THE HOT 100
79 VOLCANIC TONGUE
SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND A portal to hidden worlds of free jazz, noise, psych and garage punk, David Keenan and Heather Leigh’s underground music shop moved into larger premises this year in Glasgow’s Hidden Lane, hosting some heady instore gigs plus their Cassette Store Day. (SS)
78 FREYA MAVOR LEITH LASSIE
The woman formerly known as mean old Mini McGuinness from Skins came i rmly into her own in 2013, with some supporting roles in Not Another Happy Ending and historical TV series The White Queen, as well as a luminous leading turn in the big screen version of the Proclaimers musical, Sunshine on Leith. (NB)
77 HOT MESS
INCLUSIVE CLUB NIGHT (See panel, right)
76 DOMINIC HILL CITZ MAN
Settling in as artistic director of the Citizens Theatre, Hill’s style is evolving into a sophisticated, accessible mixture of classical and contemporary theatre. A daring staging of Crime and Punishment proved Hill was full of coni dence when grappling with big ideas. (GKV)
74 EMMA DAVIE & MORAG MCKINNON
DOCUMENTARY DUO (See page 26)
73 SARABAND PUBLISHING PIONEERS
Awarded the inaugural al Saltire Society Scottish sh Publisher of the Year Award at this year’s Edinburgh International Book Festival, Saraband were praised for or the quality of their print books and digital innovations which included the popular Burns Night phone app. (KL)
72 CLYDE VALLEY TOMATOES RED CLYDESIDE
The rescue and revitalisation of tomato-growing in Lanarkshire by David Craig and Scott Robertson has been the story of Scotland’s local food rennaisance in 2013, inspiring top chefs and shining a light on the country’s rich food heritage. (DR) 71 PEGGY HUGHES
BOOKS BOSS Recently appointed programme director at the Dundee
Literary Festival, Hughes is one of the busiest people in literature: judge for the Scottish Mortgage Investment Trust Book Awards, Trustee for Reel Arts, boss of the West Port Book Festival and one third of Electric Bookshop. (KL)
75 STREET FOOD CARTEL 70 THE PROCLAIMERS
RISING POP-UPS LEITH LADDIES
The hippest happening on Scotland’s food scene is this collective of street fooders regularly dishing The favourite sons of Leith (and Auchtermuchty) broke into cinema in 2013, or at least their
up at SWG3 and other gatherings. Glasgow pop-up pioneers Scoop are joined by local pulled pork specialist Smoak, wood-i red pizzaists So La Ti Dough, and Afro-Caribbean cookers Fire in Babylon. (JT) songs did in Dexter Fletcher’s cheery i lm adaptation of Dundee Rep’s stage musical, which saw a synchronised ‘I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)’ come to the Mound. They could also be found headlining the Hydro. (DP)
72 24 THE LIST 12 Dec 2013–23 Jan 2014
77
Hot Mess QUEER-FRIENDLY CLUBBING
Since its inception in 2010, Hot Mess has quickly become one of the most popular queer club nights in Scotland, with resident DJ Simon Eilbeck, aka Simonotron, delivering a heady mix of disco, electropop, house, acid and techno. Tired of the standard club format, Eilbeck decided to go solo and start his own club night. ‘I guess I’m a big seli sh so-and-so,’ he says, ‘but I didn’t want to share my decks any more!’ Inspired by a talk from Alan Moore at the 2010 Edinburgh Book Festival, in which the graphic novelist explained his aim to ‘give people what you think they need and not just what they want’, Eilbeck left the event determined to give queer clubgoers exactly what they needed. And so Hot Mess was born. It started in Edinburgh, and this year headed along the M8 to take up residence at Glasgow’s intimate Poetry Club.
Eilbeck takes his job very seriously, spending hours preparing his sets. ‘My goal for each party is to make it literally the best night that the people there have ever had,’ he explains. But above the DJing, the music and the venue, Eilbeck cites the clubgoers as the life and soul of Hot Mess, with Optimo’s JD Twitch even turning up for a gander now and then. ‘The punters are what really make it special,’ he says. ‘Everyone is totally uninhibited when it comes to giving it up on the dancel oor.’
And with a new year around the corner, Hot Mess shows no signs of
slowing down (look out for the Hotmanay event at the Poetry Club on 31 Dec). But Eilbeck asserts: ‘it ain’t broke, so we’re not going to i x it!’ Expect the same high-quality dance action in 2014, ‘with the loveliest bunch of queers in the best wee club venue in Scotland’. (Nina Glencross)