STATE OF THE ARTS FEATURE
ONE DOVE
If media goodwill were enough to catapult a group" to superstardom. Glaswegian trio One Dove would have been circling Ursa Major for the past year. The sounds emanating from the collective conscience of Jim McKinven (chief songwriting dude). Ian Carmichael (technical co-ordinator) and Dot Allison (sultry vocalist) have been hailed as glacial caresses. fragrant bubblebath and sundry other intangibles. They may inhabit the
electronic dreampop realm. or they may
inhabit a little fluffy cloud. but still they elude the public imagination. A six- album deal with the Boys Own label suggests we're not the only ones with our fingers crossed.
PAGE AND PARK
Architects David Page and Brian Park (now joined by two other partners) have a feel for context. a flair for design and a commitment to quality as can be seen in their award winning Italian Centre in Glasgow's Merchant City. Here careful conservation of the exterior classical elevation is combined with contemporary. classically inspired treatment of the carved out interior courtyard. The practice‘s concem with the integration of an and architecture is illustrated well in its use of three sculptors to enliven both space and facade. In contrast. their Arran Reception Centre at Brodick Castle is a
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TQM.
One Dove’s not Allison
suitably modest building rich in detail which combines traditional elements of slate roof and ha-ha with innovative use of steel and glass.
EDUARDO PAOLOZZI
Officially the Queen‘s Sculptor in Scotland. Paolozzi prefers to think of himself as ‘an unfashionable surrealist‘.
An early proponent of Pop Art. he is particularly interested in man‘s relationship with machinery and in the ! ‘primitive‘ rituals ofthe city. Paolozzi l was born in Leith into an Itan-Scots 1 family of ice—cream makers and paid tribute to his background in 199]. when be created the huge bronze foot and ’ hand outside St Mary's cathedral at the top of Leith Walk. Favourite films: Metropolis and Bladerunner. Best quote: ‘Art is a long word which can be I stretched‘.
PRIMAI. SCREAM Primal Scream are the anti-Fish. Formed in the early 80s as a reaction
against the smugness redolent in their native Glasgow, they were on the first shuttle outta Scotland the minute their whimsical guitar pop had raked in enough pennies. Since then The Scream (an anachronistic soubriquet adopted by lead gimp Bobby Gillespie) have been gainfully employed convincing us that they hail from. firstly California. and latterly the Mississippi delta. Not so much betraying their influences as waving a billboard eulogising their heroes (The Stones. The Stones. Can. and The Stones). Gillespie‘s gang have pulled off the dual coup of selling their souls to roek’n‘roll and gaining muchos critical respect.
EDDI READER
Oh RCA. woe is you. You had in your hands this contrary anist possessed of a fluent and heady album and attracting positive plaudits by the dungaree—ful. And you drop her. Fair enough. Mir Mama was never going to lead a frontal assault on the charts. inspire a host of underground neo-folkbuskers. and launch the search for ‘the new Eddi Reader’. But Mir Mama did breathe and rattle in ajoyous. natural way that owed little to the perfectly-rounded popness of Fairground Attraction. And Eddi Reader was and remains a grinning. spinning. giddying voice and persona. She will return.
JULIE ROBERTS
Roberts, who left Glasgow School of Art in 1990 has her first show at the Centre for Contemporary Arts in 1992 which created considerable interest and led to a group exhibition in London. Recently her work has been bought by
the Saatchi Collection — a rare and usually propitious accolade. Roberts' paintings are all of hospital and surgical equipment. painted in so meticulous a manner as to be rather disturbing. The i disconcerting effect is underlined by l the fact that these objects usually I occupy only a small part of the canvas, : the rest of which is painted thickly in ; one bright colour. Roberts’ next 3 exhibition is at Interim An. London. in May.
rock and pop — melodies. riffs and the like — to staunch dancetloor rhythms. and carry this over into a club environment (their London club Synergy reinvented the parameters of live performance). However. their career has thrown up a mass of contradictions — who else would spend years advocating the imaginative and controlled use of psychedelics then issue something as crass as ‘Iibeneezer Goode'. the raver‘s answer to the terrace anthem?
SLAM
Hey. more a way of life than an umbrella term for DJs ()rde Meikle and Stuart MacMiIlan plus ancillary players like their Soma record label and thrusting house maestros Rejuvenation. Slam function as a creative collective from an atmospheric villa tucked away somewhere in Glasgow‘s West Iind. but the hub of their operations are the clubs run by ()rde and Stuart. In addition to the veteran Atlantis at the Sub Club. Slam Loco at The Arches is an oasis in the techno desert for discriminating ravers. Plus they‘ve guest DJed further afield in. . . ooh. lots of places. Arbiters of hip. the hand that holds the trend barometer. etc.
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ELAINE 8. SMITH
Best known as Mary Nesbitt playing opposite the inimitable Rab C. and also the one on the low-budget milk adverts with Helen Lederer. Iilaine C. Smith is an accomplished stage and TV comedy
actor who cut her teeth with Wildcat.
starred in The .S'Ieamie and established
THE SRAMEN
herself as a regular with the BBC
; Scotland Comedy Unit. A committed left-winger. feminist and sometime
Evening Times columnist. Smith is now
keen to repay her dues to the theatre by
establishing Scotland‘s first women‘s
company after her imminent tour of Shirley Valentine.
Always one to trumpet his group’s vanguard calling. Colin Angus. The Shamen‘s only constant over their seven year existence and now their only , Scottish member. has more cause than most for self-celebration. Hejustifiably extols their ability to weld the stuff of
The List 26 February:l ihiwarch I993 15