THE HOT 100
70 CHRIS YOUNG HELPING PUT CLUNGE ON THE BIG SCREEN
The Hebrides-based producer of such gentle British movies as Venus Peter and Gregory’s Two Girls hit filthy
paydirt this year with The Inbetweeners. While some script meetings with the writers may have taken place in Skye via Skype, it all came together seamlessly as the laddish quartet ran roughshod across the continent. (BD)
69 TAKE ONE ACTION! POWERFUL POLITICISED FILM FEST
on Burma to Clare Short on poverty, with a regional tour planned for 2012. (EH)
68 ADMIRAL FALLOW GLASWEGIAN BEARD-FOLK BREAKTHROUGHS
Beards – check. Folk- influenced songs full of raw emotional content – check. Check shirts – check. Yep, it seems Admiral Fallow's credentials as the indie darlings of the moment are all in order. Debut album Boots Met My Face was a List-reviewed four-star highlight this year, and there have been major gigs for the group formley known as Brother Louis Collective, including a slot at the Texas SXSW showcase festival. (JE)
Patrons Ken Loach and Paul Laverty’s social agendas are well served by the Take One Action! film festival, promoting political awareness and global change. 2011 highlights ranged from Zoya Phan
67 ROCKNESS BOOMING DANCE FEST SHOWS ITS INDIE SIDE
RockNess' increasing number of concessions to the indie side of things
meant that Kasabian and Paolo Nutini appeared as headliners on the 2011 bill. Thankfully therefore, Chemical Brothers also played (and killed it). Further respite was found in the Sub Club Arena – a brilliant addition for 2011 that hosted Modeselektor, Matthew Dear and man of the moment Jamie XX. (JE)
66 VICKY FEATHERSTONE WOOING NEW THEATRE AUDIENCES
As artistic director of the National Theatre of Scotland, Vicky Featherstone presided over another action- packed programme, which included play-cum-ceilidh The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, a radical reworking of David Harrower’s Knives in Hens and an adaptation of Andrew O’Hagan’s The Missing. Featherstone also helmed Zinnie Harris’s The Wheel and provocative neuroscience drama, 27. (AR)
63
BARRY & STUART Known for their subversive sorcery (last year's Edinburgh Fringe seance prompted walk-outs), Baz and Stu broke the ultimate taboo this year when they gave away the secrets behind all of their tricks in a special Edinburgh 'tell' show. Audiences and critics loved it, and it went to show they've lost none of their mischievous charm, despite breaking onto telly on BBC1's The Magicians. (JE)
28 THE LIST 15 Dec 2011–5 Jan 2012
65 JAMES YORKSTON MEMOIR-PENNING FENCER
The quiet man of the Fence Collective, perhaps, but no less productive for it, whose exploits in 2011 included a foray into writing as witty and articulate as any of his deliciously dark folk songs, a credit on the commendable Fruit Tree Foundation album and a clutch of pin- drop live shows. (LE)
64 GRAINNE BRAITHWAITE NASTY G KNOWS NICE MUSIC
A fierce force in Scottish music promotion, the brains (and legs) behind Synergy Concerts, in 2011 music obsessive Braithwaite brought live Scottish performances by Thurston Moore, Omar Souleyman, Battles and Rakim amongst others. In the run-up to Glasgow Art School closing, Laurel Halo, D/R/U/G/S, Mi Ami and oOoOO all played her club night Knock Knock, plus the Electric Frog festival benefitted from Synergy’s midas touch. (CS)
63 BARRY & STUART THAT’S MAGIC
See panel (left).
62 DENISE MINA TELLYTASTIC YEAR FOR GLASGOW AUTHOR
Mina’s Field of Blood made it onto the small screen and a new DS Morrow mystery was unleashed. She also
cropped up as the voice of reason on The Review Show and investigated Edgar Allan Poe’s relationships with women for a BBC Four doc. (BD)
61 KAREN GILLAN BLUBBING STUDENT OF THE DOCTOR
Was this year’s Doctor Who too complex? Too scary? Too tear-jerking? Despite the questions, the truth is, everyone still loves it, particularly its feisty heroine, Amy Pond. Even after all that crying Gillan’s still a hot Scot face. (JE)