The Skinny Current Issue

This month’s theme of nostalgia evolved through a combination of pitches and releases and the general overarching feeling that things used to be generally better and less fucking awful at some point in the past. To quote the AI that answered my Google search without my consent, ‘People can feel nostalgic at any point in life, but it often intensifies during transitional periods, like adolescence or when facing difficult times.’ Transitional periods like e.g. the end of days.

Film editor Jamie reminisces about the magic of discovering cinema through terrestrial TV in the 80s and 90s, with the late night Moviedrome series presenting cult films introduced by filmmaker Alex Cox. He meets the man himself to discuss the series’ return irl to the British Film Institute on the Southbank, with a collection of Moviedrome films, including a new short documentary about the series, also available to stream on the BFI Player.

Sensing that the Scottish nostalgia levels are currently perilously high, one writer unpacks the boom in throwback club nights and music. A new book, Glasgow’s Greatest Hits, tells the story of the city’s music scene – we meet author Fiona Shepherd to reminisce about gigs and venues past.

As Lorde’s fourth album, Virgin, is released, Anahit takes a dive into her back catalogue with a personal reflection on the tension between pleasure and limitation at her music’s core. We meet Gwenno, also in a reflective mood as she examines her past and present ahead of the release of her latest album, Utopia.

A writer who works in dementia care offers a fascinating insight into how nostalgia for music can connect patients with their memories, with the right track from the right period in their lives offering the opportunity to unlock their past selves, albeit temporarily. We meet Hudson Mohawke to reminisce about Glasgow’s 00s club scene as he returns from LA for a packed out Numbers showcase.

Books talks to American poet Sasha Debevec-McKenney, whose collection Joy Is My Middle Name navigates the tragedy and comedy of both past and present, while novelist Saima Begum discusses giving voice to a long-silenced period of Bangladeshi history in her debut, The First Jasmines. Intersections takes a walk through Scotland’s languishing regional shopping centres, and feels a sense of longing for times past.

We meet Climate Camp Scotland to learn more about their work reclaiming green space and building an inclusive climate justice movement. As comedy night Abnormally Funny People celebrates its 20th birthday, we talk to some of the comics whose careers have been shaped by the showcase.

Speaking of showcases, we’ve got reviews from this year’s art school graduate showcases (degree shows) in Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Theatre looks forward to the Brian Cox-starring Make It Happen, which premieres this month in Dundee Rep before making a move to the Edinburgh International Festival.

As we go to print, CCA is in absolute crisis, with their senior management having escalated their response to a peaceful protest to such a degree it is difficult to see how the organisation can return. Curator Shalmali Shetty offers a considered reflection on Alia Syed's solo exhibition, The Ring in the Fish, which is currently locked within the building.

We close with The Skinny On… C Duncan, who’s marking the tenth anniversary of the release of Architect with a show in Stirling. He too is on reflective form, remembering times when Chris Martin wasn’t rubbish, and his own youth soundtracking a ‘terrible, cryptic, pseudo intellectual garbage play’ on the Edinburgh Fringe.