Clubs
In 2001. dance culture stayed true to the rule of hyping one particular style of music. with progressive house dominating (or decimating. depending on how you see it) Scottish dancefloors in much the same way that hard house had the year before. Superstar prog jocks such as John Dlgweed. Seb Fontalne. Steve Lawler and Sander Klelnenberg were booked on rotation at big-league Glasgow nights such as Inside Out and Colours (the latter voted ‘UK Club of the Year 2001' by Muz/k magazine). while IT. Atomlc Baby and Freelall flew the flag for the style on
Amelie: delighting
the east coast. Techno fared well too thanks to the efforts of Slam. their album A/i'en Radio and their club night Pressure at the Arches and. in the latter months of the year Edinburgh enjoyed an explosion of new drum & bass nights including Behave?. Spellbound. Mlschlef and Klnetlc. Capital Clubbing was marked this year by drugs hysterla with “Operation Foil‘ contributing to the CIOSUre of long-standing Cowgate venue Wilkie House in March. In subsequent months. searches became a fixture at all city centre venues but thankfully due to co-operative efforts led by the management of new venue the Honeycomb. the situation has been put under conUoL
And finally. in September 2001. Edinburgh hip hop jock Neall Dailly aka DJ Plus One made Scotland proud when he won the title of World DMC Champion. At the tender age of twenty. Dailly became the first British DJ in eleven years to win the coveted title.
Comedy
I From the remnants of 2000's scrapping emerged a leaner. meaner comedy machine. As ever. it was riddled with insult. injury and more than a fair share of ingenuity. and for those in the know. 2001 will be best remembered as the year when . . . the Reverend Obadlah reigned supreme. Mlles Jupp knew he was funny. Jack Dee was crowned Big Daddy. Mark Thomas damned the dammers. the Stand Glasgow turned one. Des Clarke became runner-up specialist. the Perrler lost its sparkle. newcomers Garth Crulkshank and Eddle McCabe didn't give a toss. Julla Morrls woz robbed.
Karen Dunbar laid off the fat. Phll Kay avoided prosecution.
Danlel Kltson tamed his whiskers. Johnny Vegas discovered male grooming and Ed Byrne sold mobile phones. It's a funny old world.
Books
Now, no one is claiming that the Scots were scheming to conquer the literary world. but 2001 proved a fruitful year for the COuntry's writers. John Burnside started it off with a Whitbread Prize and All Smlth closed the year with a
Slam: pressuring
Booker nomination. And there was an impressive slew of Scottish debut novels from Blll Duncan. Annle Donovan. Peter Burnett. Suhayl Saadl and Alan Blssett.
lntriguingly. pals Peter Jlnks and Ruarldh Nlcoll penned strong first novels which were both compared to The Wasp Factory. Other strong buzzes surrounded the eventual Booker winner The True Story Of The Ke/ly Gang by Peter Carey while Charles Webb. author of The Graduate made a strong return after 26 years with New Card/ff.
:I Meanwhile. Paisley-born John Boyle did his utmost to be the new Frank McCourt. Hector Macdonald's The Mind Game was billed as the new Beach. and no one uncovered the new Zadle
Eminem: cursing
Covers of the year
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The Sopranos
6 Ja". 2002 THE LIST 13