The Berkeley Suite, Glasgow Sunday June 17th 4 stars Simple Minds as proto techno pioneers? Probably not, but there’s more than a patina of future pomp stadiumistas early instrumental Theme for Great Cities in the opening few minutes of American electronicist and sometime half of the Skaters James Ferraro’s show. With Ferraro hunched over an old Korg synth, the martial rhythms that pulse his first of two extended pieces on this Braw/Cry Parrot/Shaddaz co-promoted show are a long way from the sublime jauntification of last year’s ‘Far Side Virtual’ album. This is a denser, harder sound, awash with glacial keyboard squiggles and Morriconeish chorales conjuring up a wave of analog nostalgia only for it to be pummelled into submission without mercy. Accompanied by The Bodyguard, who appears to be a dreadlocked technician enabling further sonic adventures, Ferraro goes quiet after thirty minutes, almost losing his audience to incessant chit-chat during the longeurs, before bouncing back with an abstract dub affair more akin to to his recent 'Inhale C-4 $$$$$' mixtape delivered in his Bebetune$ guise. The grandiose clatter it morphs into stretches every which way in a bouncing display of old school classicism. The List, June 2012 ends
Myra McFadyen – Actress Born January 12th 1956; died October 18th 2024 Myra McFadyen, who has died aged 68, was an actress who brought a mercurial mix of lightness and depth to her work on stage and screen. Playwright and artistic director of the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, David Greig, called McFadyen “an utterly transformative, shamanic actor who could change a room and command an audience with a blink”. Citizens’ Theatre artistic director Dominic Hill described McFadyen’s portrayal of Puck in his 2019 production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre in London as “funny, mischievous and ultimately heartbreaking.” For many, McFadyen will be most recognisable from Mamma Mia!, the smash hit musical based around ABBA songs. McFadyen spent two years on the West End in Phyllida Lloyd’s original 1999 stage production, and was in both film offshoots. Other big screen turns included Rob Roy (1995) and Our Ladies (2019), both directed by Mi...
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