T H E
50 OPTIMO CLUB CLASS
Twitch and Wilkes are still a force on the club scene, even though their famed Halloween party (Espookio) came to an end in 2015. The former’s labels Optimo Music, Optimo Trax and Autonomous Africa were also responsible for some of Scotland’s i nest club tracks of the year. (DP)
49 IDLEWILD BUSY BOYS
Starting 2015 with an acclaimed new album, Everything Ever Written went on the road, including a triumphant T in the Park return. The lads will raise a glass to their year as part of the sold-out Concert in the Gardens lineup for Edinburgh’s Hogmanay. (BD)
48 JOHN HODGE LIVING STRONG
Screenwriter John Hodge helped cause a stir at the London Film Festival with The Program, a feature i lm about Lance Armstrong starring Ben Foster as the disgraced cyclist. And, if the rumours are to be believed, next up for him is Trainspotting 2 too. . . (BD)
47 JOE DOUGLAS BOOK BOSS
46 JOHN AND ZINNIE HARRIS ROSY PARTNERS
Together at last, husband (artistic director of Red Note Ensemble) and wife (dynamic playwright) made The Garden a rare treat. Their intelligent opera matched serious themes in a terse libretto with a challenging yet eloquent score, all performed live. (GKV)
45 JACKMASTER NUMBERS MAN
Jack Revill remains one of Scotland’s most exciting and prolii c DJs. In a hectic 2015, he’s played dozens of dates across Europe and the Americas, including a 24-hour period in September which took in Numbers in Glasgow, the EH1 festival at Ingliston and its Edinburgh aftershow. (DP)
44 AIZLE
SEASONAL DELIGHTS This Edinburgh Southside restaurant picked up one of our Eating & Drinking Guide Newcomer Awards in April, and has continued to be the capital’s most talked-about dining spot among those seeking inventive interpretations of seasonal Scottish ingredients. (DR)
43 SPOOK SCHOOL GHOST BUSTERS
gender identity and sexuality via triumphant pop. (KS)
42 WHITE PALE RIDERS
Don’t hold some of their numbers’ former membership of Kassidy against them; Leo Condie’s RCA-signed new group are excellent. With their dizzying charge of disco-soaked callbacks to the Associates, Roxy Music and Franz Ferdinand, 2015 was a triumph and 2016 could go one better. (DP)
41 LARRY DEAN OUTSTANDING WIT
The former Scottish Comedian of the Year made a memorable full Fringe debut with Out Now!, a show about revealing his sexuality but also a rich dissection of Dean’s own family. Those comedy award judges were impressed enough to give him a spot on the Best Newcomer shortlist. (BD) ) (
4 7
Young director Douglas has emerged as a name to watch in the past year. Following on from 2012’s Educating Ronnie, which he wrote and performed, his work with Utter (including topical Fringe success Bloody Trams) champions a populist, story-led theatre that is witty and political. (GKV) After catching Rolling Stone’s attention, Spook School exploded onto the scene e with their ‘breezily cheerful, sometimes dramatic, always steeped in the best traditions of their nation’s indie history’ debut album Trying to be Cheerful. The band won our hearts by tackling
I
P H O T O © M C H A E L W O O D
43
SUPPORTED BY 34 THE LIST 5 Nov 2015–4 Feb 2016