THE HOT 100
82 SOPHIE MARTIN FANTASTIC FANTASY THESP
78 LES GARÇONS DE GLASGOW FASHION PHOTO BLOGGERS
Not only did the brilliant and beautiful Sophie Martin shine on stage, playing Alice in Ashley Page’s Lewis Carroll- inspired production, the French-born principal dancer also did a fine job as Scottish Ballet’s poster girl – both for Alice and Christmas show, Sleeping Beauty. (KA)
5 THINGS WE LEARNED ABOUT FILM
81 DISCOPOLIS YOUTHFUL PARTY-STARTERS
Daniel and Jonathan – the photography and fashion lovers behind this style blog – celebrated two years of being Les Garçons de Glasgow in November. Besides documenting hot looks in the streets of Paris, London, and of course, Glasgow, the boys’ services as ‘creative communications consultants’ were also called upon for projects with H&M, ‘Superior Interiors’, Burn at the Buff Club and others. (CS)
77 SUPERCLUB MULTI-PURPOSE GALLERY SPACE
Superclub opened in March 2011 with the collective’s first exhibition Stealth Cowboy by Glasgow
illustrator Lachlann Rattray. Psychedelic, candy-coloured visuals, zine fairs, cheap beers and DIY parties ran through the first year’s programme – including a show of drawings by brothers Jamie and Rickie McNeill, paintings by co- director Callum Monteith and live sets by Ben Butler & Mousepad and 7VWWVW’s Rhododendron. To finish? A Christmas party featuring Fox Gut Daata and the mysterious Artist Formerly Known As Mince. More please! (CS)
76 CATHAL MCATEER FORWARD THINKING FASHION FOR FASHION FORWARD FOLK
Named Fashion Designer of the Year at this year’s Scottish Style Awards, quirky Cumbernauld lad Cathal
The clue is right there in those first two syllables: this Edinburgh trio of electronic music-loving teenagers want to
make you dance. And they managed, too, with their throbbing synths and chiming house-pop beats entertaining crowds at this year’s T in the Park (where they played the T-Break stage), Reading festival (where they placed the BBC Introducing Stage) and closer to home, with Devil Disco Club in Edinburgh. (CS)
80 CATHERINE WHEELS DOIN’ IT FOR THE KIDS
Children and young people’s theatre company Catherine Wheels had a breakthrough year in 2011. Their witty, stylish Fringe show White scooped three awards from the CATS panel and was performed in Denmark, New York and London, while Kes, a moving adaptation of Barry Hines’ A Kestrel for a Knave, was also enthusiastically received. (AR)
WITH MARK COUSINS 1 I wrote and directed The Story of Film: An Odyssey [a 15-part history of cinema, shown on Channel 4], but there are moments in it, wee spikes, which still surprise me. The first is that nobody in the earliest years of the movies placed the camera as well as director Lois Weber. Her film Suspense, in which she plays a mother threatened by a burglar, is a visual masterclass.
2 The second is that Soviet director Sergei Eisenstein was far more of a mensch than I thought. For years I loved his style but thought his propaganda too shrill; then I went to his apartment in Moscow, a tiny, dusty haven full of feeling. 3 The third thing I noticed is that the central films in the story aren’t the ones you’d expect – The Godfather, for example, or Seven Samurai. These are great, of course, but the longest single film clip in the whole 15 hours is from Souleymane Cisse’s brilliant African sci-fi film Yeelen (pictured).
4 The fourth thing is how many of the great filmmakers disliked story and tried to reduce it in their movies. Bill Forsyth thinks that stories bully films, Jacques Tati wanted his movies to be strings of little moments, and Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu pared the story down to a minimum. 5 And talking of Ozu, I still get a kick out of that fact that it doesn’t even say his name on his grave, just ‘Mu’ which means ‘the void’. Very cool.
26 THE LIST 15 Dec 2011–5 Jan 2012
79 AXIS ANIMATION AND SAVALAS RISE OF THE DEAD
McAteer knows how to put his best foot forward, with hipster shoe company Shöfolk, and as creator of the mighty, globally admired, London- based brand, Folk. (AM)
The Glasgow-based animation and soundtrack team produced one of the most stunning
75 THE ARCHES MULTI-FUNCTIONAL, CONSISTENTLY COOL ARTS VENUE
videogame trailers of all time with Dead Island – a strangely touching ballet of zombies and gore all backed by lush classical strings – that went global (as a top worldwide trend on Twitter, with over four million views in four days). But it’s just the tip of the iceberg of the fine work they produce every year. (HN) A recurring re-entry to the Hot 100, The Arches showcased new theatre talent at Arches Live!, was a major venue at Glasgay!, and booked heaps of great music acts. Battles, Peaches, Goblin,
WU LYF, Lykke Li, Stephen Malkmus and Thurston Moore. Crikey. (LM)
74 JONNIE COMMON CAN’T SKATEBOARD TO SAVE HIS LIFE
Mr Common (formerly of Down The Tiny Steps) is the wordsmith behind 2011's delightful electronica album,
Master of None (sample lyric: 'I can't skateboard to save my life. But I like to imagine what kind of bizarre scenario might involve me having to do so.') The remix album, Hair of the Dog, has given him his second four-star record review in The List this year (see page 97). (JE)
73 PETER CAPALDI A TRULY TALENTED TUCKER
Capaldi may have appeared higher had The List’s favourite potty mouth Malcolm Tucker made an appearance
this year; alas, ’twas not to be. He was, though, rather good in the largely forgettable The Suspicions of Mr Whicher and currently as the moustache-twiddling villain, on stage, in The Ladykillers. (AM)
72 MARK COUSINS CINEMA NOT IN A NUTSHELL
The Edinburgh-based writer, broadcaster and filmmaker upped his game with the decade- in-the-making TV
adaptation of his book, The Story of Film: the whole world history of cinema in 15 epic episodes (see panel, left). (MF)
71 OPTIMO GREAT CLUB AND GREAT RECORDS FROM TWITCH AND WILKES
It’s been a comparatively quiet year for Optimo. Of course their parties have still been fantastic and Twitch and Wilkes have been DJing across the world. They hung up their weekly Hung Up! session for a new event/guest-based irregular ‘Optimo Presents’ night (guests have included Ivan Smagghe and Horse Meat Disco) while their record label definitely deserves recognition with some sublime releases from Factory Floor, Chris Carter and Naum Gabo. (HN)