AUTUMN HIGHLIGHTS
▼ 15 NOVI
THE KILLING
TV Second series of cult Danish crime drama
St Vincent
The girl with the Faroese jumper is back as Sarah Lund (Sofie Gråbøl) returns to the fold to try help solve another shocking case. This time she spots a common thread (pun intended) between the discovery of two corpses: a woman found in a Copenhagen park and the brutal slaying of a soldier who served in Afghanistan. Things, obviously, are far from straightforward as top-level cover-ups, betrayals and lies plague her investigation. This sleeper hit actually made the Guardianistas put their box-sets of The Wire down for five minutes. Now’s your chance to see what all the deserved fuss is about. (Brian Donaldson) BBC 4, Tue 15 Nov (provisional date).
15 NOVI ST VINCENT
MUSIC Annie Clark updating the Kate Bush model of quirk-pop Annie Erin Clark wooed early fans with her first album, Marry Me; an oddball quirkathon of indie pop, then followed it up with the solidly charming, Actor in 2009. We were intrigued to hear what album three, the recently released Strange Mercy (4AD) would have in store, and guess what? It’s a beauty, and almost certainly the one that will be looked back on as her ‘breakthrough to mainstream success album’. For an idea of her live performance, look up her excellent rendition of album track ‘Cruel’ on The Late Show with David Letterman recently. (Claire Sawers) Stereo, Glasgow, Tue 15 Nov. bit.ly/vincentletterman
17 NOVI
PASS THE SPOON MUSIC David Shrigley writes an opera
The art brut doodle master has dabbled in music before – he put out an EP with Iain Shaw earlier this year, and back in 2007 got the likes of Grizzly Bear and Hot Chip to put his words to music on the Worried Noodles compilation. But this is the first live show the Glasgow-based artist has ever written. It’ll be getting its world premiere at Tramway, with music performed by Red Note Ensemble and a storyline involving vegetables, fruit and . . . a dung beetle, apparently. (Claire Sawers) Tramway, Glasgow, Thu 17–Sat 19 Nov.
17 NOVI
SCOTLAND’S HISTORY FESTIVAL FESTIVAL Reminder of a rich past
Comedian Susan Morrison once ran a survey asking shoppers on Edinburgh’s Princes Street two 26 THE LIST 22 Sep–20 Oct 2011
questions: how many wives did Henry VIII have? And, how many men did Mary Queen of Scots marry? For the first answer she received ten correct answers and for the second, she got six wrong answers and two bemused people asking where the train station was. Arguing that Scottish citizens need waking up to our rich historical and cultural heritage. Morrison and producer Ian Harrower have masterminded Scotland’s History Festival. The 100 events and 38 organisations taking part will stimulate ‘national debate, discussion and personal discovery’ Morrison says. Highlights include Scottish Parliament debates held by the Carnegie Challenge and the Scottish Law Society on concepts of national identity and belongingness. (Robbie Lawrence) Various venues, Edinburgh, Thu 17–Wed 30 Nov.
24 NOVI
HIGHLY INAPPROPRIATE TALES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE BOOKS Douglas Coupland’s book of evil yarns
The cult-yet-bestselling author of jPod, Girlfriend in a Coma and Generation X is never one to do things by the book. After writing a biography of Marshall McLuhan and a short story for the official souvenir brochure for the 2010 Winter Olympics, Coupland is now unleashing some terribly antisocial characters.
Autumn Facts
In China, a mid-autumn Moon Festival is celebrated with the eating of traditional ‘moon cakes’ – a sweet pastry, sometimes filled with dates and nuts, or flavoured with green tea. Floating sky lanterns are lit, incense is burned, dragon dances
are performed, and
children are told the story of the crystal palace- dwelling moon fairy. Just think, it
must get lonely up there . . .
There’s Mr Fraser, the undead substitute teacher, Brandon the action figure with issues, and Sandra the truly dreadful babysitter. Accompanying Coupland’s text are suitably murky ink illustrations from Graham Roumieu, whose work has previously appeared in The New York Times. (Brian Donaldson) William Heinemann, Thu 24 Nov.
3 DECI RICHIE HAWTIN
MUSIC Plastikman brings his One World 1.5 tour to Scotland Groundbreaking minimal techno pioneer and M_nus label founder Hawtin has hit the level of fame where he gets to play concert halls, and he’s rising to the challenge with this, one of three UK dates on his ‘One World 1.5’ world tour. The version number’s there to denote the fact this is a project in continual evolution, as befits the fact Hawtin controls every element of the set – music, lights, audio and visuals. With and support from Magda and Ambivalent, this Plastikman show promises to be an evolutionary stage in live dance music’s development. (David Pollock) Barrowlands, Glasgow, Sat 3 Dec.