAKY PETE'S, 19:00–22:00, £8

PUNK PICNIC (INNER TERRESTRIALS + SOCIAL INSECURITY + MANY MORE)

HAPPYNESS (CRUSHED BEAKS + PLASTIC ANIMALS)

London-based trio still enjoying the benefits of debut LP Weird Little Birthday.

WITHERED HAND (WOODPIGEON + EYES OF OTHERS)

SUMMERHALL, 20:00–01:00, £10.00

Edinburgh DIY folk-rock troubadour Withered Hand mans the next instalment in Summerhall's Nothing Ever Happens Here gig series, with suitably stellar support from Woodpigeon and Eyes of Others.

THE DRAYNES (THE CRACKLIN’ VOID + GEEK MAGGOT BINGO + MIASMA) THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £5.00

Two piece garage rock unit with psychedelic rock and punk blues influences, launching their new single on the night.

Sat 09 May

THE RAH'S (AYAKARA + INDIGO SIXTEEN + JOHNNY BROWN)

THE MASH HOUSE, 18:45–22:00, £5 (£7)

Edinburgh indie quartet deft at taking the genre into jangling, guitar-driven places.

TEENCANTEEN PRESENTS... THE GIRL EFFECT (BROKEN RECORDS + MACHINES IN HEAVEN + EUGENE KELLY + THE SPOOK SCHOOL + SOLAREYE + FLASH TALK + GOLDEN ARM + BODYHEAT + HENRY AND FLEETWOOD + JENNY LINDSAY + GRAHAM WEIR)

SUMMERHALL, 19:00–22:00, £10.00

All-girl pop kids TeenCanteen alight at Summerhall for a girl power takeover – as part of the Nothing Ever Happens Here gig series – inviting a bounty of live acts to cover girl group songs past and present.

EAST COAST DEFECTOR (THE INDOS + UNIVERSAL THEE) WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5

The Glasgow-based indie-rockers take a trip along the M8 to make merry in the Wee Red. LIMBO (VICTORIAN TROUT CONSPIRACY + MICKEY 9S + THE RANGE OF THE AWFUL HAND)

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:00–01:00, £4 EARLYBIRD (£6 THEREAFTER)

Beloved gig-in-a-club night, this time manned by high-energy Edinburgh ten-piece Victorian Trout Conspiracy, with support from Mickey 9s and The Range of The Awful Hand.

PUNK PICNIC (ENGLISH DOGS + ROTUNDA +HAPPY SPASTICS + EK DECAY + SUNDAY PUNK CLUB)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £13 (£10)

Premiere of Matthew Whiteside's new work for viola d'amore and live electronics.

BANNERMANS, 20:00–22:00, £15 (£13)

Weekend-long punk session playing out at suitably noisy levels.

DIALECTS + WAKING AIDA

HENRY'S CELLAR BAR, 19:30–01:00, £6 (£5)

Math rock double bill from Glasgow and Southamption.

IFRO THOMAS

SNEAKY PETE'S, 19:00–22:00, £5

The female led jazz-flecked roots unit do their big band thing.

Mon 11 May RAW IN SECT (BODACH)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £6

The Athens progressive metal unit return to our shores.

Wed 13 May BLUEFLINT

THE PLEASANCE, 20:00–22:00, FROM £6

The Edinburgh outfit layer their crisp, vaporous vocals in understated two-part harmonies, out celebrating the launch of their new LP. In the Cabaret Bar. DADDY LONG LEGS (FILTH SPECTOR)

SNEAKY PETE'S, 19:00–22:00, £8

NYC residing rock'n'blues trio deriving their moniker from their longlegged harmonica-blastin’ frontman.

JULIAN COPE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £22.50

The Teardrop Explodes frontman and psychedelic wanderer plays a live set of tunes, y'know, in between being an author, activist, poet and whatnot.

SONG, BY TOAD DINGUS ROCK SLOP FEST (PASSION PUSHER + DTHPDL + BREAKFAST MUFF)

PARADISE PALMS, 19:00–23:00, FREE

Local blog-cum-record label Song,

by Toad curates a special set of gigs giving a batch of under-the-radar bands their chance in the spotlight.

Thu 14 May

THE CATHODE RAY (THE TRAMA DOLLS + A MODERN MASQUERADE)

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £8

Songwriting collaboration between singer and multi-instrumentalist Jeremy Thomas and former Josef K frontman Paul Haig.

SOPHIE ROGERS

SNEAKY PETE'S, 19:00–22:00, £5

The soulful Glasgow singer/songwriter launches her new LP. The album is slated for release Spring 2015.

Weekend-long punk session playing out at suitably noisy levels.

THE SKINNY

PHANTOM BAND (JONNIE COMMON + MAN OF MOON) SUMMERHALL, 20:00–01:00, £10.00

The mighty Phantoms man the next instalment in Summerhall's Nothing Ever Happens Here gig series, with suitably stellar support from Jonnie Common and Man of Moon.

OCTOBER ENDS

BANNERMANS, 22:00–23:00, £5

Newcastle-based metalcore unit finally in possession of their debut LP.

Fri 15 May

NEGURA BUNGET (GRIMEGOD + NORTHERN PLAGUE + AGAMENDON)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £13 (£11)

The Transilvanian black metalers male their Bannermans return.

CRAZY P

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £13

The UK disco veterans continue to mix it with the freshest sounds some 20-odd years after forming.

URVAVONIC

WEE RED BAR, 19:00–22:00, £5

Edinburgh-based pop seven-piece on strings, synths, vocals, percussion and other noises.

DAN BODAN

SNEAKY PETE'S, 19:00–22:00, £8

The Berlin-based songwriter plays a set of his vocal-led modern electronic tapestries.

Sat 16 May

SONG, BY TOAD'S BAD FUN (VIRGIN OF THE BIRDS + SHARPTOOTH + ONIONS)

HENRY'S CELLAR BAR, 19:30–22:00, £5

Thu 21 May SON OF DAVE

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £10

Canadian singer/songwriter and former Crash Test Dummies guitarist, otherwise known as Benjamin Darvill.

HONEYBLOOD (JESUS H. FOXX)

SUMMERHALL, 20:00–01:00, £10.00

Scottish garage rock duo Honyblood man the next instalment in Summerhall's Nothing Ever Happens Here gig series, with suitably stellar support from Jesus H. Foxx.

DUB FX

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £15

Former Twitch band member, who built his subsequent solo career busking on the streets with a loop station.

SUPERCHARGER (THE KING LOT)

BANNERMANS, 22:00–23:00, £10 (£8)

Copenhagen turbo rock'n'rollers known for their energetic live performances.

BIG D AND THE KIDS TABLE (THE HOSTILES)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £10

Ska-meets-punk ensemble formed back in 1995 in Boston, where its members met in college.

Fri 22 May

THE PLEASANCE, 19:00–23:00, £8

Newcastle troubadour hailed for his skewed delivery; singing and playing guitar with a rare intensity and a very singular style.

VIRGIL AND THE ACCELERATORS

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £10

Energetic young blues scamps still riding high on the release of their debut LP The Radium.

EUGENE RIPPER

HENRY'S CELLAR BAR, 20:00–00:00, £TBC

The trailblazing Canadian punk folk chappie returns to the UK, launching his Fast Folk Underground 4.0 LP. OLIVIA CHANEY

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £12

The English singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist plays a set on piano, guitar, harmonium and vocals.

Mon 18 May

KORY CLARKE (ENUFF Z’ NUFF + ESTRELLA)

BANNERMANS, 18:00–23:00, £17 (£15)

The Warrior Soul frontman takes to the road solo, stripping the rock sounds back to their bare bones.

SOUNDHOUSE @ TRAVERSE THEATRE: FOGHORN STRINGBAND

TRAVERSE THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £10

Continuing its weekly gig residency at Traverse Theatre, departed Edinburgh music venue Soundhouse welcome Portland string band Foghorn Stringband for an intimate set.

Wed 20 May RED NOTE ENSEMBLE

THE QUEEN'S HALL, 19:30–22:00, £15 (£10)

The contemporary music ensemble this time present the premiere of a new song cycle by Scottish composer Rory Boyle, written for Scottish Mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill.

SONG, BY TOAD DINGUS ROCK SLOP FEST (WILD AL HOTCHKISS + ANDREW R BURNS AND THE TROPICANAS + SPINNING COIN) PARADISE PALMS, 19:00–23:00, FREE

Local blog-cum-record label Song,

by Toad curates a special set of gigs giving a batch of under-the-radar bands their chance in the spotlight.

May 2015

BRYAN FERRY

USHER HALL, 19:00–22:00, FROM £38.50

The Roxy Music frontman takes to the road, cooler than ever after featuring on Todd Terje's magnificent cover of Johnny and Mary.

MONUMENTS

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £10

London-based progressive metal ensemble headed up by Chris Barretto.

SPUDSTOC 11 ( SHITBALL + TOMMY CONCRETE AND THE WEREWOLVES + DOG TIRED + KINGPIN) BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £6

All-day metal event for your general tinnitus-inducing pleasure.

THE APPLEBEGGARS

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £6

RICHARD DAWSON (CHEER + ALI ROBERTSON)

Sun 24 May

Multi arts festival Hidden Door hand over the reins to the ensemble blues of Tinderbox Orchestra, with a slew of supports in tow.

The folky singer/songwriter celebrates the release of her 15th LP Regardless. In the Pleasance Theatre.

THE BONGO CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £5 EARLYBIRD (£8 THEREAFTER)

Sun 17 May

Multi arts festival Hidden Door continues with a label showcase from local blogger-cum-label Song, By Toad – featuring a bounty of live acts, including Number Are Futile, Supermoon, Adam Stafford and Le Thug.

THE PLEASANCE, 20:00–23:00, £15

Collaborative songwriting project between Kenny Herbert and Rab Howat.

The Birmingham doom metal heads do their thing.

KINGS STABLES ROAD, 18:00–22:00, £14

HIDDEN DOOR: TINDERBOX ORCHESTRA + MANTRA + BLACK DIAMOND EXPRESS + URVANOVIC

THEA GILMORE

Music blogger Song, By Toad's regular live music showcase night, taking in live talent and guest DJs of the reliably good variety.

ALUNAH (ISAK + PYRE OF THE EARTH)

HIDDEN DOOR: SONG, BY TOAD LABEL SHOWCASE (NUMBER ARE FUTILE + SUPERMOON + ADAM STAFFORD + LE THUG + LUSH PURR + GARDEN OF ELKS + SPINNING COIN + BAT-BIKE)

THE CAVES, 19:30–01:00, £TBC

THE CORRESPONDENTS

The genre-hopping London MC/ DJ duo continue with their quest to revamp vintage sounds for the modern ear.

ACODA (BEAR ARMS)

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £5/£6

The Corby-based foursome do their metal with an alternative edge thing.

HIDDEN DOOR: LONELADY + C. DUNCAN + JONNIE COMMON

KINGS STABLES ROAD, 18:00–22:00, £22

Multi arts festival Hidden Door kicks off its music programme with Manc songstress LoneLady (aka Julie Campbell), with support from C. Duncan and Jonnie Common, plus a ‘best of’ programme of films from Edinburgh Short Film Festival.

Sat 23 May

CARAVAN CLUB (LEWIS GIBSON AND THE MIDAS TOUCH + DANIEL MCGEEVER)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £6

Fresh from their London dates, the Edinburgh ensemble return home to launch their new single Lost and Found.

DISPOSABLE (WHITE LIGHTNING)

THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £5 (£7)

The dreadlocked riff demons bring the heavy rock and metal soundscapes.

STELLAR FUSE (ROME + MECHANICAL ARMS)

SNEAKY PETE'S, 19:00–22:00, £5

Edinburgh-based psychedelic rockers.

EDDIE ARGOS

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 19:30–22:00, £8

The lead singer of indie-rock outfit Art Brut goes it solo.

AUDACIOUS: 7TH BIRTHDAY (HELLFISH + LOOPS HAUNT + ANORAK + DAVE SHADES)

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £10 (£8)

Hardstyle breakcore night for your dancing pleasure, welcoming a selection of live guests to help ‘em celebrate their 7th birthday.

JOOKLO CHALAQUE QUARTET

HENRY'S CELLAR BAR, 19:00–22:00, £6

Italian free jazz anarchists Jooklo Duo go toe-to-toe with the Manc/ American guitar assault of Chalaque to perform as freewheeling collab ensemble, Jooklo Chalaque Quartet.

KINGS STABLES ROAD, 18:00–22:00, £12

Mon 25 May BRANDON FLOWERS

USHER HALL, 19:00–22:00, £33

Making the most of The Killers’ hiatus, Mr. Flowers takes to the road for another solo tour.

SOUNDHOUSE @ TRAVERSE THEATRE: WALTER STRAUSS

TRAVERSE THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £10

Continuing its weekly gig residency at Traverse Theatre, departed Edinburgh music venue Soundhouse welcome Californian guitarist Walter Strauss for an intimate set.

ME AND DEBOE (THE IRRESISTABLE URGES)

BANNERMANS, 18:00–23:00, £5

Fledgling UK duo mixing rock, folk, blues and classical sounds.

HIDDEN DOOR: DECAGRAM PRESENTS... (DEAD BOY ROBOTICS + FEATHERWEST + ATZI + TIM VINCENT SMITH AND GRAEME MILLER + MIRACLE STRIP + SMALL FEET LITTLE TOES + TRUDAT SOUND) KINGS STABLES ROAD, 18:00–22:00, £TBC

Multi arts festival Hidden Door continues with a DECAGRAM showcase special – a cooperative of bands, solo musicians, filmmakers and artists based in Edinburgh.

Tue 26 May

LITTLE EYE (REBEL WESTERNS)

SNEAKY PETE'S, 19:00–22:00, £5

Glaswegian power pop quartet led by singer and founder Allan Sieczkowski.

SWITCHFOOT

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £18

Californian alternative rockers with brothers Jon and Tim Foreman at the helm.

HIDDEN DOOR: ADMIRAL FALLOW (MA)

KINGS STABLES ROAD, 18:00–22:00, £10

Multi arts festival Hidden Door continues with a headline set from Louis Abbott and his merry six-piece, Admiral Fallow, plus supports.

SONG, BY TOAD DINGUS ROCK SLOP FEST (PLASTIC ANIMALS + PSYCHIC SOVIETS + ALANSMITHEE) PARADISE PALMS, 19:00–23:00, FREE

Local blog-cum-record label Song,

by Toad curates a special set of gigs giving a batch of under-the-radar bands their chance in the spotlight.

THE BACKBEATS (KITCH + THE CHERRIES)

SNEAKY PETE'S, 19:00–22:00, £5

Broxburn-based unit taking their cue from all things mod/60s.

HIDDEN DOOR: THE BEVVY SISTERS (MIRACLE GLASS COMPANY) KINGS STABLES ROAD, 18:00–22:00, £10

Multi arts festival Hidden Door continues with a set from allfemale Edinburgh trio The Bevvy Sisters, plus supports.

Thu 28 May

HANNAH IN THE WARS (LUCKLESS)

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

New Zealand-born, Londonbased singer/songwriter Hannah Curwood and co.

HIDDEN DOOR: GIZEH RECORDS PRESENTS... (ANAKANAK)

KINGS STABLES ROAD, 18:00–22:00, £6 EARLYBIRD 9£10 THEREAFTER)

Multi arts festival Hidden Door continues with an indy label special from Gizeh Records, headed up by Conquering Animal Sound's Anneke Kampman's new side project ANAKANAK.

Fri 29 May THE BUZZCOCKS

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £17.50

The original punk rockers take to the road, a little balder but still in possession of all the hits.

COMMON GROUND (FRANTIC CHANT + THE RHEMIDIES + COLOUR TRAP) BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £5

Raw young quintet rising from Kilwinning's post industrial landscape.

SINDERINS (THE YOUTH AND YOUNG + LITTLE KINGDOM) THE MASH HOUSE, 19:00–22:00, £8 (£10)

Harmonic East coast ensemble with duelling lead vocals, formed from the ashes of the impossibly titled Anderson, McGinty, Webster, Ward and Fisher.

SONG, BY TOAD'S BAD FUN (ROB ST JOHN + ELARA CALUNA)

HENRY'S CELLAR BAR, 19:30–22:00, £5

Music blogger Song, By Toad's regular live music showcase night, taking in live talent and guest DJs of the reliably good variety.

HIDDEN DOOR: LIMBO PRESENTS...

(WOODENBOX + KING EIDER + LO BIRD) KINGS STABLES ROAD, 18:00–22:00, £12

Multi arts festival Hidden Door continues with a takeover from beloved Edinburgh gig-in-a-club night, Limbo – joined by Woodenbox, King Eider and Lo Bird.

Sat 30 May PARTY FEARS THREE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 19:00–22:00, £10

The Edinburgh-based 80s tribute act present a special night of music from the era.

MANIC STREET PREACHERS

USHER HALL, 19:00–22:00, £32.50

The veteran Welsh art-punk trio re-visit their critical highpoint, The Holy Bible, 20 years after its release – playing it live and in its glorious bloody entirety.

RETURN TO THE SUN (HAGANA + HALO TORA)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £6

Indie-driven Edinburgh rock band formed in the long, dark winter of 2012.

Wed 27 May

SPARE ME THE KNIFE (AUCTIONEERS + DISTRICT 55 + ONE MAN REVIVAL)

SUMMERHALL, 20:00–01:00, £8

Aberdeen-based riff rockers taking their cue from Foo Fighters et al.

TUFF LOVE (BRUISING + ALPHABETICAL ORDER ORCHESTRA)

DIY label Lost Map Records and Gold Flake Paint join forces for the next instalment in Summerhall's Nothing Ever Happens Here gig series, with fuzz popsters – and Lost Map signees – Tuff Love on headline duties.

SKIES FELL

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £5

Post-rock foursome from the west of Scotland, who've spent the last year holed up in their remote studio working on their debut LP (i.e. expect to hear tracks from that).

BANNERMANS, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

HIDDEN DOOR: ERRORS

KINGS STABLES ROAD, 18:00–22:00, £10 EARLYBIRD (£14 THEREAFTER)

Multi arts festival Hidden Door draws to a close in suitably triumphant style, welcoming Glaswegian electronic mainstays – and our April cover stars – Errors for a headline set.

Sun 31 May MIAOUX MIAOUX

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 19:00–22:00, £7

Multi-tasking chap Julian Corrie (aka Miaoux Miaoux) and his now full-band ensemble – with drummer Liam Chapman and bass player Liam Graham adding new depth to his pedals, drum machines, synth and guitar combo.

Dundee Music

Glasgow Clubs

Thu 30 Apr

Tue 28 Apr

ROCK THE TAY (TIJUANA BIBLES + KROOKED SAINTS + JUDGES + TAPEDECK 45 + MELOPHOBIA) DROUTHY'S, 19:30–23:00, £6

Weekend-long music festival takeover alighting at various Dundee venues, taking in sets from Giants, Tijuana Bibles, Algernon Doll, Ded Rabbit and oodles more.

All profits go to Scottish Association of Mental Health.

Fri 01 May

ROCK THE TAY (GIANTS + SHIELDS + CARCER CITY + GRADER + LOST IN INSOMNIA + BED OF WASPS + TO KILL ACHILLES) BUSKERS, 18:00–23:00, £7

Weekend-long music festival takeover alighting at various Dundee venues, taking in sets from Giants, Tijuana Bibles, WOMPS, Ded Rabbit and oodles more. All profits go to Scottish Association of Mental Health.

MODEL AEROPLANES (HELLO FUTURE + SAHARA) READING ROOMS, 19:00–22:00, £7

Fledgling Dundee-based rockers who recorded their first single whilst they were finishing their Higher exams. Go them.

Sat 02 May

ROCK THE TAY (THE XCERTS + COPPER LUNGS + DED RABBIT + WOMPS + BROKEN BOY + THE GREAT ALBATROSS + FROWN + TERRAFRAID + TWIN HEART) BUSKERS, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

Weekend-long music festival takeover alighting at various Dundee venues, taking in sets from Giants, Tijuana Bibles, WOMPS, Ded Rabbit and oodles more. All profits go to Scottish Association of Mental Health.

Thu 07 May FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 20:00–23:00, £12

The Welsh emo stalwarts take to the road armed with their new LP Chapter and Verse, which finds ‘em on particularly fine form.

Wed 13 May THE WINTER TRADITION

BUSKERS, 19:00–23:00, £4

More in the way of noisy powerpop-meets-rock from the loveable Scottish quartet.

Sat 16 May HORSE

DUNDEE REP, 19:30–22:00, £16 (£13)

I AM

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual fine mix of electronica and bass, oft joined by a guest or two.

UNICORN CHASERS

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

Fledgling night from Ewan Chambers and Konx-om-Pax, promising to play the best in party music.

Wed 29 Apr KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Eclectic midweeker, ten years old and still offering up the best in house, techno and electronic.

SUB ROSA

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

Subbie's regular student night with residents Spittal and Nowicki at the helm.

Thu 30 Apr HIP HOP THURSDAYS

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic r'n'b and hip-hop.

JELLY BABY

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

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

STRETCHED (GLOWROGUES + SHONAGH MURRAY GROUP)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Jazz-influenced sound sauna, moving through mathcore to postrock, with a few live acts thrown in for good measure.

KUNST VS VOID (NAJAARAQ)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

The local techno militia welcome Najaaraq for a rare UK appearance.

MODAL (PATRICK FORGE + REBECCA VASMANT)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

The Modal troops alight for a guest set from jazz enthusiast Patrick Forge, with support from Rebecca Vasmant.

Fri 01 May OLD SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

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

PROPAGANDA

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie.

HARSH TUG

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

Scottish singer/songwriter with a career spanning some 25+ years, playing a selection of her personal favourites.

Hip-hop and gangsta rap brought to you by the Notorious B.A.G and pals.

Wed 20 May

Members of Glasgow's posthardcore noise-masters United Fruit curate their lively event of big-beat alternative indie and disco.

CAPSIZE (68 + CASEY + ATHENIA + CAPTAINS)

BUSKERS, 19:30–23:00, £8 ADV. (£10 DOOR)

The Californian melodic hardcore five-piece hit Scottish shores.

Wed 27 May LITTLE EYE

BUSKERS, 19:00–23:00, £7 ADV. (£9 DOOR)

Glaswegian power pop quartet led by singer and founder Allan Sieczkowski.

Thu 28 May WHILE SHE SLEEPS

TEENAGE RIOT

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE

HUNTLEYS AND PALMERS (JAMES HOLDEN + HELENA HAUFF + ALEX SMOKE + KAREN GWYER + HODGE)

THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, £8 EARLYBIRD (£10-£15 THEREAFTER)

The H+P crew host a May Day takeover of The Art School, joined by a selection of talented music pals and DJs. GLITTERBANG

THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £3

The Sheffield metalcore troops bring their usual racket.

Sweatcore disco hits played out by James T and Ramo, with a Gina G tune or two on a promise.

Sat 30 May

THE BERKELEY SUITE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

BEAT GENERATOR LIVE!, 20:00–23:00, £12

ANGELA BROWNRIDGE

CAIRD HALL, 19:30–22:00, £15 (£12)

Selections of recitals from the talented pianist, who won a piano scholarship to Edinburgh University and has since played worldwide.

THE YELLOW DOOR

Fledgling night of contemporary classics, unheard of gems and wellkent belters, all for your general dancing pleasure, natch.

PRESSURE (RICHIE HAWTIN + MARC HOULE + FABIO FLORIDO + RØDHÅD + ALEX.DO + SLAM)

THE ARCHES, 22:00–04:00, £25

The last Pressure of the season, featuring a bounty of talent including the legend that is Richie Hawtin, bringing with him an MNus Records showcase featuring Marc Houle and Fabio Florido, plus more.

LA CHEETAH CLUB V MISSING PERSONS CLUB (JOEY ANDERSON) LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–04:00, £10

La Cheetah Club and Missing Persons Club join forces to welcome house legend Joey Anderson to their lair.

I AM (DANIEL AVERY + BARNT)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10 EARLYBIRD (£12-£15 THEREAFTER)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa host a special Friday outing of their Tuesday club, with guests Daniel Avery and Barnt.

Sat 02 May NU SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

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

LOVE MUSIC

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

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

SINGLES NIGHT

THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

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

DEATHKILL 4000

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Industro-rock noise party with live players and bespoke visuals to boot.

MAGIC WAVES (DAVID VUNK)

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

The Glasgow chapter of the MW Italo fiends return, with special guest David Vunk.

Mon 04 May BURN

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3/FREE WITH TRADE WAGE SLIP)

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

Tue 05 May KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Eclectic midweeker, ten years old and still offering up the best in house, techno and electronic.

I AM

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual fine mix of electronica and bass, oft joined by a guest or two.

A HAUNTING

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

Eclectic selections of freak-folk, psych, garage and more, accompanied by trippy visuals and films.

Wed 06 May TAKE IT SLEAZY

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

An unabashed mix of 80s pop, electro and nu-disco. They will play Phil Collins.

SUB ROSA

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

Subbie's regular student night with residents Spittal and Nowicki at the helm.

Thu 07 May HIP HOP THURSDAYS

COLOURS: MAY BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL (BINGO PLAYERS + CARNAGE + TIMMY TRUMPET + HEADHUNTERZ)

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic r'n'b and hip-hop.

THE ARCHES, 22:00–04:00, £19.50 EARLYBIRD (£24.50 THEREAFTER)

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

The Colours troops alight at The Arches for a rattlin’ May bank holiday special, headlined by the Bingo Players, with a slew of supports.

LET'S GO BACK… TO DISCO (AL KENT)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£7 AFTER 12)

The Let's Go Back... troops host a disco special, with specialist of the genre Al Kent manning the decks for the full four hours.

SUBSTANCE (HEAD FRONT PANEL)

THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, £8

The Substance crew mix up cutting edge and classic electronic music from across the spectrum, this edition welcoming yer man Head Front Panel (aka John Heckle) for his debut Scottish set.

SUB CLUB SOUNDSYSTEM (DERRICK CARTER + BICEP + GERD JANSON + LEON VYNEHALL + HARRI & DOMENIC + AUNTIE FLO + KRYSKO + DIXON AVENUE BASEMENT JAMES + TELFORD + HAMMER & JUBE + DENIS SULTRA) THE BARRAS ARTS AND DESIGN CENTRE, 13:00–23:00, FROM £35 WEEKEND (£25 DAY)

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

JELLY BABY

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

GOOD GRIEF'S GOOP SHOP

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

The DIY label and zine collective present their monthly clubmeets-gig outing and fresh zine launch combined.

GENERAL LUDD

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

General Ludd, part of Glasgow collective Golden Teacher, commence a new Glasgow residency showcasing their new productions and discoveries.

HIDE (PAUL WOOLFORD)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 EARLYBIRD (£8-£10 THEREAFTER)

The Hide residents welcome a guest set from dance music talent Paul Woolford.

Fri 08 May OLD SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

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

PROPAGANDA

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Good ol’ Sub Club celebrate the May bank holiday weekend in suitably party hard style, with two days and nights of big name clubbing from the likes of Jackmaster, Derrick Carter, Eats Everything, Seth Troxler and more.

Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie.

Sun 03 May

Compa indulges his love of all things dubstep, backed by residents Insight and Bate Kush on the Bass Alliance Sound System.

MELTING POT (GREG WILSON)

THE ADMIRAL, 23:00–04:00, £12 (£10)

The Melting Pot residents welcome back one of their favourite guests, Greg Wilson, who'll churn out an electro, boogie and funk workout like no other.

ENDLESS RACE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

Bank holiday special with the ever reliable Endless Race residents and special guests.

SUB CLUB SOUNDSYSTEM (JESUS RAVES + JACKMASTER + EATS EVERYTHING + SKREAM + SETH TROXLER + JUNIOR & BARRY PRICE + IGGIE + ALAN BELSHAW + CESCO FERRI + I AM + SUB ROSA + BIGFOOT'S TEA PARTY)

THE BARRAS ARTS AND DESIGN CENTRE, 13:00–23:00, FROM £35 WEEKEND (£25 DAY)

Good ol’ Sub Club celebrate the May bank holiday weekend in suitably party hard style, with two days and nights of big name clubbing from the likes of Jackmaster, Derrick Carter, Eats Everything, Seth Troxler and more.

OSMIUM

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

Italo, disco, synthpop and funk with the e'er capable Osmium residents.

LEVELS

STEREO, 23:00–03:00, FROM £6

ENJOYABLE MOMENT

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE

The Cosmic Dead chaps trip out with an evening of rollin’ Krautrock DJing for your general aural pleasure.

THOMAS JACK + SAM FELDT

THE ARCHES, 23:00–03:00, £10 EARLYBIRD (314 THEREAFTER)

Double does of house music talent, care of Australia's Thomas Jack and his fellow ‘tropical house’ star, Holland's Sam Feldt.

KUNST (MICK WILLS)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£8 AFTER 12)

The Kunst residents hole up for the evening, this edition with eclectic master selector Mick Wills in tow.

RETURN TO MONO (JOSEPH CAPRIATI)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £12 EARLYBIRD (£15 THEREAFTER)

Monthly night from Soma Records taking in popular techno offerings of all hues, this edition welcoming Italian stallion Joseph Capriati for his Subbie debut.

Listings

57

Glasgow Clubs Sat 09 May NU SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

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

SUBCULTURE

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £8

Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic manning the decks.

LOVE MUSIC

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

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

FANTASTIC MAN

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Messy Saturday night uberdisco armed with Erasure and Papa Roach discographies.

WRONG ISLAND

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £TBC

The legendary Teamy and Dirty Larry spin some fresh electronics for your aural pleasure.

HEADSTRONG (UNTOLD + PANGAEA + CLOUDS) THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, £10

New world rave dance craze from the Animal Farm and Clouds bods.

PISTOLS AT DAWN (DEBUKAS)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£7 AFTER 12)

Pistols At Dawn return with a guest set from Debukas, venturing out of his well-stocked studio of vintage synths and drum machines.

HULLABALOO 005

STEREO, 23:00–03:00, £5

Hullabaloo resident Dominic McCearney leads a journey through house, disco and all the weird stuff in between.

Sun 10 May VERTIGO

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

DJ Kelmosh plays a mix of rock, dance and indie hits.

Mon 11 May BURN

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3/FREE WITH WAGE SLIP)

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

Tue 12 May KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Eclectic midweeker, ten years old and still offering up the best in house, techno and electronic.

UNICORN CHASERS

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

Fledgling night from Ewan Chambers and Konx-om-Pax, promising to play the best in party music.

I AM: HOT CHIP AFTER-PARTY

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6

All four members of Hot Chip de-camp to i AM for the official after-show to their The Art School gig, manning the decks until the wee drunken hours of 3am.

Wed 13 May NOT MOVING

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

South African house, grime, jungle, r'n'b and hauntology – a tropical mix, ayes – from yer wumman Laurie Pitt.

SUB ROSA

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

Subbie's regular student night with residents Spittal and Nowicki at the helm.

COMMON PEOPLE

THE FLYING DUCK, 21:00–03:00, £5

Celebration of all things 90s, with hits a-plenty and a pre-club bingo session.

Thu 14 May HIP HOP THURSDAYS

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic r'n'b and hip-hop.

JELLY BABY

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

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

IN THE BASEMENT

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

Thursday session of the finest in northern soul and rock'n'roll.

THIRD LEG

THE FLYING DUCK, 22:00–03:00, £3

Fledgling night (formerly at Flat 0/1) mixing live bands and DJs.

58

Listings

HIGH RISE (ALESSANDRO ADRIANI)

MONSTER HOSPITAL

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£7 AFTER 12)

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE

The High Rise crew call in the talents of Mannequin Records label-head Alessandro Adriani.

SHOW (ONEMAN + ILLYUS)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £8

The Show troops return to Subbie, this time joined by Rinse FM's Oneman.

Energetic club outing from DJ duo Beyvnce Nailz and C4lvin Malice.

CRITICAL SOUND SHOWCASE ( KASRA CRITICAL + EMPERORDNB + IVY LAB + OH MY JOSH + SNEZ + AEMS)

THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, £8 EARLYBIRD (£10-£13 THEREAFTER)

EZUP: THE RED LIGHT SERIES (JG WILKES VS THE REVENGE)

Thu 28 May

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £8 ADV. (£10 DOOR)

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Two well respected Glasgow natives – JG Wilkes and The Revenge – join the EZUP lads for a special back-too-back set.

DAGGERS AHOY

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Edinburgh's electro DJ duo hold the fort.

RINSE FM (JD TWITCH + JASPER JAMES)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Glasgow outing for the Critical squad, showcasing a select batch of underground sonic tunemakers.

Rinse FM stage the latest edition of their Subbie takeover, with local stalwarts JD Twitch and Jasper James on guest duties.

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

Sun 17 May

Sat 23 May

CATHOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £2 (£1)

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

PROPAGANDA

DJ Jamie spins anything and everything your heart could possibly desire, with requests all night long.

Fri 15 May OLD SKOOL

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

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

EASY

Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie.

Mon 18 May

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3/FREE WITH WAGE SLIP)

SUGO

The Italian trashy disco returns for another night of supremely danceable carnage.

INTERGALACTIC

THE FLYING DUCK, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Space and sci-fi themed night with Sci-Fi Steven and Gav Dunbar playing the best in star-crunching party tunes, or summat.

SOUTHSIDE TAKEOVER (BOOGALOO + LA ROCHE RUMBA + MODIFIER + TOMMY HOZ + GUSBO + ALTERED MODE) CARLTON STUDIOS, 23:00–03:00, £5

A selection of DJs from some of Glasgow's best club nights take over Carlton Studios for three rooms of house, techno, funk and old-school south of the river. Part of Southside Fringe Festival.

LA CHEETAH CLUB PRESENT… POWER HOUSE LABEL SHOWCASE (HEAD HIGH + FINN JOHANNSEN) LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10

La Cheetah welcome the the Power House label crew for a set of techno at its finest.

SLABS OF THE TABERNACLE: 7TH BIRTHDAY

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

The Slabs lads celebrate their 7th birthday, with Kemal of London's inimitable Berceuse Heroique label joining ‘em.

ANIMAL FARM: ILIAN TAPE LABEL SHOWCASE

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 EARLYBIRD (£10 THEREAFTER)

Animal Farm hand over the decks to hyped Europe label Ilian Tape.

Sat 16 May NU SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

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

LOVE MUSIC

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

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

STRANGE PARADISE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

Party night from floral-shirted Wild Combination man David Barbarossa, specializing in leftfield disco, post-punk and far-out pop.

CODE (DRUMCELL + NICK M)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 ADV. (£10 DOOR)

The Code techno specialists welcome a live set from Drumcell, giving punters an education in all things techno.

HANNAH WANTS (TOM SHORTEZ + DJ BARELY LEGAL)

THE ARCHES, 22:00–03:00, £12.50 EARLYBIRD (£15 THEREAFTER)

The up-and-coming female house producer takes to The Arches for a one-off special, following her sold out UK tour.

GIMME SHELTER

THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £5

Varied night moving from the 50s to present day, via selections of rock'n'roll, soul, garage, psych and r'n'b.

SUBCULTURE (KERRI CHANDLER)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £12 EARLYBIRD (£15 THEREAFTER)

Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic manning the decks, this edition joined

by New Jersey house hero Kerri Chandler.

BURN

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

ITCHY FEET

THE ART SCHOOL, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

DJs Tall Paul and Sam the Sham Jose celebrate old school rock'n'roll, vintage tunes and wild dancing.

Tue 19 May KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Eclectic midweeker, ten years old and still offering up the best in house, techno and electronic.

I AM

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual fine mix of electronica and bass, oft joined by a guest or two.

UNICORN CHASERS

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

Fledgling night from Ewan Chambers and Konx-om-Pax, promising to play the best in party music.

Wed 20 May SUB ROSA

NU SKOOL

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

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)

Punk, rock and metallic selection of beats spread across three rooms.

LOVE MUSIC

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

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

LAST NIGHT ON EARTH (SASHA + HENRY SAIZ + KATE SIMKO)

THE ARCHES, 22:00–04:00, FROM £17.50

Scottish tour date for Sasha‘s LNOE show, supporting exciting new electronic music talent alongside his own new solo productions.

KNOW THE WAY (COTTAM + REBECCA VASMANT + JAMES JOHNSON)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10

Know The Way hand over the decks to main man Cottam for some fine selections in house, disco and afrobeat.

AUDIO BEEF

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE

DJ Mad Beef smashes some beats in your general direction.

ISLE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £TBC

Residents special with Fergus, Stewart, R and Al playing records of the rare and good.

SUBCULTURE VS CLONE VS RUSH HOUR (SERGE + ANTAL + HARRI)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10

Subbie's regular student night with residents Spittal and Nowicki at the helm.

Triple-header versus night with Clone's Serge, Rush Hour's Antal and Subcultures Harri & Domenic manning the decks.

Thu 21 May

HOWLING (TELFORD)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

HIP HOP THURSDAYS

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic r'n'b and hip-hop.

JELLY BABY

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

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

LANCE VANCE DANCE

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

Red-hued adventure travelling through 70s funk, motown and 80s r'n'b, highlighted with glorious rays of disco sunshine. Or summat.

STEREOTONE VS PARTIAL (WHEELMAN+ EWAN AND ADLER) LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3

Stereotone and Partial team up, with residents from both nights playing through a catalogue of techno, house, grime and hip-hop.

RUBIX GLASGOW

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

The bass music special returns for another installment, shaking up yer Thursday night as only they know how.

Fri 22 May OLD SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

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

PROPAGANDA

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie.

HAUS DIMENSION

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £TBC

Occasional night taking in a bit of disco, house, techno and acid, plus all manner of other wavy beats.

TRANSIT (ICICLE)

STEREO, 23:00–03:00, £8 (£6)

Transit are back in Glasgow for their second instalment, joined by technical mastermind of an electronic producer, Icicle.

Sun 24 May

HIP HOP THURSDAYS

Euan Neilson plays the best in classic r'n'b and hip-hop.

JELLY BABY

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £4

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

STRETCHED (DONNY MCCASLIN'S CASTING FOR GRAVITY + SONIC MEDITATIONS)

BLOC+, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Jazz-influenced sound sauna, moving through mathcore to postrock, with a few live acts thrown in for good measure.

TROPICAL

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

Eclectic, diverse and dancefloororientated beats, with a hint of mango.

HEX: 2ND BIRTHDAY

Residents birthday takeover from the Hex lot, returning to La Cheetah for a full-on house and techno session.

VICIOUS CREATURES (CYRIL HAHN)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 EARLYBIRD (£7 THEREAFTER)

Fledgling party night intent on breaking free from the chains of normality, this time featuring slo mo house chap Cyril Hahn.

Fri 29 May OLD SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

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

PROPAGANDA

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie.

SHAKE APPEAL

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Monthly evening of hip shakers and neck breakers, combining everything from Buddy Holly to Motorhead.

SENSU

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Barry Price and Junior provide cutting edge electronic sounds from across the globe, with a guest or two likely in tow.

POLYESTER

THE FLYING DUCK, 23:00–03:00, £3

Mixed up fun night of queer performance, music and DJ vibes.

BALKANARAMA: 8TH BIRTHDAY

THE ART SCHOOL, 22:30–03:00, FROM £9

Howling, the joint project of folk singer Ry X and producer Frank Wiedemann, alight at Subbie as part of their Sacred Ground tour, with support from local lad Telford.

Mon 25 May

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

BURN

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3/FREE WITH WAGE SLIP)

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

Tue 26 May KILLER KITSCH

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Eclectic midweeker, ten years old and still offering up the best in house, techno and electronic.

I AM

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa play the usual fine mix of electronica and bass, oft joined by a guest or two.

UNICORN CHASERS

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

Fledgling night from Ewan Chambers and Konx-om-Pax, promising to play the best in party music.

Wed 27 May SO WEIT SO GUT

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, FREE

The party sounds of residents Fergus Clark, Gareth Roberts, Ruaidhri McGhee and their special guests.

SUB ROSA: 4TH BIRTHDAY

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 EARLYBIRD (£7 THEREAFTER)

Subbie's regular student night celebrates its 4th birthday with a guest set of dance classics from none other than Rui Di Silva.

AUDIO, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Innovative D'n'B beats in a relaxed, bass-rich environment – this edition with various veteran Scottish D'n'B DJs going back to their roots and playing tunes from the past 15 years.

SUBCULTURE (OSUNLADE)

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £10

Long-running house night with residents Harri & Domenic manning the decks, this edition joined by Osunlade.

Sun 31 May MAXI DANCE POOL

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £TBC

More in the way of many-hued disco soundscapes from the Maxi Dance Pool residents.

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 AFTER 12)

Birthday special featuring live Balkan performance and DJs, accompanied by live visuals, aerial performance, puppetry, fire spinners and live drumming. That do ye? Fine, have the debut Scottish outing from Kumpania Algazarra as well!

SUB CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

SYMBIOSIS: D'N'B ALL-VINYL SPECIAL (JMD + CALACO JACK + HEX + YELLOW BENZENE + ALCANE)

HUNTLEYS AND PALMERS (SOLAR)

H+P's Andrew and pals play tunes across the board, this edition welcoming legendary San Francisco DJ Solar for his first trip to Scotland.

Sat 30 May NU SKOOL

BUFF CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£6)

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

CATHOUSE SATURDAYS

CATHOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£4)

Punk, rock and metallic selection of beats spread across three rooms.

Edinburgh Clubs Tue 28 Apr

NOTSOSILENT (HARVEY SUTHERLAND)

LA CHEETAH CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£7 AFTER 12)

Belch and crew bring the best in underground house, this edition letting Harvey Sutherland loose on the decks, with support from prominent tastemakers Bradley Zero, Tom Noble and Motor City Drum Ensemble.

SHOOT YOUR SHOT

NICE ‘N’ SLEAZY, 23:30–03:00, £3

Occasional club gathering pumpin’ out high energy disco tunes.

AUDIO TALKS VS SERV (MOTION SKY + MAGIL + SOUTHPAW + ALEMANNI + BOYBLUE + GIERUS) THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 12)

Playlists of house and techno from a selection of DJs. JIVE AND DUTY

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£3 AFTER 12)

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4

Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

TRASH

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie, punk, retro and more.

Wed 29 Apr COOKIE

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Resident midweek student rammy of chart, club and electro hits.

WITNESS

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of house, garage and bass adventures with Blackwax and Faultlines.

TRIBE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5

Weekly selection of dance bangers played by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson.

Thu 30 Apr HULLABALOO

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)

Mash-up of beats, breaks and hip-hop from Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin.

JUICE (DANIEL AVERY)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £10

The pumped Thursday nighter pulls out the big guns for a special set from Daniel Avery and his acidflecked tunnelling soundscapes of joy.

HI-SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)

Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the spectrum of classic and modern.

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

VEGAS!

50s-themed party fun night, with Frankie Sumatra, Bugsy Seagull, Dino Martini, Sam Jose and Nikki Nevada. Plus Vegas showgirls ago-go, natch.

SPEAKER BITE ME

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 12)

The Evol DJs worship at the alter of all kinds of indie-pop, with their only rule being that it’s gotta have bite.

THUNDER DISCO CLUB

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

The Thunder Disco Club residents churn out the 90s house, techno and disco hits, as is their merry way.

GROWN UPS

SUMMERHALL, 20:00–01:00, £6 ADV. (£10 DOOR)

All-vinyl club for fully-fledged music fans, with DJs Kinghorror and The Spotlight Kid digging into their dusty record boxes.

HECTOR’S HOUSE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Boutique version of Edinburgh’s leading house night DJ VADIM (GUVENOR TIGGY + STALAWA SOUND + MIGHTY OAK SOUND)

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £10 (£7)

The Leningrad-born, Londonraised DJ/producer does his thing, referencing hip-hop, soul, reggae and electronica as he goes.

JACKHAMMER (MIKE DEARBORN + BILLY NASTY)

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £10

The Jackhammer crew up our dose of all things techno, out for their first party of the year with guests Mike Dearborn and Billy Nasty.

THE MASH HOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £3

Sun 03 May

Bi-weekly bass and house fun night with a regular schedule of guests.

CARCER CITY + SHIELDS + FROM SORROW TO SERENITY + ISLASORNA

STUDIO 24, 19:00–22:30, £7

FUCK YEAH

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

Chart, indie and rock anthems spread over two rooms.

PLANET EARTH

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 11)

Distinctly retro selections from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

THE CLUB

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle.

JACUZZI SOCIAL CLUB

The HH crew serve up their usual fine mix of electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.

COOKIE

Resident midweek student rammy of chart, club and electro hits.

WITNESS

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of house, garage and bass adventures with Blackwax and Faultlines.

TRIBE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4 GUESTLIST)

Weekly selection of dance bangers played by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson.

THE GETTUP

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Midweek party night with DJs Thom and Pagowsky playing disco and deep house into the small hours. In the cafe space.

Thu 07 May I AM EDINBURGH

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass.

JUICE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Dan & Kami make weird waves through house and techno.

HULLABALOO

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)

Mash-up of beats, breaks and hip-hop from Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin.

HI-SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Student-friendly chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.

GET

THE MASH HOUSE, 22:30–03:00, £2

Rotating Thursday nighter hosting a different Edinburgh (and beyond) spinner each week.

Fri 08 May FUCK YEAH

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

Chart, indie and rock anthems spread over two rooms.

PLANET EARTH

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 11)

Distinctly retro selections from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top. PROPAGANDA

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£3 GUESTLIST)

Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie.

FLY CLUB (MAGNA CARTA)

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 AFTER 12)

Cab Vol celebrate the bank holiday weekend with a residents special.

HARRI & DOMENIC’S BANK HOLIDAY BELTER (HARRI & DOMENIC)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5

The Subculture crew take over Sneaky’s for a bank holiday special, out celebrating 21 years of being.

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Edinburgh and Glasgow-straddling night, with a powerhouse of local residents joined by a selection of guest talent.

HECTOR’S HOUSE

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

CABARET VOLTAIRE: BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£3 GUESTLIST)

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie, punk, retro and more.

Edinburgh and Glasgow-straddling night, with a powerhouse of local residents joined by a selection of guest talent.

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, FREE

Mon 04 May

FLY CLUB (THEO KOTTIS + JAMIE ROY + KEIRAN APTER)

TRASH

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Tropical mix of African funk and disco, hip hop and r’n’b.

PROPAGANDA

Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie.

I LOVE HIP HOP

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4

Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Student-friendly chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.

PRESCRIBED

Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team.

Sat 02 May

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:30–01:00, £6 ADV. (£7 DOOR)

Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team.

SOUL JAM HOT

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Wed 06 May

I LOVE HIP HOP

SOUL JAM HOT

Tue 05 May

Eclectic bag of tunes with DJ Cheers and Coconut Smoke.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Fri 01 May

Glorious return for the legendary Glaswegian club institution, back and in its indie stride.

The Wub Hut crew welcome dance music duo Koan Sound for a thundering D’n’B takeover.

BUBBLEGUM

OLUM

BLOC+, 23:00–03:00, FREE

THE WUB HUT (KOAN SOUND)

STUDIO 24, 23:00–03:00, £10

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.

O2 ABC, 23:00–03:00, £5

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

Cheap Picasso and pals now in a bimonthly slot, playing everything good in house and beyond.

TEASE AGE

Noise-laden showcase night from the Decade troops, including a live set from Scouse metal quintet Carcer City.

LOVE MUSIC

IN DEEP: ONE NIGHT STAND SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5 (MEMBERS FREE)

MIXED UP

Monday-brightening mix of hiphop, r’n’b and chart classics, with requests in the back room.

NU FIRE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

DJ Fusion and Beef move from hip-hop to bass with a plethora of live MCs.

CONFUSION

Spin-off night from the Confusion is Sex peeps, focused on bringing in guest DJs, MCs and live acts from outside Edinburgh.

SURE SHOT

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£3 AFTER 12)

Fledgling night spanning 80s-00s hip-hop and r’n’b, manned by The Skinny’s own Peter Simpson and one half of Edinburgh’s Kitchen Disco, Malcolm Storey.

MOTION HOUSE

THE ANNEXE, 22:30–03:00, £5 ADV. (£6-£7 THEREAFTER)

Launch night, with Keith Fortune and Seb Franke playing the best of deep and tech house.

THE SKINNY

Edinburgh Clubs SLVR THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Techno enthusiasts SLVR return to a club setting for their monthly slot.

IN DEEP: MEDLAR + DAN SHAKE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5 / MEMBERS FREE

In Deep special with Medlar and Dan Shake (who, FYI, is the first non-Detroit artist ever to sign to Moodymann's Mahogani label).

Sat 09 May TEASE AGE

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)

Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the spectrum of classic and modern.

BUBBLEGUM

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.

SOULSVILLE

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £5

Swinging soul spanning a whole century, with DJs Tsatsu and Fryer.

DR NO’S

HENRY’S CELLAR BAR, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£5 AFTER 12)

Danceable mix of the best in 60s ska, rocksteady, bluebeat and early reggae.

BEEP BEEP, YEAH!

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£6 AFTER 12)

Retro pop stylings from the 50s to the 70s, via a disco tune or ten.

THE REVEL

WEE RED BAR, 22:00–03:00, £TBC

Annual end of term piss-up, setting free the latest batch of art school graduates – this year with a dress up ‘Hieronymus Bosch’ theme, bolstered along by the usual live bands, DJs and cans o’ Red Stripe.

THINK TWICE

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Craig Smith plays an array of deep, soulful house, plus funk in the back room.

TEESH

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5 (MEMBERS FREE)

DJ Cheers – frequent flyer at many a Sneaky’s night – finally gets his own show on the road.

A TWISTED CIRCUS

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£4)

Wed 13 May I LOVE HIP HOP

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4

Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

COOKIE

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Resident midweek student rammy of chart, club and electro hits.

WITNESS

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of house, garage and bass adventures with Blackwax and Faultlines.

TRIBE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4 GUESTLIST)

Weekly selection of dance bangers played by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson.

THE GETTUP

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Midweek party night with DJs Thom and Pagowsky playing disco and deep house into the small hours. In the cafe space.

Thu 14 May I AM EDINBURGH

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle.

COALITION (THOMAS JACK)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £10

Weekly cross-genre of bass from a cast of Edinburgh’s best underground DJs, this edition with special guest Thomas Jack.

Mon 11 May MIXED UP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Monday-brightening mix of hiphop, r’n’b and chart classics, with requests in the back room.

Tue 12 May SOUL JAM HOT

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team.

TRASH

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie, punk, retro and more.

HECTOR’S HOUSE: 3RD BIRTHDAY (ALFREDO) CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4

The HH crew serve up their usual fine mix of electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats, this edition celebrating their 3rd birthday with guest DJ Alfredo.

May 2015

LUCKYME

Art School institution with DJs Chris and Jake playing the finest in indie, garage, soul and punk – now taking up a monthly Saturday slot, in what is their 20-somethingth year.

The globetrotting music, art and all-round party crew host their regular Sneaky’s outing.

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

Dan & Kami make weird waves through house and techno.

BUBBLEGUM

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.

GASOLINE DANCE MACHINE

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

More classic Italo and straight-up boogie allied with contemporary house and disco, as Edinburgh’s GDM crew do their thing.

POP ROCKS!

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5 BEFORE MIDNIGHT / £6 AFTER

Pop and rock gems, taking in motown, 80s classics and plenty danceable fare (well, the Beep Beep, Yeah! crew are on decks after all).

MESSENGER SOUND SYSTEM

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £6 (£7 AFTER 12)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5

JUICE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

HULLABALOO

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)

Mash-up of beats, breaks and hip-hop from Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin.

HI-SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Student-friendly chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.

Fri 22 May FUCK YEAH

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

Chart, indie and rock anthems spread over two rooms.

PLANET EARTH

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 11)

Distinctly retro selections from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

New monthly house night welcoming talent from both Glasgow and Edinburgh. In The Annexe space.

Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie.

Sun 17 May

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 12)

Dan & Kami make weird waves through house and techno.

HULLABALOO

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)

Mash-up of beats, breaks and hip-hop from Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin.

HI-SOCIETY

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Student-friendly chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.

IN DEEP: FIRECRACKER RECORDS (HOUSE OF TRAPS + CHUGGY) SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5 (MEMBERS FREE)

The In Deep troops make merry for a Firecracker Records showcase special, with label boss House Of Traps going head-to-head with Chuggy all night long.

Fri 15 May FUCK YEAH

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £15

THE CLUB

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

JUICE

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 11)

Sun 10 May

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)

Conscious roots and dub reggae rockin’ from the usual beefy Messenger soundsystem.

Chart, indie and rock anthems spread over two rooms.

Local house crew Karnival play host to a special guest slot from French DJ legend Vitalic.

WEE RED BAR, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 AFTER 12)

I AM EDINBURGH

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass.

Carnival-styled Edinburgh music night showcasing a selection of musicians from across the UK. KARNIVAL (VITALIC)

THE EGG

Thu 21 May

PLANET EARTH

Distinctly retro selections from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top. PROPAGANDA

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£3 GUESTLIST)

Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie.

WASABI DISCO

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, £5 (MEMBERS FREE)

Heady bout of cosmic house, punk upside-down disco and, er, Fleetwood Mac with yer man Kris ‘Wasabi’ Walker.

FLY CLUB

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Edinburgh and Glasgow-straddling night, with a powerhouse of local residents joined by a selection of guest talent.

HEADSET

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 AFTER 12)

Fledgling night mixed up by a selection of Edinburgh DJs, including the chaps behind the Witness, Coalition and Big ‘n’ Bashy nights.

THE SOLAR BOOGALOO

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£3 AFTER 12)

DJ Yves leads a disco-fuelled freestyle funk boogie freakout, of course!

Sat 16 May TEASE AGE

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)

Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the spectrum of classic and modern.

REASON

THE ANNEXE, 22:30–03:00, £TBC

COALITION

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Weekly bass institution hosted by DJ Believe & Friends THE CLUB

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle.

Mon 18 May MIXED UP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Monday-brightening mix of hiphop, r’n’b and chart classics, with requests in the back room.

NU FIRE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

DJ Fusion and Beef move from hip-hop to bass with a plethora of live MCs.

Tue 19 May SOUL JAM HOT

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team.

PROPAGANDA

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£3 GUESTLIST)

DEFINITION

Mark Balneaves and Martin Lightbody play some of the finest underground house and techno across four decks, fx units and laptops.

FLY CLUB (GARDENS OF GOD + YOUNG CARDINALS + KEIRAN APTER)

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £10 (£8)

Edinburgh and Glasgow-straddling night, with a powerhouse of local residents joined by a selection of guest talent.

ELECTRIKAL

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

Soundsystem party-starters, part of a music and art collective specializing in all things bass.

LEZURE PRESENTS... ITALOJOHNSON

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £9 (£7)

Another club outing from popular house promoters Lezure, this time joined by anonymous Berlin trio ItaloJohnson.

BRIGHTER DAYS

JACUZZI SOCIAL CLUB

PROPAGANDA

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, FREE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£3 GUESTLIST)

Tropical mix of African funk and disco, hip hop and r’n’b.

SULTA SHEIK DOWN

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £5

Denis Sultra hosts another of his desert-themed party nights.

NIGHTVISION PRESENTS... DUSKY + KERRI CHANDLER

THE LIQUID ROOM, 21:00–03:00, £15

Nightvision draw season two to a close in suitably beefed up style, hosting a seven-hour session with Beatport chart-toppers Dusky and New Jersey house hero Kerri Chandler, plus supports. Brace yourselves for the 5am licence, folks!

Mon 25 May MIXED UP

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Monday-brightening mix of hiphop, r’n’b and chart classics, with requests in the back room.

NU FIRE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

DJ Fusion and Beef move from hip-hop to bass with a plethora of live MCs.

Tue 26 May SOUL JAM HOT

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Fresh mix of funk, soul and boogie from The Players Association team.

I LOVE HIP HOP

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4

Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

TRASH

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie, punk, retro and more.

Wed 27 May COOKIE

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Resident midweek student rammy of chart, club and electro hits.

WITNESS

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of house, garage and bass adventures with Blackwax and Faultlines.

TRIBE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4 GUESTLIST)

Weekly selection of dance bangers played by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson.

Thu 28 May HECTOR’S HOUSE

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4

The HH crew serve up their usual fine mix of electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.

JUICE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£3 AFTER 12)

Dan & Kami make weird waves through house and techno.

Weekly selection of hip-hop classics and brand-new classics to be.

Sat 23 May

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£2)

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)

I LOVE HIP HOP

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4

TRASH

Alternative anthems cherrypicked from genres of rock, indie, punk, retro and more.

HECTOR’S HOUSE

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4

The HH crew serve up their usual fine mix of electronic basslines allied with home-cooked house beats.

Wed 20 May COOKIE

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Resident midweek student rammy of chart, club and electro hits.

WITNESS

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Sneaky’s resident bass spectacular of house, garage and bass adventures with Blackwax and Faultlines.

TRIBE

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £5 (£4 GUESTLIST)

Weekly selection of dance bangers played by residents Khalid Count Clockwork and Craig Wilson.

THE GETTUP

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Midweek party night with DJs Thom and Pagowsky playing disco and deep house into the small hours. In the cafe space.

Classic 70s playlists all night long.

TEASE AGE

Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the spectrum of classic and modern.

MUMBO JUMBO

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£7/£5 STUDENT AFTER 12)

Funk, soul, beats and mash-ups from the Mumbo Jumbo regulars and pals.

BUBBLEGUM

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.

POCKET ACES

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Dance-inducing party with an anything goes attitude and rotating schedule of guest DJs.

THE POP BINGO DISCO (THE MASSIVE HEID & ANDY JUMANGI)

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£8 AFTER 12)

Clubbing-meets-bingo (finally, right?), with danceable beats and live bingo.

Sun 24 May COALITION

HULLABALOO

ALTITUDE

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £5 (£3)

Selections of house and bass artists from across the UK. CIRCUS LATES PRESENT...

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £5

Last Friday of the month venue takeover offering up a carnival of activities including cover bands, live DJs, karaoke, cocktail mixing and free popcorn.

RIDE

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Long-running indie, rock and soul night, traversing the spectrum of classic and modern.

BUBBLEGUM

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

THE GETTUP

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Midweek party night with DJs Thom and Pagowsky playing disco and deep house into the small hours. In the cafe space.

NOTSOSILENT (LEON VYNEHALL + HARVEY SUTHERLAND)

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Man of the moment Leon Vynehall is an old friend of the club, back after a prolonged period touring EU and USA. Melbourne’s Harvey Sutherland is playing live. Lo-fi house and boogie sounds abound.

Fri 29 May FUCK YEAH

THE HIVE, 21:00–03:00, FREE (£4 AFTER 10)

Chart, indie and rock anthems spread over two rooms.

FOUR CORNERS

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £3 (£5 AFTER 12)

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£6 AFTER 11)

PLANET EARTH

Fri 01 May

DJ VADIM (MC GOVERNOR TIGGY)

READING ROOMS, 23:00–03:00, £6

The Leningrad-born, Londonraised DJ/producer does his thing, referencing hip-hop, soul, reggae and electronica as he goes.

ASYLUM

KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

A NIGHT WITH... GREG WILSON

READING ROOMS, 22:30–03:00, £10

One-off night manned by prolific UK dance DJ Greg Wilson, churning out an electro, boogie and funk workout like no other.

WARPED

KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

MAGIC NOSTALGIC

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£8 AFTER 12)

Fri 08 May

MADCHESTER

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

BIG ‘N’ BASHY

THE BONGO CLUB, 23:00–03:00, £4 (£6 AFTER 12)

Mighty mix of reggae, grime, dubstep and jungle played by inimitable residents Brother Most Righteous, Skillis, Era and Deburgh.

VEGAS!

THE VOODOO ROOMS, 20:30–01:00, £6 ADV. (£7 DOOR)

50s-themed party fun night, with Frankie Sumatra, Bugsy Seagull, Dino Martini, Sam Jose and Nikki Nevada. Plus Vegas showgirls ago-go, natch.

FLY CLUB (IZZY DEMZKY + TELFORT + NOLAN & HERD) CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

Edinburgh and Glasgow-straddling night, with a powerhouse of local residents joined by a selection of guest talent.

HIDDEN DOOR: AFTER-PARTY

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £TBC

BALKANARAMA: 8TH BIRTHDAY

Birthday special featuring live Balkan performance and DJs, accompanied by live visuals, aerial performance, puppetry, fire spinners and live drumming. That do ye? Fine, have the debut Scottish outing from Kumpania Algazarra as well!

Sun 31 May COALITION

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Weekly bass institution hosted by DJ Believe & Friends THINK TWICE

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £7 (£5)

CONTOUR

READING ROOMS, 22:30–03:00, £TBC

More fresh beats and flashy visuals from the Contour crew.

ASYLUM

The Colchester DJ/producer shares his love of hardcore trance and 90s rave with the good folk of Dundee.

BOOK CLUB

READING ROOMS, 22:30–03:00, £TBC

The Good Stuff DJs spin all genres of disco house and techno, alongside anything else they damn well fancy.

WARPED

KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

Ska, screamo and pop-punk offerings now in a weekly Friday slot, moving from Alkaline Trio to Zebrahead as it goes.

Glasgow Theatre

Sat 09 May

7 MAY, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £7.40 (£4.40)

ROOMS RESIDENTS

READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £TBC

A selection of Reading Room residents hold the fort for the evening, playing good vibe tunes all night long.

WARPED

KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

Ska, screamo and pop-punk offerings now in a weekly Friday slot, moving from Alkaline Trio to Zebrahead as it goes.

Fri 15 May KLIK (CLERIC)

READING ROOMS, 22:30–03:00, £TBC

The fledgling KLiK troops draft in Manc technohead Cleric for a dancefloor-destroying guest set.

ASYLUM

KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

Best of selection of rock, metal and alternative tunes to get your Saturday night movin’.

Sat 16 May ROOMS RESIDENTS

READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £TBC

A selection of Reading Room residents hold the fort for the evening, playing good vibe tunes all night long.

WARPED

KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

Ska, screamo and pop-punk offerings now in a weekly Friday slot, moving from Alkaline Trio to Zebrahead as it goes.

Fri 22 May

ANTI-DEGREE SHOW PARTY

READING ROOMS, 22:30–03:30, £TBC

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

ASYLUM

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle.

Best of selection of rock, metal and alternative tunes to get your Saturday night movin’.

ELECTRIC CIRCUS, 22:30–03:00, FREE

Sat 23 May

New monthly drag club night with emphasis on all things risque, with live burlesque and the like.

DARREN STYLES

BUSKERS, 20:30–02:30, £10 EARLYBIRD (£15 THEREAFTER)

CCA: Centre for Contemporary Art

Craig Smith plays an array of deep, soulful house, plus funk in the back room.

SUCH A DRAG

Sat 30 May

Best of selection of rock, metal and alternative tunes to get your Saturday night movin’.

KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

With degree show season well and truly night, Reading Rooms provide solace with an anti-degree show special.

THE CLUB

ASYLUM

KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

Ska, screamo and pop-punk offerings now in a weekly Friday slot, moving from Alkaline Trio to Zebrahead as it goes.

THE LIQUID ROOM, 22:30–03:00, £6 (£5)

READING ROOMS, 22:30–02:30, £TBC

Best of selection of rock, metal and alternative tunes to get your Saturday night movin’.

Saturday mix of chart and dance, with retro 80s classics thrown in for good measure.

A hodgepodge of tracks chosen by JP’s spinning wheel – expect 90s, power ballads and a whole lotta one-hit wonders.

Fri 29 May A selection of Reading Room residents hold the fort for the evening, playing good vibe tunes all night long.

Sat 02 May

CITRUS CLUB, 22:30–03:00, FREE (£5 AFTER 11)

Ska, screamo and pop-punk offerings now in a weekly Friday slot, moving from Alkaline Trio to Zebrahead as it goes.

Dundee Clubs

Sat 30 May TEASE AGE

WARPED KAGE, 23:00–03:00, £4

ROOMS RESIDENTS

Best of selection of rock, metal and alternative tunes to get your Saturday night movin’.

STUDIO 24, 22:00–03:00, FROM £9

HI-SOCIETY

THE MASH HOUSE, 23:00–03:00, £10

Live hip-hop night, this time playing host to the talents of Stones Throw’s Homeboy Sandman, plus supports.

The Ride girls play hip-hop and dance, all night long – now in their new party-ready Saturday night slot.

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Student-friendly chart anthems, bolstered by hip-hop, r’n’b and urban in the back room.

THE CLUB

THE HIVE, 22:00–03:00, FREE

Resident young guns Beta & Kappa make their now regular trip east, playing the usual fine mix of electronica and bass.

Official after-party for Hidden Door festival shenanigans.

Soulful dancing fodder, moving from deep funk to reggae.

Two rooms of all the chart, cheese and indie-pop you can think of/ handle.

I AM EDINBURGH

CABARET VOLTAIRE, 23:00–03:00, £4 (FREE VIA IAMCLUB.CO.UK)

Mash-up of beats, breaks and hip-hop from Trendy Wendy and Steve Austin.

SNEAKY PETE’S, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Weekly bass institution hosted by DJ Believe & Friends

Student-orientated night playing the best in new and classic indie.

PASS THE VIBES (HOMEBOY SANDMAN)

LOCARNO

READING ROOMS, 22:30–03:00, £7 (£5)

Rockabilly, doo-wop, soul and all things golden age and danceable with the Locarno regulars.

CRYPTIC NIGHTS: ARTICULATIONS

Synchronised fusion of music and visual art inspired by the work of Kandinsky, Fischinger, Stockhausen and Xenakis, using bespoke generative real time animation to compose/conduct an abstract audiovisual dance of colour.

Citizens Theatre FEVER DREAM: SOUTHSIDE

23 APR – 9 MAY, 4 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £8.50

Surreal comic thriller by Glasgowbased writer Douglas Maxwell, blurring fantasy and reality as a heatwave bears down on the residents of Govanhill. Matinee performances also available (Sat, 2.30pm).

INTO THAT DARKNESS

18–30 MAY, NOT 24, 25, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £8.50

Blythe Duff and Cliff Burnett star in a chilling dramatisation of interviews with convicted Nazi war criminal, SS-Obersturmführer Franz Stangl.

Drygate Brewing Co. THE BEAUTIFUL HOUSE

6 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £TBC

Gunshow Theatre explore modern mummification and the present day post-humanist crisis in our relationship with death, put together using collected memoirs and interviews from the public.

Govanhill Baths WASTED

11–14 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:00PM, £10 (£8)

Govanhill Theatre Group showcase their reworking of Kate Tempest's rapid-fire play, presented in the atmospheric surrounds of Govanhill Baths. Part of Southside Fringe Festival.

Shed

TOUCHING CLOTH

14–16 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:15PM, £10 (£8)

TRAM Direct present the premiere of their Govan shipyard-set tale of life in the 80s, with ‘touching cloth’ gags a-plenty.

Distinctly retro selections from 1960 to 1999, moving from Abba to ZZ Top.

Listings

59

Theatre The Arches

EARLY DAYS (OF A BETTER NATION)

28–29 APR, 7:00PM – 9:30PM, £14 (£10)

Interactive theatre for a playing audience, exploring the possibilities of nationhood and democracy. Part of Behaviour Festival.

THE REASON WHY I BECOME A HAMSTER

5–9 MAY, 11:00AM – 7:00PM, FREE

Japanese contemporary artist Sako Kojima makes herself at home in a scaled-up hamster cage for six hours a day, in an effort to explore contemporary society's commonality with hamsters in cages. Part of Behaviour Festival.

COCK AND BULL

6 MAY, 9:45PM – 10:45PM, £6 (£4)

On the eve of the General Election a trio of female scratch performers explore the voice as reflexive instrument, using words garnered from Conservative Party conference speeches. Part of Behaviour Festival.

ANONYMOUS P.

6–7 MAY, 7:00PM – 9:00PM, £15 (£10)

Live theatrical experiment that uses the digital ecosystem created by the audience each night to give a concrete meaning to the idea of data privacy. Part of Behaviour Festival.

THE CHRISTEENE MACHINE

8 MAY, 8:30PM – 9:30PM, £12 (£10)

Gender-bending musical theatre exploring societal feelings of inadequacy and fears of the unknown.

Part of Behaviour Festival.

QUEER FUTURES

9–10 MAY, 10:00PM – 3:00AM, £10 EARLYBIRD (£14 THEREAFTER)

A bunch of the world's fiercest and queerest performers take a foray into the night, manning three rooms and two dance floors, with visual art to boot. Part of Behaviour Festival.

THIS IS HOW WE DIE

9–10 MAY, 7:00PM – 8:10PM, £12 (£10)

Christopher Brett Bailey-penned collage of spoken word and storytelling, taking in tales of paranoia, young love and ultra-violence. Part of Behaviour Festival.

WALKING:HOLDING

16 MAY, 11:00AM – 5:45PM, £5

Interactive piece from Glasgow performance maker Rosana Cade, leading punters along a carefully designed route in the hands of local strangers. Various timeslots. Part of Behaviour Festival's ‘Sexology Season’.

LOIS WEAVER'S INTERGENERATIONAL LONG TABLE ON THE WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WORLD OF SEX

16 MAY, TIMES VARY, £5 (DAY PASS)

Lois Weaver's experimental open public forum, inspired by Marleen Gorris's film Antonia's Line, a hybrid performance, installation, roundtable discussion and dinner party. Part of Behaviour Festival's ‘Sexology Season’.

WHAT TAMMY NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT GETTING OLD AND HAVING SEX

16 MAY, 7:30PM – 8:45PM, £5 (DAY PASS)

Tammy WhyNot (the theatrical creation of artist/writer/director Lois Weaver) shares her exploration into ageing, desire, pleasure and intimacy. Part of Behaviour Festival's ‘Sexology Season’.

The King's Theatre SHREK: THE MUSICAL

29 APR – 16 MAY, TIMES VARY, FROM £15

Musical telling of a hulking green ogre who, after being mocked and feared, retreats to an ugly swamp to exist in happy isolation before... well, you know the rest. Matinee performances also available (Wed & Sat, 2.30pm; Sun, 1.30pm).

60

Listings

MURMUR/INKED

SCOTTISH OPERA: IL TROVATORE

THE SCAFFIES

29–30 MAY, 7:30PM – 8:30PM, £16 (£12.50)

21 MAY, 24 MAY, 27 MAY, 30 MAY, TIMES VARY, FROM £10

29 APR – 2 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £12 (£10)

Special double bill performance from British choreographer/dancer Aakash Odedra. Part of Dance International Glasgow.

Theatre Royal

Tron Theatre

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 2 FEB AND 23 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £11

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 15-23 MAY, 7:45PM – 10:00PM, FROM £8

DEAD SIMPLE

Following the hit premiere production of Peter James’ The Perfect Murder, the novelist returns to the stage with the adaptation of his most popular book, Dead Simple.

Matinee performances also available (Thu & Sat, 2.30pm).

SCOTTISH OPERA: IL TROVATORE

7 MAY, 9 MAY, 12 MAY, 14 MAY, 17 MAY, TIMES VARY, FROM £10

Reworking of Verdi's four act opera of jealousy, revenge, love and hate, hurtling towards its dramatic conclusion.

GO DANCE 15

26–30 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £12

Now in its eighth year, Go Dance returns with another diverse programme of dance performances from dance groups across Scotland.

Tramway MIANN

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 8-9 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:00PM, £16 (£12.50)

Intimate dance/music collaboration between visionary choreographer Fleur Darkin, Linbury prize-winning designer Alexander Ruth and Glasgow quartet The One Ensemble.

Part of Dance International Glasgow.

AN INVITATION

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18 AUG AND 28 MAY, 6:30PM – 7:30PM, £11 (£8)

Contemporary dance legend Jo Fong presents her elusive new work, evolving as it goes in a mimic of life itself. Part of Dance International Glasgow.

WHITEOUT

29–30 APR, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £16 (£12.50)

World premiere of choreographer Natasha Gilmore's new work, in which six dancers move from film to live performance, backed by a soundtrack composed by Mogwai's Luke Sutherland. Part of Dance International Glasgow.

GIVE ME A REASON TO LIVE

5–6 MAY, 6:45PM – 7:45PM, £11 (£8)

Solo performance by Glasgowbased choreographer Claire Cunningham inspired by the work of medieval Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch, set to a score by sound artist Zoe Irvine. Part of Dance International Glasgow.

GEIST

HAPPY DAYS

New reworking in which Karen Dunbar takes on the challenge of personifying Samuel Beckett's Winnie in all her glorious complexity.

NORMAL/MADNESS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 14-16 MAY, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£7.50)

Solo show, based on a true story, in which writer and performer Fiona Geddes relays the tale of Kirsty McKenzie and her schizophrenic mother.

RITES

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 5-9 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Powerful production exploring the deep-rooted cultural practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), based on interviews with girls affected in Scotland and the UK, plus mothers, midwives, lawyers, police officers, teachers and health workers. Matinees available.

GODS ARE FALLEN AND ALL SAFETY GONE

6–9 MAY, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£7.50)

Thought-provoking investigation into what happens when we discover that our parents are flawed human beings, and that at some point – often sooner than we think – they won't be around any more.

CINEMA

22–23 MAY, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £10 (£7.50)

Creator and performer Nazli Tabatabai-Khatambakhsh's powerful story of an act of terror that sparked a revolution – the Iran Cinema Rex fire on 1978 – previewing at the Tron ahead of a run at Edinburgh's Fringe come August.

CRAZY JANE

28–30 MAY, 7:45PM – 10:00PM, £16 (£10)

Dance theatre event recounting the tale of Moulin Rouge star Jane Avril, backed by an original live score from Scottish hip-hop troupe Hector Bizerk.

A RETROSPECTIVE: THE WAIT

12–14 MAY, 7:30PM – 8:30PM, £11 (£8)

Mini retrospective of Anna Krzystek's The Wait series – showcasing a trio of her five works based on the premise of waiting. Part of Dance International Glasgow.

DOUBLE BILL: HOME TRIP/HOLY SMOKE

15 MAY, 6:30PM – 7:30PM, £11 (£8)

One-off double bill taking in the UK premiere of Low Air Urban Dance Theatre's Home Trip and the world premiere of Ultimate Dancer and Crew's Holy Smoke. Part of Dance International Glasgow.

THE SHOW MUST GO ON

22–23 MAY, 7:30PM – 8:30PM, £16 (£12.50)

Candoco Dance Company, the contemporary company of disabled and non-disabled performers, present their reworking of Jérôme Bel's iconic work. Part of Dance International Glasgow.

DOUBLE BILL: FOR NOW, I AM.../ PURGING SUITE #1

26–27 MAY, 8:00PM – 9:00PM, £11 (£8)

One-off double bill taking in the world premiere of Marc Brew Company's For Now, I Am... and Tamsyn Russell's Purging Suite #1. Part of Dance International Glasgow.

King's Theatre

JEEVES AND WOOSTER: PERFECT NONESENSE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 11-16 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £14

New stage adaptation from the works of P.G. Wodehouse, with a trip to the countryside soon taking a turn for the absurd. Matinee performances also available (Wed & Sat, 2.30pm).

THE KING'S SPEECH

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18-23 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £14

Stage production of the rousing period drama based on a true story, with Jason-bleedin’-Donovan taking the role of Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue. Matinee performances also available (Wed & Sat, 2.30pm).

Out of the Blue Drill Hall PERSEVERE

22–23 MAY, TIMES VARY, £6

New production based on the aftermath of the Quintishill train tragedy of 1915, the worst train disaster in British history which left over 200 men from the 7th Royal Scots dead.

Royal Lyceum Theatre THE VENETIAN TWINS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 24 APR AND 16 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £12.50 (£10)

Assembly Roxy TORN

20 MAY, 21 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £12 (£9)

Faux Theatre present their poignant and powerful wordless portrayal of one woman's effort to find and experience love.

THE BEAUTIFUL HOUSE

3 MAY, 6 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £TBC

Gunshow Theatre explore modern mummification and the present day post-humanist crisis in our relationship with death, put together using collected memoirs and interviews from the public.

Festival Theatre

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME

PETER PAN GOES WRONG

5–9 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £14

Modern reworking of J.M. Barrie's classic tale of Peter Pan, in which, y'know, absolutely everything goes wrong. Matinee performances also available (Wed & Sat, 2.30pm).

Interactive comedy dining experience based on Blackadder II. Dinner included in ticket price.

The Gardyne Theatre UP POMPEII

6–9 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £12

Act IV present their annual charity performance, this year with Up Pompeii, based on the original characters in the BBC comedy.

Whitehall Theatre SISTER ACT

12–16 MAY, 7:15PM – 10:00PM, FROM £13 (£11)

Theatrical re-telling of the hit movie, in full singalong glory with original music by eight-time Oscar winner Alan Menken.

9–10 MAY, 7:30PM – 8:30PM, £8 (£6)

Ritualised dance performance inspired by the theme of animism, articulating and subverting the relationship between the realms of living and dead matter, physicality and consciousness.

Traverse Theatre Concept showcase from the final year HND acting students at Performing Arts Studio Scotland, who, instead of short scenes from existing texts, will instead devise three new 20-minute pieces.

RITES

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 26-30 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Powerful production exploring the deep-rooted cultural practice of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), based on interviews with girls affected in Scotland and the UK, plus mothers, midwives, lawyers, police officers, teachers and health workers. Matinees available.

SCOTLAND SHORT PLAY AWARD 2015 28 MAY, 7:00PM – 9:00PM, £6 (£4)

The four winning plays from the inaugural Scotland Short Play Award get their chance to shine on the Trav stage, performed back-to-back from 7pm.

Dundee Theatre Dundee Rep THE MOUSETRAP

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18-23 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £20 (£15)

Agatha Christie murder mystery, famous for being the longest-running show of any kind in the history of British theatre, out and celebrating its 60th year. Matinee performances also available (Thu & Sat, 2.30pm).

Sat 02 May

Fri 08 May

THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00–23:00, £15

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10 STUDENTS/£6 MEMBERS)

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

THE SATURDAY SHOW (GARY LITTLE + ALEX BOARDMAN + GINA JENKINSON + MC SCOTT GIBSON)

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

LAUGHTER EIGHT

VESPBAR, 20:00–21:30, £8

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm – manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

BEST OF VESPBAR VIRGINS

VESPBAR, 22:00–00:00

Graham Barrie introduces a ‘best of’ selection of fledgling comedy talent handpicked fae Scotland.

Sun 03 May

BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL (GARY LITTLE + ALEX BOARDMAN + DAISY EARL + MC MICHAEL REDMOND)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9)

The Stand celebrate the coming Monday bank holiday with a special Sunday show.

THE FRIDAY SHOW (NICK REVELL + MATT REED + JULIA SUTHERLAND + MC JOE HEENAN)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

LAUGHTER EIGHT

VESPBAR, 20:00–21:30, £8

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm – manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

Sat 09 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (NICK REVELL + MATT REED + JULIA SUTHERLAND + MC JOE HEENAN) THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

LAUGHTER EIGHT

VESPBAR, 20:00–21:30, £8

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm – manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

RED RAW

Graham Barrie introduces a selection of fledgling comedy talent handpicked fae Scotland.

Fri 01 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (THE REVEREND OBADIAH STEPPENWOLFE III + ALEX BOARDMAN + GINA JENKINSON + MC SCOTT GIBSON)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10 STUDENTS/£6 MEMBERS)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

GILDED BALLOON COMEDY @ DRYGATE (TOM STADE + GRAINNE MAGUIRE + CHRIS MACARTHUR BOYD + MC RAY BRADSHAW) DRYGATE BREWING CO., 20:00–22:00, £12.50 (£11.50)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10 STUDENTS/£6 MEMBERS)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

GILDED BALLOON COMEDY @ DRYGATE (JASON COOK + HAYLEY ELLIS + VIV GEE + MC RAYMOND MEARNS)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

Mon 04 May IMPROV WARS

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £6

More improvised comedy games and sketches, with an unpredictable anything-goes attitude – as indeed it should be.

Tue 05 May RED RAW

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Wed 06 May COMEDIAN RAP BATTLES

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£4)

Sun 10 May

MICHAEL REDMOND'S SUNDAY SERVICE (JAY LAFFERTY + MC MICHAEL REDMOND)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

Chilled Sunday comedy showcase manned by resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond and his guests.

Tue 12 May

VESPBAR, 20:00–21:30, £8

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

VESPBAR VIRGINS

VESPBAR, 21:00–22:30, £3

Graham Barrie introduces a selection of fledgling comedy talent handpicked fae Scotland.

MICHAEL REDMOND'S SUNDAY SERVICE (JULIA SUTHERLAND + MC MICHAEL REDMOND)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

WRITE IT!: NEW REVIEW

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–21:00, £5 (£4)

Wed 13 May

Thu 07 May

Sun 17 May

ORAN MOR, 19:00–22:00, £14.50

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

VESPBAR, 20:00–22:00, £3

Resident host Julia Sutherland introduces a variety of stand-up comedians from the Scottish circuit delivering, yes, all new material.

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm – manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

Chilled Sunday comedy showcase manned by resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond and his guests.

RED RAW

Ro Cambell and The Wee Man's comedian rap battle-off, where a select batch of comics compete to see who's got the most swagger when it comes to hippity-hop wit.

NEW MATERIAL NIGHT

LAUGHTER EIGHT

VESPBAR, 20:00–21:30, £8

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £2

The Write It! collective return to The Glad Cafe, this time taking in a series of timely new sketches and music looking at the political issues of the day. Part of Southside Fringe Festival.

THE THURSDAY SHOW (NICK REVELL + MATT REED + JULIA SUTHERLAND + MC JOE HEENAN)

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm – manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

THE FRIDAY SHOW (PHIL NICHOL + PARROT + HELEN KEELER + MC BILLY KIRKWOOD)

Sat 16 May

Long-running comedy club the Gilded Balloon hit up Drygate for a new residency, combing the joys of a craft brewery setting with a rotating schedule of live comedy talent.

LAUGHTER EIGHT

Fri 15 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (PHIL NICHOL + PARROT + HELEN KEELER + MC BILLY KIRKWOOD)

Thu 30 Apr

VESPBAR, 21:00–22:30, £3

The Write It! collective return to The Glad Cafe, this time taking in a series of timely new sketches and music looking at the political issues of the day. Part of Southside Fringe Festival.

LAUGHTER EIGHT

NEW MATERIAL NIGHT

VESPBAR VIRGINS

WRITE IT!: NEW REVIEW

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–21:00, £5 (£4)

VESPBAR, 20:00–21:30, £8

VESPBAR, 20:00–22:00, £3

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

VESPBAR VIRGINS

VESPBAR, 21:00–22:30, £3

Graham Barrie introduces a selection of fledgling comedy talent handpicked fae Scotland.

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm – manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

Wed 29 Apr

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

Long-running comedy club the Gilded Balloon hit up Drygate for a new residency, combing the joys of a craft brewery setting with a rotating schedule of live comedy talent.

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £2

THE THURSDAY SHOW (GARY LITTLE + ALEX BOARDMAN + MC SCOTT GIBSON)

THE THURSDAY SHOW (PHIL NICHOL + PARROT + HELEN KEELER + MC BILLY KIRKWOOD)

DRYGATE BREWING CO., 20:00–22:00, £12.50 (£11.50)

Tue 28 Apr

Summerhall GEIST

Comedy

Glasgow Comedy

Resident host Julia Sutherland introduces a variety of stand-up comedians from the Scottish circuit delivering, yes, all new material.

28 APR – 9 MAY, NOT SUNDAYS, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, FROM £15

Stage adaptation of Mark Haddon's award-winning novel telling the story of a 15-year-old boy with an extraordinary brain. Matinee performances also available (Wed & Sat, 2.30pm).

EDMUND AND CO: THE DINNER SHOW

28–30 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £30

New version of Carlo Goldoni's timeless comedy of mayhem-inducing mistaken identity, with director Tony Cownie at the helm. Matinee performances also available (Wed & Sat, 2pm).

PASS OUT

Edinburgh Theatre

Gary Robertson – writer of The Berries – presents another humourous offering of Dundee life, set in the social and political turmoil of 1978. Matinee performance also available (Sat, 2.30pm).

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

22–23 MAY, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £12 (£8)

5–6 MAY, 8:00PM – 9:00PM, £11 (£8)

Ritualised dance performance inspired by the theme of animism, articulating and subverting the relationship between the realms of living and dead matter, physicality and consciousness. Part of Dance International Glasgow.

Reworking of Verdi's four act opera of jealousy, revenge, love and hate, hurtling towards its dramatic conclusion.

Thu 14 May

ZOE LYONS

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £13 (£11)

One of the brightest female comic talents on the circuit, as seen on Mock The Week and Comedy Roadshow.

NEW MATERIAL NIGHT

VESPBAR, 20:00–22:00, £3

Resident host Julia Sutherland introduces a variety of stand-up comedians from the Scottish circuit delivering, yes, all new material.

WRITE IT!: NEW REVIEW

THE GLAD CAFE, 19:30–21:00, £5 (£4)

The Write It! collective return to The Glad Cafe, this time taking in a series of timely new sketches and music looking at the political issues of the day. Part of Southside Fringe Festival.

KATHERINE RYAN: GLAM ROLE MODEL

The pop culture-obsessed Canadian does her solo thing, deft at taking the things in life that make us bitter and turning them into humourous skits.

Mon 18 May

RNIB FUNDRAISER (STU WHO + LIAM WITHNAIL + JAMIE MACDONALD + CHRISTOPHER MACARTHUR BOYD + GARETH MUTCH + MC JOJO SUTHERLAND) THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £5

Comedy fundraiser in aid of Diabetes UK, hosted by Billy Kirkwood.

PAUL MERTON'S IMPRO CHUMS

THE KING'S THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £24

Improvised comedic wonders of nature, taking audience suggestions and creating cascades of laughter. Hosted by that bloke off of Have I Got News For You.

Tue 19 May RED RAW

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

THE SKINNY

Wed 20 May

FOIL ARMS AND HOG: BEST OF

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £12

The Irish sketch comedy troupe return for a ‘best of’ tour, bringing together their finest sketches from the last seven years.

NEW MATERIAL NIGHT

VESPBAR, 20:00–22:00, £3

Resident host Julia Sutherland introduces a variety of stand-up comedians from the Scottish circuit delivering, yes, all new material.

Thu 21 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (DAVE JOHNS + LORETTA MAINE + IAIN STIRLING + MC MANDY KNIGHT) THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

VESPBAR VIRGINS

VESPBAR, 21:00–22:30, £3

Graham Barrie introduces a selection of fledgling comedy talent handpicked fae Scotland.

Mon 25 May

SO... THAT'S WHAT WE VOTED FOR? (VLADIMIR MCTAVISH + MARK NELSON + KEIR MCALLISTER)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£5)

Following their So... We've Got An Election stint in April, messrs McTavish, Nelson and McAllister return with a post-election special, likely as satirical as ever.

Sun 31 May

BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL (GAVIN WEBSTER + ABIGOLIAH SCHAMAUN + EDDIE CASSIDY + MC SUSAN MORRISON)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9)

Chilled Sunday comedy showcase manned by resident Irish funnyman Michael Redmond and his guests.

WATCH BAD MOVIES WITH GREAT COMEDIANS – JAWS 4: THE REVENGE

CCA: CENTRE FOR CONTEMPORARY ART, 19:30–21:30, £5

Returning for s'more shit-filmmockery, comedians Joe Heenan and Billy Kirkwood screen the one and only Jaws 4: The Revenge – dubbed the ‘Worst Sequel in History’ – with the chaps providing laugh-a-long live commentary.

Tue 26 May RED RAW

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Sun 03 May

MICHAEL REDMOND'S SUNDAY SERVICE (STEFFEN PEDDIE + JESSICA FOSTEKEW + MC MICHAEL REDMOND)

The Stand celebrate the coming Monday bank holiday with a special Sunday show.

Mon 04 May RED RAW

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £2

Edinburgh Comedy

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Tue 28 Apr

RICHARD MELVIN PRESENTS... MORE RADIO RECORDINGS!

BRIGHT CLUB

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £5

A selection of comedic academics do a stint of stand-up for your entertainment and enlightenment.

Laughs and learning in one neat package = tick.

Wed 29 Apr

SO... WE'VE GOT AN ELECTION (MARK NELSON + KEIR MCALLISTER + VLADIMIR MCTAVISH) THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£5)

Following the success of Aye Right?

How No?, messrs McTavish, Nelson and McAllister return with a new satirical show, this time marking the run-up to the general election.

Thu 30 Apr

THE THURSDAY SHOW (GAVIN WEBSTER + ABIGOLIAH SCHAMAUN + EDDIE CASSIDY + MC SUSAN MORRISON) THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

Tue 05 May

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:00–21:00, FREE (BUT TICKETED)

Funnyman Richard Melvin introduces an all-star cast of comedy stalwarts currently recording radio shows.

Wed 06 May

THE BROKEN WINDOWS POLICY

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£4)

Sun 10 May

THE SUNDAY NIGHT LAUGH-IN (STEPHEN CARLIN + ASHLEY STORRIE + MC TONY JAMESON) THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

Chilled comedy showcase to cure your Sunday evening back-towork blues.

Mon 11 May RED RAW

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Tue 12 May ELECTRIC TALES

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £5 (£4)

More in the way of stand-up comedy crossed with live storytelling, with the tease of a promise of robot badges for all (as in, we're there).

THE SPEAKEASY (STUART MITCHELL + GARETH MUTCH + DOUG GERRY + LEWIS BROWN + ANDY TUCKER) SCOTTISH STORYTELLING CENTRE, 20:00–22:00, £7

Fri 22 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (DAVE JOHNS + LORETTA MAINE + IAIN STIRLING + MC MANDY KNIGHT)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10 STUDENTS/£6 MEMBERS)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

LAUGHTER EIGHT

VESPBAR, 20:00–21:30, £8

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm – manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

Sat 23 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (DAVE JOHNS + LORETTA MAINE + IAIN STIRLING + MC MANDY KNIGHT) THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

LAUGHTER EIGHT

VESPBAR, 20:00–21:30, £8

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm – manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

Sun 24 May

BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL (DAVE JOHNS + LORETTA MAINE + IAIN STIRLING + MC MICHAEL REDMOND)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9)

The Stand celebrate the coming Monday bank holiday with a special Sunday show.

NEW MATERIAL NIGHT

VESPBAR, 20:00–22:00, £3

Resident host Julia Sutherland introduces a variety of stand-up comedians from the Scottish circuit delivering, yes, all new material.

Thu 28 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (JUNIOR SIMPSON + STEFFEN PEDDIE + MC SUSAN MORRISON)

Graham Barrie introduces a selection of fledgling comedy talent handpicked fae Scotland.

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

SPONTANEOUS SHERLOCK'S MONTHLY MYSTERY

CANON'S GAIT, 20:00–22:00, FREE

Fri 29 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (JUNIOR SIMPSON + STEFFEN PEDDIE + MC SUSAN MORRISON)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £12 (£10 STUDENTS/£6 MEMBERS)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

LAUGHTER EIGHT

VESPBAR, 20:00–21:30, £8

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm – manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

Sat 30 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (JUNIOR SIMPSON + STEFFEN PEDDIE + MC SUSAN MORRISON)

THE STAND GLASGOW, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

LAUGHTER EIGHT

VESPBAR, 20:00–21:30, £8

Regular comedy slot kicking off at, aye, 8pm – manned by a selection of hot talent from the local circuit.

May 2015

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

GILDED BALLOON COMEDY @ FESTIVAL THEATRE (TOM STADE + GRAINNE MAGUIRE + CHRIS MACARTHUR BOYD + MC RAY BRADSHAW)

FESTIVAL THEATRE, 20:00–22:00, £12.50 (£10.50)

Long-running comedy club the Gilded Balloon hit up Festival Theatre for a new residency, combing the joys of a craft brewery setting with a rotating schedule of live comedy talent.

THE SUNDAY NIGHT LAUGH-IN (RO CAMPBELL + MC IAIN STIRLING)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £6 (£5 STUDENTS/£1 MEMBERS)

RED RAW

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Tue 19 May

FOIL ARMS AND HOG: BEST OF

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £12

Wed 20 May

SO... THAT'S WHAT WE VOTED FOR? (VLADIMIR MCTAVISH + MARK NELSON + KEIR MCALLISTER)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £7 (£5)

Following their So... We've Got An Election stint in April, messrs McTavish, Nelson and McAllister return with a post-election special, likely as satirical as ever.

Thu 21 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (JEFF INNOCENT + GRAHAM THOMAS + LUCY BEAUMONT + MC BRUCE DEVLIN)

THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00–23:00, £15

Sun 17 May

The Irish sketch comedy troupe return for a ‘best of’ tour, bringing together their finest sketches from the last seven years.

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7

THE SATURDAY SHOW (GAVIN WEBSTER + ABIGOLIAH SCHAMAUN + EDDIE CASSIDY + MC SUSAN MORRISON)

The favourited Irish funnyman hits the road with his first live tour in three years, Crowd Tickler.

Mon 18 May

The master comedy storyteller does as he does best – turn mundane, everyday experiences into pure comedy gold.

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

Sat 02 May

VESPBAR VIRGINS

DARA O'BRIAIN: CROWD TICKLER

THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE, 20:00–22:00, £24

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£8)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00–23:00, £12 (£10 STUDENT/£6 MEMBERS)

VESPBAR, 21:00–22:30, £3

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

GARY LITTLE

THE THURSDAY SHOW (JANEY GODLEY + STEPHEN CARLIN + TONY JAMESON + MC BILLY KIRKWOOD)

THE FRIDAY SHOW (GAVIN WEBSTER + ABIGOLIAH SCHAMAUN + EDDIE CASSIDY + MC SUSAN MORRISON)

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

THE STAND GLASGOW, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7

Chilled comedy showcase to cure your Sunday evening back-towork blues.

Fresh line-up of fledgling comedic talent, topped off with a national headline act and a jovial compere.

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

Wed 13 May

THE WHITE HORSE, 20:00–22:00, £9

Live comedy reading of real teenage diaries, read by grown-ups.

Laughs of horrifying recognition guaranteed.

THE SATURDAY SHOW (ZOE LYONS + STUART GOLDSMITH + RUSS PEERS + MC JOE HEENAN)

Thu 07 May

COMEDYDOO

Wed 27 May

Sat 16 May

Monthly storytelling night of the rather ace variety, featuring a feastful of writers, comedians and musicians telling (mostly) true stories.

Fri 01 May THE BUNGO, 19:30–21:00, £5 (£2)

The favourited Irish funnyman hits the road with his first live tour in three years, Crowd Tickler.

More fast-paced and anarchic skits and character comedy from The Stand's resident sketch comedy troupe and their special guests.

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

PURE RIDDY

DARA O'BRIAIN: CROWD TICKLER THE EDINBURGH PLAYHOUSE, 20:00–22:00, £24

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

Fri 08 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (JANEY GODLEY + STEPHEN CARLIN + TONY JAMESON + MC BILLY KIRKWOOD)

Entirely improvised Sherlock Holmes play, based on an audience suggestion of a title, performed by a cast of comic champs.

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00–23:00, £12 (£10 STUDENT/£6 MEMBERS)

Thu 14 May

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

Sat 09 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (JANEY GODLEY + STEPHEN CARLIN + TONY JAMESON + MC BILLY KIRKWOOD)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

THE THURSDAY SHOW (ZOE LYONS + STUART GOLDSMITH + RUSS PEERS + MC JOE HEENAN)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 15 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (ZOE LYONS + STUART GOLDSMITH + RUSS PEERS + MC JOE HEENAN)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00–23:00, £12 (£10 STUDENT/£6 MEMBERS)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 22 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (JEFF INNOCENT + GRAHAM THOMAS + LUCY BEAUMONT + MC BRUCE DEVLIN) THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00–23:00, £12 (£10 STUDENT/£6 MEMBERS)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

Sat 23 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (JEFF INNOCENT + GRAHAM THOMAS + LUCY BEAUMONT + MC BRUCE DEVLIN) THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7

THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

Sun 24 May

Sun 31 May

BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL (JEFF INNOCENT + GRAHAM THOMAS + LUCY BEAUMONT + MC BRUCE DEVLIN) THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £10 (£9)

The Stand celebrate the coming Monday bank holiday with a special Sunday show.

ZOE LYONS

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £13 (£11)

One of the brightest female comic talents on the circuit, as seen on Mock The Week and Comedy Roadshow.

Mon 25 May RED RAW

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £2

Open-mic style beginners showcase, plus some old hands dropping by to roadtest new material.

Tue 26 May BRIGHT CLUB

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 20:30–22:30, £5

A selection of comedic academics do a stint of stand-up for your entertainment and enlightenment.

Laughs and learning in one neat package = tick.

Wed 27 May

POETS AGAINST HUMANITY

THE BANSHEE LABYRINTH, 20:00–22:00, FREE

Three comedic contestants attempt to tear poetry a new one in a live panel show variation on Cards Against Humanity.

Thu 28 May

THE THURSDAY SHOW (DAN NIGHTINGALE + WIL HODGSON + JESSICA FOSTEKEW + MICKEY D + MC SCOTT AGNEW)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00–23:00, £10 (£7 STUDENTS/£5 MEMBERS)

Weekend-welcoming selection of handpicked headline acts and newcomers over a two-hour showcase.

Fri 29 May

THE FRIDAY SHOW (DAN NIGHTINGALE + WIL HODGSON + JESSICA FOSTEKEW + MICKEY D + MC SCOTT AGNEW)

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00–23:00, £12 (£10 STUDENT/£6 MEMBERS)

Prime stand-up from the Scottish and international circuit, hosted by a rotating selection of Stand stalwarts.

THE BEEHIVE COMEDY CLUB

BEEHIVE INN, 20:30–22:30, £7

Regular weekend comedy showcase featuring a selection of up-and-coming acts from Scotland and beyond, topped with a guest headliner. See Facebook on the day for line-ups.

Sat 30 May

THE SATURDAY SHOW (DAN NIGHTINGALE + WIL HODGSON + JESSICA FOSTEKEW + MICKEY D + MC SCOTT AGNEW)

Dundee Comedy Sun 10 May

RUBY WAX: SANE NEW WORLD

THE GARDYNE THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £18

The comedian and mental health campaigner brings her Sane New World show to Dundee, blending her comic wit with Oxford University learnin’.

Fri 15 May JUST LAUGH

DUNDEE REP, 20:00–22:00, £12

Monthly comedy showcase bringing a selection of UK stand-ups to Dundee.

Sat 30 May GARY LITTLE

THE GARDYNE THEATRE, 20:00–22:15, £10 (£8)

The master comedy storyteller does as he does best – turn mundane, everyday experiences into pure comedy gold.

Glasgow Art CCA: Centre for Contemporary Art

GORDON DOUGLAS: THE GARDEN IS OUR WALL

14 APR – 9 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Series of four exhibition ‘events’ inviting collaboration from practitioners Stefanie Cheong, James Harding, Tess Vaughan and Jake Watts, drawing on authority within designed urban image, and the inherent civic responsibility of communal habitation.

THE STAND EDINBURGH, 21:00–23:00, £15

Packed Saturday evening bill of stand-up headliners and resident comperes to jolly along your weekend.

Listings

61

Art CHRISTINE BORLAND + BRODY CONDON: CIRCLES OF FOCUS VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 4 APR AND 17 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

The fruits of a long term project by collaborative artists Christine Borland and Brody Condon exploring human body donation as a tool for artistic research and practice, encompassing fired ceramic sculptures, performance documentation and legal paperwork.

LUCY CLOUT + MARIANNA SIMNETT: WHAT WILL THEY SEE OF ME?

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 30 MAY AND 12 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

Exhibition premiere of two significant new commissions by Lucy Clout and Marianna Simnett, winners of the Jerwood/FVU Awards 2015, each taking inspiration from the pressures (and perils) of visibility in a digital world.

David Dale Gallery and Studios

KEITH ALLAN + TOMAS DOWNES: NEVER SPOTTED LEOPARD

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 11 APR AND 16 MAY, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

Joint exhibition from Glasgowborn, Copenhagen-living artist Keith Allen and London/ Copenhagen-straddling artist Tomas Downes.

Glasgow Print Studio BELOW ANOTHER SKY

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 3 APR AND 10 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

The fruits of the Below Another Sky programme of residencies, research trips and commissions, with the selected artists showing their work alongside images from their research trips and residencies.

MARION MACPHEE

8–31 MAY, NOT 11, 18, 25, TIMES VARY, FREE

Having grown up on the Isle of Skye, Marion MacPhee explores themes relating to natural environment, history and mythology in an attempt to capture the atmosphere of that particular place.

Glasgow School of Art CATHERINE STREET: MUSCLE THEORY

THE BALLET OF THE PALETTE 20 FEB – 24 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Showcase exhibition of 20th century paintings selected from Glasgow Museums’ collection, chosen by a selection of contemporary artists who exhibited work in the 2013 exhibition, A Picture Show.

RIPPLES ON THE POND

27 MAR – 28 FEB, TIMES VARY, FREE

Glasgow Museums’ collection exhibition designed as a conversation between works by women on paper and moving image, taking as its starting point recent acquisitions from the Glasgow Women's Library 21 Revolutions series.

Goethe-Institut BERLINBILDER

22 APR – 29 MAY, WEEKDAYS ONLY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Annual photography showcase from the HND Photography students from West College Scotland, resulting from a recent architecture field trip to Berlin.

Govanhill Baths

CONCRETE RIBS: HELEN DE MAIN + SARAH FORREST + CARLA SCOTT FULLERTON

9–23 MAY, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

Triple-header exhibition held in the former ladies pool at Govanhill Baths, each working with printmaking, sculpture, text and video, responding in distinctive ways to the history and physical structure of the space. Part of Southside Fringe Festival.

Hillhead Library MAUD SULTER: ABOUT FACE

17 APR – 28 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Off-site mini exhibition of late artist Maud Sulter – coinciding with her main exhibition at Street Level Photoworks – taking in 10 large format Polaroid portraits, originally commissioned by the Scottish Poetry Library in 2002.

CRANHILL ARTS PROJECT: GLASGOW FAMILY ALBUM

14 FEB – 2 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Growing collection of family photos submitted by the people of Glasgow, put together as part of Street Level Photowork's ‘Commonwealth Family Album’ which took place during the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Hunterian Art Gallery

THE ONLY WAY TO DO IT IS TO DO IT

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 27 MAR AND 4 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

Solo showcase of new work from Edinburgh-based artist Catherine Street, for which a variety of ideas, sounds and images will gradually reveal their connections and antagonisms between two locations for a ten-day duration.

Exhibition revisiting the experimental practices and legacy of progressive liberal art college Black Mountain College (1933-57), taking in Post-War American prints from The Hunterian's permanent collection alongside new work by contemporary practitioners.

9–16 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Kendall Astner

18–30 APR, TIMES VARY, FREE

MFA INTERIM SHOW 2015

Annual showcase by students in their first year of Master of Fine Art, taking in a variety of works across a range of media – including painting, drawing, sculpture, video, performance and installation. In the Reid Gallery and Ground Floor Corridor.

Glasgow Sculpture Studios

IMAN ISSA: PARABLES

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18 APR AND 13 JUN, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Egyptian artist Iman Issa marks her first exhibition in a UK public institution (and GSS’ first exhibition with an Egyptian artist, no less), presenting Common Elements 2013 – an installation of sculpture, text panels and photographs.

GoMA

ALASDAIR GRAY: SPHERES OF INFLUENCE I

21 NOV – 25 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Part of a season of Alasdair Gray exhibitions, with this one looking at his practice, influences and work – delving into the Glasgow Museums Collection to explore connections between them.

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Listings

GEORGE HENRY LONGLY: VOLUME EXCESS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18 APR AND 30 MAY, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

New solo exhibition from the London-based artist-cum-DJ, known for saying that his work is more about making exhibitions than artworks.

Mary Mary EAT ABSTRACTEDLY

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18 APR AND 30 MAY, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

Group show concentrating predominantly on photography, taking in work by a varied collection of artists.

Queen's Park Railway Club

URARA TSUCHIYA: CONNOISEUR'S WORLD

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 30 APR AND 23 MAY, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

Solo exhibition by experimental artist Urara Tsuchiya, featuring performance, soft sculpture and photographic works, with a number of interactive events scheduled throughout - including a banana DJ and aphrodisiac food event (with London-based artist Joseph Walsh), before drawing to a close with a fashion catwalk and closing party on 23 May.

RGI Kelly Gallery

ANN DAVIDSON: NORTH FROM SUTHERLAND

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 10 APR AND 2 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Scottish sculptor and artist Ann Davidson showcase a selection of her abstract collage-paintings of Sutherland, Iceland and Greenland.

MARJ BOND

15–30 MAY, NOT 17, 18, 24, 25, TIMES VARY, FREE

Solo showcase of work from the Pailey-born painter and engraver who studied Drawing and Painting at Glasgow School of Art.

Street Level Photoworks MAUD SULTER: PASSION

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 25 APR AND 20 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Retrospective showcase of artist, writer, curator and gallerist of Ghanain and Scottish heritage, Maud Sulter – taking in key chapters in her multilayered photographic practice, including several works from her Hysteria, Syrcas and Les Bijoux projects.

The Arches

LUCY ASTEN HOLMES-ELLIOT: SKOLIOSEXUAL

12 MAY – 6 JUN, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, FREE

Artist Lucy Asten Holmes-Elliot attempts to capture the divers identity of the Scottish queer scene in a series of large-scale illustrations. Part of Behaviour Festival's ‘Sexology Season’.

The Lighthouse

BEST USE OF TIMBER AWARDS 2014

20 FEB – 6 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

As part of the annual RIAS Awards, Forestry Commission Scotland and Wood for Good sponsor an award encouraging innovative use of timber in new buildings in Scotland, with this exhibition showcasing the winning and shortlisted entries.

FRESH AIR

7–14 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Showcase exhibition of new jewellery and silversmithing work from the Artists in Residence from The Glasgow School of Art, Edinburgh College of Art and Duncan of Jordanstone.

WASTEWARE

9 APR – 16 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Glasgow artist Laura Lightbody takes a selection of everyday, overlooked graphics such as price tags, labels and envelopes and makes them permanent through the medium of ceramics.

The Modern Institute LIZ LARNER

20 MAR – 27 MAY, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FREE

The Los Angeles-based artist showcases works from her primarily minimalist and geometrically formal sculpture practice.

The Modern Institute @ Airds Lane MARK HANDFORTH

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 27 MAR AND 23 MAY, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

The Miami-based sculptor – primarily known for large-scale site-specific work – takes over The Modern Institute's Aird's Lane space with a new showcase of work.

LUKE FOWLER: TO THE EDITOR OF AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 30 MAY AND 4 JUL, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

Showcase of work from Glasgowbased artist, filmmaker and musician Luke Fowler, best known for his documentary films about radical thinkers on the fringes of society.

The Old Hairdressers THE F WORD

11–12 MAY, 6:00PM – 11:00PM, FREE

GSA's Feminist Society host a pop-up exhibition, with various students and graduates addressing questions of gender, sexuality, age, ethnicity and class equality via illustration, painting, sculpture, photography and design work.

The Telfer Gallery

BETH KETTEL: POST-POINT AND/ OR THE SEQUENTIAL TANGENTIAL POTENTIAL

25 APR – 10 MAY, NOT 27 APR, 28 APR, 4 MAY, 5 MAY, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

For the first exhibition of its 2015 programme, The Telfer Gallery hand over the gallery space to Manchester-based Beth Kettel, continuing her investigation of the polysemy, obscurity and potential of objects and language.

Tramway

MICK PETER: PYRAMID SELLING

24 APR – 14 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Solo exhibition of new sculpture by Glasgow-based artist Mick Peter, which, when taken together, set up a conversation between contradictory modes of representation as well as notions of commerce and fabrication.

GRACE SCHWINDT: ONLY A FREE INDIVIDUAL CAN CREATE A FREE SOCIETY

2 MAY – 7 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

London-based German artist Grace Schwindt presents a new film installation in which she revisits discussions witnessed during her childhood, surrounded by radical left-wing individuals in Frankfurt, Germany.

LUKE PELL AND JO VERRENT: TAKE ME TO BED

15–30 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

New video work from Luke Pell and Jo Verrent, created in collaboration with artist performers Caroline Bowditch, Janice Parker, Robert Softley Gale and video artist Mark Morreau, exploring the dis/ comfort of audiences to bodies that are different.

Trongate 103 GOOSE FLESH: STOCK TAKE

30 MAY – 28 JUN, NOT 1 JUN, 8 JUN, 15 JUN, 22 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Showcase of work from the independent, non-profit photography zine, Good Flesh, featuring work of emerging and established artists who are Glasgow born, based or associated, as well as occasionally featuring the work of friends from other places.

THOMAS AITCHISON: DRAG A FILE HERE VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 25 APR AND 14 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

For the second exhibition of Satellites Programme 2015, artist Thomas Aitchison showcases a new series of paintings and an installation using materials and tools that commonly support but are edited out of exhibition design.

Dovecot Studios GARRY FABIAN MILLER: DWELLING

15 MAY – 7 JUL, NOT SUNDAYS, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

Showcase exhibition marking the start of a collaborative relationship between experimental photographer Garry Fabian Miller and Dovecot Tapestry Studio, including two new gun-tufted hearth rugs created in collaboration with the artist.

Edinburgh College of Art ECA DEGREE SHOW 2015

30 MAY – 7 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Edinburgh College of Art present their annual graduate student round-up, showcasing the fruits of more than 500 budding graduating artists, filmmakers, designers, and architects over an e'er eclectic programme.

Edinburgh Printmakers DARK MATTERS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 21 MAR AND 23 MAY, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Specially commissioned exhibition for which artists, astronomers and space engineers have been asked to create new public art installations that explore the nature of dark matter and dark energy.

Embassy Gallery MUD

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 17 APR AND 3 MAY, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

Showcase of new work by a bumper batch of artists: Meyer Vaisman, Kit Craig, Carol Bove, German Democratic Republic, Mel Franklin Smith, Alex Pollard, Mike Cooter, Slime Mold, Clifford Sage and Emerson Glassey.

iota @ Unlimited Ingleby Gallery FRANK WALTER Studios 28 MAR – 23 MAY, NOT SUNDAYS, 10:00AM IMAGINE: SHANGHAI-GLASGOW

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 8 MAY AND 30 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

A dialogue between a Scottish artist and a Chinese artist, Roy Petrie and Lianxi Zhang – with the exhibition taking place between China and Scotland – exploring life concepts in common through film, painting and sculpture.

Edinburgh Art City Art Centre

YOU CHOOSE: FAVOURITES FROM THE CITY ART CENTRE

13 DEC – 24 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Annual showcase exhibition drawing from the City Art Centre's permanent collection of historic and contemporary Scottish art – this year opening it up to the public to select their favourite works to make up the display.

Collective Gallery

SLAVS AND TATARS: LEKTOR

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 25 APR AND 12 JUL, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

New body of work by art collective Slavs and Tatars exploring ‘Mirror for Princes’ – a medieval form of advice literature intended for future rulers, giving advice pertaining to good leadership on subjects such as grooming, speech, education and belief.

– 6:00PM, FREE

Comprehensive solo exhibition of the Antiguan artist, encompassing real and imagined portrait and figure paintings, plus a series of cut and stenciled masks, and a selection of his Tiny Landscapes (of which he painted hundreds).

Institut Français d'Ecosse MONOCHROME

17 APR – 15 MAY, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FREE

The Fèis’ artists collective turns the Institut Français d'Écosse into a gallery for the month, showcasing a collection of black and white photographs celebrating the photographic history of Scotland.

Interview Room 11

GERRY SMITH: REVERTING TO TYPE

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 1 MAY AND 16 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Exhibition of text based and text informed work by Gerry Smith, showcasing two new works: The Recollective and The Writing Ball.

Inverleith House NICOLAS PARTY: BOYS AND PASTEL

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 2 MAY AND 5 JUL, 10:00AM – 5:30PM, FREE

First major UK solo exhibition by Swiss artist Nicolas Party, taking in an installation of wall murals painted in situ covering the entirety of Inverleith House, including the seven galleries, stairwells, hallways and corridors.

Rhubaba

THE HOSTS: ECTOPLASMIC VARIATIONS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 18 APR AND 10 MAY, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

Exhibition of new work by artist Serena Korda encompassing an army of ceramic warriors, with each ceramic vessel bearing the face of a bearded man, referencing Bellarmine Jugs of the 16th century.

Royal Botanic Garden AMY SHELTON: HONEYSCRIBE

7 APR – 4 JUL, NOT SUNDAYS, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Artist Amy Shelton becomes a contemporary ‘honeyscribe’ – someone tasked with recording every drop of honey produced – mapped using 100s of pressed flowers, illuminated to create a vibrant colour palette. In the John Hope Gateway.

Royal Scottish Academy (RSA) 189TH RSA ANNUAL EXHIBITION 25 APR – 3 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Annual highlight showcasing work from RSA Academicians the length and breadth of Scotland, providing a platform for contemporary paintings, sculpture, film, printmaking, photography and installation alongside work by leading architects.

Scottish National Gallery DAVID ROBERTS: DRAWINGS FROM THE HELEN GUITERMAN BEQUEST

21 FEB – 14 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Showcase of 30+ drawings and watercolours by late Edinburgh artist David Roberts, many of which are drawn from the important group of works bequeathed to the Scottish National Gallery by Helen Guiterman through the Art Fund in 2008.

ROCKS AND RIVERS: THE LUNDE COLLECTION

3–30 APR, TIMES VARY, FREE

Long-term loan from one of the finest private collections of 19thCentury Norwegian and Swiss landscape paintings, American collector Asbjörn Lunde, taking in 13 works by artists including Johan Christian Dahl, Alexandre Calame and Thomas Fearnley.

BODY WORK

19 MAR – 31 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Small sample of work made by participants attending the Scottish National Gallery's life drawing classes, showcasing the different styles and approaches in capturing the human form.

COLLECTING NOW 9 MAY – 20 SEP, TIMES VARY, FREE

Showcase exhibition of a number of the recent acquisitions that have entered the Portrait Gallery collection since 2010, including a double portrait by Cecile Walton from around 1911 and a group of silver gelatin prints by David Peat from the late 60s.

LEE MILLER AND PICASSO

23 MAY – 6 SEP, TIMES VARY, £9 (£7)

Revealing exhibition featuring approximately 100 photographs focusing on the relationship between Lee Miller, Roland Penrose and Pablo Picasso, featuring photographs by Miller and a painting and drawing by Picasso.

Stills

ANNA ATKINS + MARGARET WATKINS

25 APR – 12 JUL, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Double-header exhibition showcasing historically important work

by Anna Atkins (1799-1871) and Margaret Watkins (1884-1969), two female artists who made pioneering photographic work in the 19th and 20th centuries respectively.

Summerhall

MICHELE CIACCIOFERA: I HATE THE INDIFFERENT

7 DEC – 30 APR, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

First exhibition in the UK for Sardinian artist Michele Ciacciofera, using different means of expression – painting, drawing, sculpture and photography – to illustrate a narrative path that connects ideas of epic and utopia across all of history.

WILLIAM LATHAM: MUTATOR 1+2

4 APR – 22 MAY, 11:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Showcase of one of the first pioneering UK computer artists, including early hand-drawn work, organic wall hangings, computergenerated Cibachrome prints, video art and his most recent computer interactive evolutionary projections.

Talbot Rice Gallery

WHERE LANGUAGE ENDS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 14 MAR AND 2 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art

Showcase exhibition from Glasgowbased artists Ross Birrell and David Harding, encompassing coloured window installations, sculptural objects, prints and multimedia works.

22 NOV – 24 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £8 (£6)

The Fruitmarket Gallery

ROBERT COLQUHOUN AND ROBERT MACBRYDE: THE TWO ROBERTS

Double-header showcase of the Scottish artists Robert MacBryde and Robert Colquhoun, or ‘The Two Roberts’, who took the London artworld by storm in the 40s, but had faded into obscurity by the 60s.

ROY LICHTENSTEIN

14 MAR – 10 JAN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A special three-room ‘Artist Rooms’ display dedicated to works by celebrated American pop artist Roy Lichtenstein, bringing together a newly assembled group of works care of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation and the Estate of Roy Lichtenstein.

Scottish National Portrait Gallery REMEMBERING THE GREAT WAR

4 AUG – 5 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

Marking the centenary of the outbreak of the WWI, the Scottish National Portrait Gallery display various portraits and related works in various media - including work by artists Sir James Gunn and Sir William Gillies, who were wounded in action.

BEAUTY BY DESIGN: FASHIONING THE RENAISSANCE

15 NOV – 3 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Showcase exhibition linking the renaissance art collections of the Scottish National Portrait Gallery and Scottish National Gallery to contemporary fashion design, practice and display.

POSSIBILITIES OF THE OBJECT: EXPERIMENTS IN MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY BRAZILIAN ART

6 MAR – 25 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Group show examining the role Brazilian artists played in the international art scene of the 50s-70s, moving from well-known Brazilian artists such as Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Clark and Mira Schendel, to a selection of their lesser-known contemporaries.

Urbane Art ART OF THE MATTER

4 APR – 3 MAY, NOT 6 APR, 13 APR, 20 APR, 27 APR, TIMES VARY, FREE

Showcase exhibition of artists that make use of science and/or technology in their work, including pieces by Scottish artist Fraser Ross, who makes sculptures out of magnetic liquid.

Dundee Art Abertay University

Centrespace REWIND VIDEOTHEQUE

19–30 MAY, NOT 25, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

The REWIND project, based at DJCAD, present a special exhibition of re-mastered, preserved and archived UK artist videos from the 70s and 80s.

DCA: Dundee Contemporary Arts

SPRING / SUMMER 2015: MARIPOL

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 4 APR AND 21 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Showcase exhibition charting the iconic photographs, fashion and design work of Maripol from the late 70s to the present, showing alongside thematically similar Scottish artists Clare Stephenson and Zoe Williams.

Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design DJCAD DEGREE SHOW 2015

23–31 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Annual degree show from the graduating students at Duncan of Jordanstone School of Art and Design, showcasing work from a 250-strong batch of emerging artists and designers from 11 different courses. Also showing at University of Dundee.

Generator Projects

THEY HAD FOUR YEARS 2015

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 23 MAY AND 14 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Annual exhibition featuring new works by recent graduates selected from across Scotland, this year featuring Cameron Orr, Lily Morris and Aaron McCarthy (DJCAD), Sophie Will (Gray's School of Art) and Alima Askew and Timothea Armour (ECA).

The McManus

CLASSICAL ART: THE LEGACY OF THE ANCIENTS

24 JAN – 10 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Showcase of works with a taste of the antique, illustrating the enduring influence of ancient Greek and Roman culture through paintings, sculpture and ceramics from Dundee's nationally significant collection of fine art.

University of Dundee MATERIAL CONCERNS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 7 FEB AND 30 MAY, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Selection of works by Gina Czarnecki and others, shown alongside research and artefacts from the University of Dundee. In the Lifespace gallery (open Sat 11am5pm and by appointment).

BODIES IN MOTION

7 MAR – 2 MAY, NOT SUNDAYS, TIMES VARY, FREE

Special exhibition exploring how movement in the human body has been studied and depicted in art, taking in a selection of drawings, paintings, books and scientific instruments from the University Museum Collections. In the Tower Foyer Gallery.

MATERIAL CONCERNS

VARIOUS DATES BETWEEN 7 FEB AND 30 MAY, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Unique exhibition exploring consent in donation and use of human tissue in life, art and scientific research, including work by Gina Czarnecki, Carolee Schneemann and Verena Friedrich. In the Lifespace gallery (open Sat and by appointment).

ABERTAY DIGITAL GRADUATE SHOW

8–11 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Abertay's school of Arts, Media and Computer Games students showcase the fruits of their wares, showcasing everything from the best in animations and interactive game design to experimental sound production and tricksy apps.

THE SKINNY

Magic and its secret weapon As he prepares to tour his new show Miracle, master illusionist Derren Brown talks to The Skinny about comedy and its use in magic Interview: Jenni Ajderian

bonafide psychic plays a major Edinburgh venue. She's talking to the dead; she's reading minds; she's seeing ghosts. She, presumably, doesn't tell her audience how she manages any of these amazing feats. Few psychics ever will, and very few will actively encourage their audience to laugh at or question what's happening onstage.

Fortunately, Derren Brown is not a psychic.

“People who are interested in what I do would be sceptical of any claims of real magic or supernatural abilities,” says Brown. “There's a kind of balance in enjoying the half-world of belief that I encourage.” This half-world of belief involves watching a man reel off your phone number from across the room, or answer a question about a family pet he's never seen, all the while knowing that it's trickery.

Over the last 13 years of stage and TV shows, Brown has developed two distinct personas. While po-faced on his TV specials, the enigmatic performer takes on a more comedic role when he's onstage for two and a half hours. “The fun part of the stage show for me is the fact that it has to be funnier and hit a lot of other kinds of notes,” he says.

“People aren't expecting the show to be funny, and that's a real bonus for me. I'm in awe of people that do stand-up, but it's kind of a nice way of having it as a freebie, because it's unexpected.”

It's clear that comedy was never the primary aim of the production – so did comedy come out of nowhere, or was it added in consciously?

“Very consciously,” Brown affirms. “When people laugh they relax and they're off guard, so it has its uses from a magical point of view. There's a lot that you can cover by making a joke just before [the trick], especially if you've built up a bit of tension, because people for that moment just sort of gloss over and stop paying attention.”

Throwing in the odd joke, and stalling for time with seemingly effortless patter with the audience, also goes some way to remind us that we are here for entertainment, not to just stare in wideeyed wonder at a genie in a fetching waistcoat.

“I'm building up more obvious tension than a comedian would because of the nature of what I'm doing, so puncturing that with an element of release is even more important,” Brown explains.

“Otherwise there's only so much you can take.”

An enormous amount of research goes into each of Brown's shows, whether it's into the history of his own art or the tricks used in someone else's. He has an uncanny way of slipping something serious in among the baffling sleight-ofmind tricks that keep everyone watching. Previous shows, onstage and off, have focused on cold reading, explored troubling ideas such as how easy it is to torture someone when they can't identify you, or conjured spectacles such as ‘possessed’ clockwork dolls. His last stage show, Infamous, took a similarly pensive tack, and, along with the mindreading, this year's Miracle is set to explore stoic philosophy and the theory of happiness.

Magic, of course, isn't usually a platform for philosophical musing. Or, to put it bluntly: “It's a fraudulent route to making yourself look amazing.”

But Brown is interested in more than ‘looking amazing.’ “The magician tends to create an interesting persona around themselves, which can become a bit tiresome, and then everybody starts to take the piss and magicians start to become

May 2015

these slightly ludicrous figures,” he says. “People know they're being tricked, so the seriousness with which a lot of magicians treat themselves can be a bit foolish.”

The Derren Brown we see onstage doesn't take himself or his act too seriously. He often tells us we're being tricked, and giggles at himself when everything appears to have gone tits up. He eggs on our scepticism and picks holes in his own techniques, showing how easy it is to pick holes in other performers too. What he takes more seriously is the effect his techniques can have on his audience, and what this might say about people generally.

“I try and do shows now that have a kind of message to them, maybe because it's quite a big investment making shows and I want to do something that feels worthwhile. Essentially, though, it's about drama.”

“When people laugh they relax and they're off guard, so it has its uses from a magical point of view” Derren Brown

“Teller [of American magic duo Penn and Teller] has spoken about how if you're a magician and you click your fingers and something amazing happens, there's no drama to that – that's like a god figure who can whimsically make things happen. What interests us in drama is a hero struggling through a journey and learning things along the way and so on. So when I was first doing TV I tried to take that on board in terms of what I was doing, and put more emphasis on the process, so it didn't feel too whimsical.

“What I've tried to do over the last few years is to preserve drama, and move the focus onto a member of the public to do extraordinary things.

That's inherently much more interesting than a person saying, ‘Look at me, I'm so clever, I can read your mind.’ I can still use my world and my skills and so on to facilitate that but it's no longer about me, and I think that's more interesting.”

In this particular show, it's not all about his theatre audience, either: “Every night I ask people to tweet in any word they like, and something happens onstage that, fingers crossed, makes that extraordinary as opposed to just a bunch of words.”

At the end of each show, one lucky Twitter follower is told they have read an audience member's mind – from perhaps miles away, and without ever knowing they were doing it. A trick, again, which, in the context and the drama of the show, suspends our disbelief.

There's another kind of laughter that pervades every stage show Brown has done – the laughter of complete bafflement. In 2007’s An Evening of Wonders, Brown seemingly transports from one end of the stage to another, reappearing from the

Credit: Seamus Ryan

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wings in a gorilla suit. The trick is a simple one – watch the scene back once and you'll spot it – but the reaction on that first view is one of the biggest of the night because of our hoodwinked expectations. There are gasps, even the odd scream, and more than a few guffaws of laughter. The big reveal feels like a punchline, and the reaction of shocked laughter is rife throughout the rest of the show too. Even without an actual joke, we're often reduced to nervous giggling when we realise we've been had, once again.

Looking back – way back – ‘fear grinning’ has been documented in macaques and chimpanzees, signalling that a less dominant member of the group doesn't want a disagreement to escalate.

The grin and the laughter are all about reassuring everyone that it's all a joke. Seen in this light, with its roots in dominance and avoiding conflict, laughter is even more at home in a show that involves misdirection, altered states of mind and the apparent ease of making an adult human lose control of their own body.

While people acknowledge Brown's abilities, it's sometimes done with a worried twinge. The amount of control one man can have over so many others could be frightening – one review by Planet Ivy describes the experience as being “so confused that you resort to violence.” With shows on television, we're given a reassuring end-screen

notice that everyone has been successfully deprogrammed, shop owners have been reimbursed, and all that stuff destroyed in that guy's house was replaced in full. And after that, everyone changes the channel and tells themselves it was just a TV show.

In Brown's stage shows, however, we need a different kind of reassurance. “Originally the second half was very serious but sort of bizarre,” Brown says of Miracle. “It was asking a lot from the audience to sort of come with me on a journey, and we realised that in order to make that work it was very important to let people know that it was fine and safe and I hadn't gone mad. Putting jokes in was hugely important and totally allowed the second half to work.”

Many of Brown's tricks come with a disclaimer. In his live shows he often goes halfway to explaining how something is done, ridiculing those who claim to actually talk to the dead, read minds, see ghosts – before he appears to do just that.

As long as there are laughs along the way, and we know it's all a show, that we're only being tricked, comedy seems to reassure us that this is a monkey fight with no bloodshed. Not real blood, anyway.

Derren Brown: Miracle plays at Edinburgh Playhouse, 18-23 May (£20-£47.50), and Liverpool Empire, 15-20 Jun (£2547.50), 7.30pm derrenbrown.co.uk

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