Mogwal (-)
P ROCK BAND
To make one great album is a job well done. to do two. well that's lust careless. Mogwai thrust Mr Beast out into the bright unforgiylng daylight in March this year. while a second long iishl player. the soundtrack to Douglas Gordon's moyie art piece Zidane: a 2 lst Century Portrait slipped out in October. the former was among the band's very finest work. the gulntet’s dark. circular gultar patterns building into more textured and varied shapes than ever. wrth the hellish rumble of ‘(3lasgovl/ Mega Snake' dist:lling all that is heaxy and thrilling about Mogwas in one three and a halt minute hunk.
Z/dane was criticised l:" some circles as less than the sum of its cats. but what many SOO'I‘. to forget is tt‘a‘. at ‘l'ras a soundtrack. ‘v.'t."."ltti}l‘l unlike all the r other music. with a brief l.'t mind. It showed a side o‘ the band ‘.'.'t‘.I(;tt "r'tl'tEI‘, gets arred l't the il\'C arena i.ist one of the Zidane tracks were performed 'iye namely. (ttl'Ot. drifting. baieiytheie melodies. If the work lacked focus that's because they had one rebuilt: the
striding Gallic footballing god that
Andrea Arnold (-)
b FILMMAKER
She may not be Scottish. tttitl
she doesn‘t even il‘.(3 here and yet in 2008 her contribution to the Scottish cultural landscape was almost immeasurable. Arnold is. of course. the \l'rriter director of Red Road. the t-hest film to be made in and about Scotland land partially funded here: for many a year. For those who care to remember. Arnold first came to prominence as an actor and televrsion presenter alongside Sandi Toksvrg in the children's television show No /"3 in which she played Dawn Lodge. By 1988 this part sitcom part chatshow 'a format later stolen by the Kumars at No 49’» morphed ltttO /l'.’;‘ and then into the influential but short lived it‘.’(3 music. cartoons and competition programme i't/fotorrnoi/th.
By 1900 Arnold had started to turh her back on such iuyenilia and briefly preser‘ttxl and wrote for teenage envrronmental av-Jareness shot-.1 A Beet/e Cal/(xi Derek «which interestingly featured Benjamin /ephaniah and gave exposure to the Yes No People of Stomp tamer.
t allow year's t)()(2k()lt(}(t for Arnold as she spent most of the 1990s slot-rig; transforming herself from childrens W has been to adult outre filmmaker. Never one to rush things. t)‘, the mid 80:; Arnold had produced tilt'OO astoundingéy good short films MI/k. Dog and '.'/asp. films of such poetic and social realist promise that they seem to bridge the gap t)(;'i'.‘.’(}(3t‘. the early short film works of both Shane Meadows and Jean Vigo. the final film it‘. this loose trilogy. t’/asp. picked up 1&8 awards worIdWIde. including the Jury l’n/e for International t-ilm Making at Suhrlance
32 THE LIST tz'. [)er; Ij’u’lll 3. Ja' li’l’w'
(lordon had so fetishisitically captured in his film.
Mogwal started their year with five nights residenc a'. the ICA in tendon. each and member choosing a set list and tickets changing hands for ut wards of 5‘80. they followed this up with their biggest Scottish show to date at the Usher l tall and topped off a summer of festeats with a spectacular show at the Royal Albert tlall in September. With these dates came the feeling that '1: tears to come you may well be ooastz'ig to astour‘.<le<l teens that you saw Mogx'rai the ‘.".’Lt‘, others drool over tales of the Velvet Underground o" My Bloody Valentit‘e ilt their shadowy prune.
Mog‘.‘.'ai remaii‘ a singular to'ce l". rhusacz tit‘derrated underdogs. chex'xl'tg at the hoes o" t'z‘ikers. After finding tttezi ()‘.'.’t‘. g'o:>‘.e the, have hacked into at urxieteirezi a"d are no t‘t.rr\, to uacate ;t. ttt-IE12()'£tt7()"£lt'()" with Dougas (‘lc'dch 'naj. help their
<.'<r;de"tas l" e grow". at, .'.orld o an
really mate's and me. stand proud; as
l)ttr‘.‘t:‘,\,75l o e (n the .lhest housls
that has. e". ah Med for'l tt‘es.
all yea'. Mtt.
and mos; "()tzli)t,. a'f /\(;lttt(3ttl‘y A'.'.'a':l to
Best i_l‘.t3/\(Ltl()ttSilt”: t.lniin?(r1):'>.
/\'l’_t then Arnold made tier feature ‘ilm debut and arguable masterpiece lied Hoar}. Speaking r‘e<:e"tty to the / ist. she desc'ibed “er ‘eellhgs at the outset of the puree-ct.
'l felt rea'x, ready to nlake this fi.h‘..| mean 'nakl'ig exert; film is (laur‘ting. t>.it| ‘elt total read, ‘o" to challenge. I've done a mi of things :r: my lite: I've been around a bit. around the mill a bit. iheai:
li d;<lh't feel like :t ‘.'.'as going well at the
tune. it ‘.'.'as a fairly t‘ellish shoot. You
l‘t)‘.’(?.’ ktlt)‘.'.. l mean you kind ot know you are getting some good material but yoa don't 'eall', know if the thug is going to work .ihtl! you out =t together lcan't remember which director said that when you edt and you put th} h‘ages next to each othtr t's :IKO flo‘.'.'ers. pitting ‘.()‘.'.'(}ltl in water. they kind of \.'.'ake up.‘
\.'.’hile this niarks the first year that Arnold t‘as made it onto our ttot tilt) 'oll call. it seems \.(,‘l\.’ unliker that she wont be bark it’ll
HOT TO TROT
TEN WHO WE LOVED, BUT
WHO DON'T PASS THE
TARTAN TEST
I Russell Brand. comedian
I Regina Spektor, singer
I Daniel Craig, actor
I Yeah Yeah Yeahs. rock band
I Peter Crouch. footballer
I Michael Haneke, filmmaker
I Hot Chip rock band
I The Mighty Boosh, comedy duo
I TEAM. theatre company
I Doug Stanhope. comedian
FIVE TO LOOK OUT
FOR NEXT YEAR
I Hannah McGiII, festival director
I Lucy Skaer. artist
I Susan Calman, comedian
I ltxaso Moreno. actor
I AL Kennedy. novelist
TEN BIG NAMES WHO DIDN'T
OUITE MAKE THE CUT
I Jonny Lee-Miller. actor
I Brian McMaster. festival director
I [)0ng Johnstone, novelist and musrcran
I Kelly MacDonald. actor
I Alexander McCall Smith, novelist
I Louise Welsh, novelist
I Simon Starling. artist
I John Burnside, novelist
I Danananaykroyd. rock band
I We Are . . . Electric. club