Face
Robert Carlyle is back on the wrong side of the law in this new crime thriller by Antonia Bird, who previously directed him in the monosyllabic Priest and Safe. As political activist turned gang leader Ray, Carlyle gives a troubled, violent performance, aided by Blur’s own Damon Albarn. It’s a bloody business but then there always was something Macbeth-like about honest Hamish.
Face is on general release from Fri 26 Sep. See review, page 28.
Cindy Cummings
'The fools!’ It says here. ’They did not succeed to grasp a spirit without peer, an insubstantial reality.’ The lines are taken from a translation of ’Sfioncs’, a poem in Irish Gaelic by Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill. The poem forms the basis of a show by Dublin- based American performance artist Cindy Cummings celebrating ’adaptability and strength'. As part of the CCA’s Vent The Pent season of Irish live art, Cummings performs Sfioncs; plus Skookum, a short, improvisational trilogy of 'scapes’ exploring ’real and imagined history’ and the positive potential of exploitation. A former visitor to Glasgow for the New Moves dance festival, Cummings has a reputation for work that is sharp, stark and strangely beguiling.
Cindy Cummings performs Sfioncs on Thu 9 Oct and Skookum on Sat 7 7 Oct, both at the CCA, Glasgow. The Vent The Pent season continues until Sat 18 Oct.
The Gravediggaz
Here comes yet another strand of x” the American hip hop phenomenon ' that is the Wu Tang Clan. The Gravediggaz' second album The Pick, The Sickle and The Shovel is produced by Wu mainman RZA With jUnIOf Wu members 4th DISClple and Truemaster. In keeping with the Wu SOUnd, the album is undercut by heavy beats and an eerie darkness. Don’t be fooled though. Despite scoring high on the scare-ometer With their first album Niggamortis (kickstarting the short- lived and rather surreal 'horrorcore' hip hop scene), the 'Diggaz are here to educate rather than rant and rave. 'When we first came out we were broadcasting to you live from the cocoon and the ghetto situation we lived in,' says rapper Poetic (aka Grym Reaper). 'This record is all about our transition from the cocoon state, because we've busted through and there’s all this light coming in and we’re emerging as beautiful creatures. Beautiful black butterflies' (Jim Byers)
Gravediggaz’ new album The Pick, The Sick/e And The Shovel (Gee Street) is out now.
All the best
All these wonderful events have placed a song on our lips and joy in our hearts.
Clubs: Aquaplanet An In The City special at the Subby, which takes advantage of Glasgow's love affair with Detroit techno to bring three of the world’s finest 015 to town. Established giants Derrick May (above) and Blake Baxter are joined by new boy Claude Young at what is sure to be a funky and totally soulful night to remember. See preview, page 75. Glasgow: Sub Club, Sun 28 Sep. Books: Norman Mailer The grand old man of American letters courts controversy with his latest novel, The Gospel According To The Son. This account of the life of Christ, narrated by a voice taken by many to be Mailer’s own, stirred up a W.A.S.P.’s nest when published in the States. See book events and feature. The Gospel According To The Son, published by Abacus at f 74.
Books: Martin Amis Following the huge hype surrounding his last novel The Information, Amis hits back with a short sharp thriller, Night Train. Seen through the eyes of a butch female cop called Mike, this is Amis’s take on the neo-noir genre. See book events and feature. Night Train, published by Jonathan Cape at £70. 99 on Thu 2 Oct.
Music: City Of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra Sir Simon Rattle and the C850 kick off the Concert Hall's International Series with Mahler's Symphony No 3 and Ades’s Asy/a. Glasgow: Royal Concert Hall, Thu 9 Oct.
Theatre: The Misanthrope Sparkling update of the Moliere cIaSSic, which freely adapts both the verse and the characters, setting it in the vapid world of late 20th century media. Surrounded by agents, critics, actresses and elegant wasters, overly Sincere Alceste is driven to distraction. An audacious debut for Borderline Theatre Company‘s new artistic director Leslie Finlay. See reView, page 60. Touring.
Film: The Sweet Hereafter Atom Egoyan's movmg, delicate portrait of a small community coming to terms With the death of a group of school children is one of the year’s best films. British actor Ian Holm is magnificent in this complex character study. See feature. Glasgow: Film Theatre," Edinburgh: Filmhouse, from Fri 26 Sep.
26 Sep—9 Oct 1997 THE U815