As is customary in these parts we like to share with you our annual picks of all things cultural.  So here’s our take on 2008.
Firstly, our favourite books featured two by Cormac McCarthy with Mark choosing The Road and Pete, No Country For Old Men, Iain plumped for one of the Wallander series of books; [...]

Us middle-aged men love Elbow (the Spanish Archer…El Bow?  Gettit?).
Probably because they sing about middle-aged man things.
At one point on The Seldom Seen Kid Guy Grieve, in declaring his perhaps unrequited love, in Starlings sings
“You are the only thing in any room you’re ever in
I’m stubborn, selfish and too old.”
and …
“So yes I guess I’m [...]

We’ve been busy recruiting in January and here’s some of the new positions that we are in the process of filling.
A Head Teacher for one of Capability Scotland’s schools…

A Telephone Sales Executive position for The Scotsman Publications.

Plus a whole host of positions for Edinburgh Leisure. In fact this was a cracking wee ad because The [...]

 
 
Hey there pop pickers – here, for what it’s worth, is my top ten from the past year:

Funny Hat, Stephen Fretwell. Album: Man on the Roof.   
Killing the Blues, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss. Album: Raising Sand  
Daddy’s Gone, Glasvegas. Album: N/A   
Last to Die, Bruce Springsteen. Album: Magic  
Alone in the Make-out Room, The Broken Family Band. Album: [...]

The inaugural 60 Watt best of 2007 poll has been conducted and these are the results.
Best Movie

A tight fought thing between Atonement and Last King of Scotland, but the award has to go to Atonement because Last King was, strictly speaking, a 2006 movie although most of us saw it in 2007.
These were closely followed [...]

 
Yup, there’s no doubting they’re from Glasgow all right. Unsigned at present but that can’t be for long. A band with a great future. Saw them at Cabaret Voltaire on Friday and even though they were on for only forty minutes they were immense. A rockabilly sort of band playing a sort of Elvis, [...]

This is a marriage made in heaven by Rock Legend Robert Plant (Mr Led Zep himself) and The Queen of Bluegrass, magnificently produced by T Bone Burnett.
Should it work? Dunno?
Does it work. Oh yes. Oh yes indeedy.
It’s 13 tracks of magnificence. Probably running out as the crtitics’ choice for album of the year when the [...]

Not much has cut through of late and recent purchases have been a bit disappointing but suddenly, like buses, two come along at once. I am a staunch Richard Hawley fan so with his much anticipated fourth release, Lady’s Bridge, hitting the record Shops in August I was down there like a rat up [...]