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63 SOLID BLAKE HARD BEATS
Raised in Glasgow but based in Copenhagen, Emma Blake is one of Scotland’s most exciting young DJs and producers. This year she took part in the 20th edition of Red Bull Music Academy in Berlin, contributed a track to Modeselektion Vol. 04, and released the ‘Warp Room’ EP. (DP)
62 ALBERTA WHITTLE COUNTRY MATTERS
It’s been a busy season for Whittle, with works showcased at Glasgow’s Gallery of Modern Art and her co-curation of the touring exhibition Another Country. Happily there’ll be even more from her on the horizon, after winning the 2018 Margaret Tait Award. (DC)
61 NICOLA STURGEON FIRST WORDS
Scotland’s First Minister told a Wigtown Book Festival audience that when she was young, she’d hide under a table to read. Now she makes no effort to conceal her love of books, backing national reading campaigns and personally championing Scottish writers. (LM)
60 FRANCES POET LINE WALKER
Playwright, dramaturg, and associate artist at the Traverse, Poet’s 2018 script Gut took the tragic genre and used it to examine contemporary anxieties: a passionate and precise writer who pushes the potential of performance’s immediacy and poetic power. (GKV)
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59 LIGHTHOUSE BOOKSHOP RADICAL READS
The left-leaning and independent Lighthouse: Edinburgh’s Radical Bookshop is the new incarnation of long-beloved Word Power Books on West Nicolson Street. Promoting free speech, it’s a bookish haven for curious minds and bibliophiles alike. (LM)
58 MIDAS FALL GOLDEN YEAR
Scottish prog-rock duo Midas Fall (Elizabeth Heaton and Rowan Burn) released their third album Evaporate, played Robert Smith’s Meltdown and won the Limelight award at the Progressive Music Awards. ‘It’s got to a point where it’s constantly moving; it’s been a very busy year,’ admits Burn. (HN)
57 JENNY SAVILLE BODY ARTIST
The illustrious Glasgow School of Art alumna led the pack in the third instalment of NOW at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art. For those who measure things i nancially, in October Saville became the highest-selling living female artist when Sotheby’s witnessed the sale of ‘Propped’, her 1992 self-portrait, for £8.25m. (BD)
56 THE SPOOK SCHOOL SCARILY TALENTED
A unique and vital proposition in the world of Scottish music, the Spook School explore gender, sexuality and queer issues through rousing, anthemic slabs of guitar pop. Their third album, Could it Be Different?, was a popular inclusion on the Scottish Album of the Year longlist. (CA)
55 RIBEKA ELECTRONIC ARTIST
One of the most hard-working young i gures in Scottish electronic music, Becky Marshall is a freelance producer (including for the dance element of the Rip it Up exhibition) and an A&R for Mute Records. As Ribeka, DJ and co-founder of Glasgow’s So Low night, her reputation is on the rise. (DP)
IN MEMORY Craig Angus and Kelly Apter rel ect on two inspiring creative i gures who sadly died in 2018
SCOTT HUTCHISON The passing of Scott Hutchison in May was felt not only within the Scottish artistic community but the world over. There were those who’d sought consolation or found joy in his music, those who’d enjoyed the cathartic experience of a Frightened Rabbit live show, and those who’d been fortunate enough to meet this kind, generous and humorous man in person. The ten-year anniversary tour of the
band’s seminal album The Midnight Organ Fight back in March, was a timely reminder of Hutchison’s powers. Concluding with a completely sold-out show at Glasgow’s O2 Academy, it was a dei ant victory lap for one of the landmark Scottish albums. The band had gone from small clubs to festival headline shows in the decade since its release, and deserved this moment in front of thousands. There were some sore throats (and hangovers) the following day. It was a year that also brought the i rst
Mastersystem album, Dance Music, a collaboration between Hutchison and his brother Grant, and James and Justin Lockey, and one that had promised more Neu! Reekie! output. We end the year grieving for the loss of a great man, but grateful for his gifts and his time on earth. (CA)
JANIS CLAXTON Ask anyone in the dance community to tell you a story about Janis Claxton, and chances are they’ll have one. I have my own fond memories, from Janis inviting me to spend two hours inside an enclosure at Edinburgh Zoo during her fascinating 2011 Fringe show, Enclosure 99: Humans, to our respectful and witty exchange when she demanded to know why I hadn’t given her show the i ve stars she felt it deserved. That forthright manner ensured her
voice was heard, in particular during her i ght to get more female choreographers into company repertoires. But what really spoke volumes was her clever and beautiful choreography. Since relocating to Scotland in 2005, Janis gifted us with a wide range of works, such as her gorgeous 2013 piece, Chaos & Contingency and her i nal work, POP-UP Duets (fragments of love) which found couples springing up in public places all over the world, introducing newcomers to dance.
Whether she was dancing, choreographing, producing or speaking, Janis imbued everything with a strength and passion, and everyone who has a story to tell about her will mourn her loss. (KA)
1 Nov 2018–31 Jan 2019 THE LIST 27