Mendelssohn on Mull: Festival marks 25th anniversary
This year’s Mendelssohn on Mull (MOM) Festival marks the 25th anniversary of an event that has quietly but effectively nurtured young string playing talent and turned the rawest recruits into...
View ArticleLeo Blanco rings in new album
When its chimes impinged on his recording session in an old theatre in his hometown high in the Venezuelan Andes, pianist Leo Blanco asked not for whom the bell tolled, but played on regardless....
View ArticleEmpire of the Sun on new album Ice On The Dune
WHEN Luke Steele of Aussie indie rockers the Sleepy Jackson joined forces with fellow Antipodean Nick Littlemore of electronica duo Pnau to create the widescreen Empire of the Sun, the plan wasn’t...
View ArticleJoyce McMillan: The true value of Licketyleap project
Once upon a time, there were two young girls called Margaret. One of the Margarets was brave and bold, ready for any adventure; the other was timid, and a bit apprehensive.But even timid Margaret...
View ArticleArtist Ilana Halperin reflects on the scientific and the personal
HOW do you mark significant birthdays? I’ve been known to have a drink or two. Others are a little bit more adventurous.When she reached 30, the artist Ilana Halperin travelled to the Icelandic island...
View ArticleAlbum reviews: Deap Vally | Tom Odell | Classical | Jazz
This raucous LA duo, formed after an unlikely meeting in a crochet class, aspire to the amped-up superfuzz blues punk sound of the White Stripes and the Black Keys with a twist of Runaways-style bad...
View ArticleBook review: The Physician of Sanlucar by Jonathan Falla
A runaway doctor, his married mistress, her gay-leaning husband, noble tribes-people: these, plus the craggy, rubble-strewn Patagonian wilderness, and a villain of Scottish extraction, are the...
View ArticleMervyn King: ‘Banks sought to pressure ministers’
SIR Mervyn King fired a parting shot at banks yesterday as he attacked lenders for their intense political lobbying against tougher balance sheet rules.In his last appearance in front of MPs on the...
View ArticleBook review: Firefly by Janette Jenkin
An old man sits by the pool by the cottage to which he retreats from his grander house in Jamaica. He has heart trouble and no appetite, though he still smokes and drinks brandy (also Coca-Cola and...
View ArticleLiberty asks for inquiry into claims of net spying
A LEADING civil liberties group has requested a formal investigation into whether British intelligence services unlawfully accessed its communications.Liberty said it had lodged a claim with the...
View ArticleBook review: Distance And Memory by Peter Davidson
A moving meditation on northern landscape and culture fascinates Stuart KellyDistance And Memoryby Peter DavidsonCarcanet, 178pp, £14.95This is one of those gloriously unclassifiable books; part...
View ArticleBooks: Absolutely fabulous 10th anniversary treat at Melrose
Let’s give Sir Walter Scott the benefit of the doubt: perhaps the best way to see Melrose is indeed by moonlight, alone and at midnight, and that there really isn’t as sad or fair a sight as the ruined...
View ArticleUnusual finances at Adam Smith College probed
A SERIES of financial irregularities including the “systemic overclaiming” of staff time and unusual severance payments have been uncovered at one of Scotland’s largest colleges. Adam Smith College in...
View ArticlePlans for pre-referendum Holyrood shutdown slammed
THE Scottish Government has come under fire over plans to “close down parliament” for a month in the build-up to next year’s independence referendum. The proposals are likely to be pushed through at...
View ArticleDoctors baffled as C.diff jumps between hospitals
AN INVESTIGATION has failed to identify how a deadly outbreak of Clostridium difficile was able to spread between two Scottish hospitals.Health officials are still in the dark about how a third patient...
View ArticleUK ‘will fail to hit emissions targets’
THE UK faces missing key targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions through the 2020s, a new report has warned.There are “significant risks” that earlier progress in reducing emissions has now stalled,...
View ArticleMaths Higher dumbed down, says ex-chief examiner
PRESSURE is growing on education secretary Mike Russell to investigate concerns over this year’s Higher mathematics exam, amid claims the paper was dumbed down.The criticism from Clive Chamber, a...
View ArticleLabour put in special measures for Eric Joyce vote
Labour has put its Falkirk constituency party under “special measures” after an internal report raised concerns over the selection of a candidate for the next general election.A new candidate will now...
View ArticleScots ‘leaving school with more qualifications’
RECENT statistics released by the Scottish Government indicate that pupils are leaving school with more qualifications and better prospects.Figures show that 89.5 per cent of those who left school in...
View ArticleConcert review: Music for a Summer Evening, Kirkwall
IF THE concert’s title brings to mind something laid-back and easy-going, George Crumb’s piece of that name unequivocally makes the case for thinking again.Music for a Summer EveningSt Magnus...
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