Festivals, fundraisers and launch parties populate the Scottish music scene this October – plus, punk lovers should keep an eye out for some "queer and silly" Halloween shows www.theskinny.co.uk/music/live-m...

Halloween is here - time to awaken your inner beast. Top clubbing picks across the country include Optimo, Mungo's HiFi, Avalon Emerson, Pariah, and Bounce 101 🪩🎃

In theatre this month, Edinburgh Fringe First winner BATSHIT comes to @traversetheatre.bsky.social, and queer, live-welding performance IMPACT DRIVER arrives at @fruitmarket.bsky.social www.theskinny.co.uk/theatre/show...

"Brings a tumbling, welcome chaos" Every track on LISTLESS – the new album by out Dania this Friday – was written after midnight; read our review

"You don’t need me to tell you that this is the greatest venue in the world" Reunited leftfielders THE BETA BAND played the Barrowlands Ballroom last week – read our review

"Bassline so thick you can feel it crawling on your skin" Idlewild's tenth, self-named album is out this Friday – read our ★★★★ review

For the 20th anniversary edition of The Skinny, we've dragged classic comedy feature BRAW OR NAW out of the archives. One of 2025's Kings of Scottish comedy – @macarthurboyd.bsky.social – tries it on for size

The Scottish International Storytelling Festival turns to the north this year, with a programme of events inspired by Nordic traditions. Elsewhere, there are launches at @portybooks.bsky.social, @lighthousebks.bsky.social, and more 📚

We take a closer look at this year’s Black History Month Scotland, a vibrant programme of events which centres acts of solidarity – both historical and contemporary www.theskinny.co.uk/intersection... @crer-scotland.bsky.social

NISHIKI styles itself after a Japanese izakaya – somewhere between a tapas bar and a gastropub – with small plates and plenty of sake Read our write-up of the new Edinburgh eatery 🍽️

"Replete with odd and achingly real interactions which follow you on your walk to work" Men in the Sun: And Other Palestinian Stories by Ghassan Kanafani is out next week on @versobooks.bsky.social – read our ★★★★ review

Mentions for our Dundead tour of The Phantom of the Opera and Discovery Film Festival in @theskinnymag.bsky.social's feature on Scottish Film Events in October. So much good stuff coming up!

"Tompkins invites us to lose ourselves in abstraction" Acclaimed Glasgow-based artist Hayley Tompkins brings new work – surrounding – to the Modern Institute

For our 20th birthday we're brought back The Skinny on Tour – but just where did the mag wind up? Submit your guess to be in with a chance to win a bundle of books from @charcopress.com – including a copy of Latin American feminist anthology La Lucha www.theskinny.co.uk/competitions...

"Genuinely miraculous" One of the guitar's most exciting proponents, Nina Garcia, led a ★★★★★ night of sublime and powerful noise at the Old Hairdresser's last week

October sees film festivals like @sqiff.bsky.social and @espanfilmf.bsky.social come to Scotland, plus horror movies abound on the lead-up to Halloween – and @glasgowfilmtheatre.bsky.social gets melodramatic with an epic melodrama season www.theskinny.co.uk/film/film-ev...

This Olivier-winning revival of Fiddler on the Roof strikes an impressive balance between fidelity to the cherished original and fresh, emotionally resonant reinvention

The power and beauty of the Yusuf/ Cat Stevens repertoire is undeniable – but the half-book tour, half-gig setup of his latest tour feels like a slight missed opportunity

All the Devils Are Here doesn't redefine the crime genre, but its tight pacing and terrific performances make for a fantastic ride www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-rel... [review by @CarmenChloie.bsky.social]

It's #NewMusicFriday, here's our New Scottish Music playlist – Goodnight Louisa, @emmaspollock.bsky.social, @pictishtrail.bsky.social, The Cords, corto.alto + more SPOTIFY: open.spotify.com/playlist/6r1... YOUTUBE: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

With her excellent second album Marathon out today, we catch up with Glasgow synthpop artist Goodnight Louisa for this week's new music Spotlight... www.theskinny.co.uk/music/interv... #newmusicfriday

'She's a theatrical performer, with a real pageantry to her stagecraft: balletic poses, prowling the stage, climbing up on the amps...' ★★★★ for chloe moriondo at King Tut's as her Oyster tour hits Glasgow www.theskinny.co.uk/music/live-m...

Jacob Alon, Maranta, @mogwai.scot, corto.alto and TAAHLIAH are among the 20-strong longlist for this year's Scottish Album of the Year Award www.theskinny.co.uk/music/news/s... @thesayaward.bsky.social

ALL THE DEVILS ARE HERE is a pressure cooker crime thriller (reviewed for @theskinnymag.bsky.social) www.theskinny.co.uk/film/new-rel...

"Dean encapsulates love as a multifaceted emotion, singing with passion, warmth, sincerity and intimacy" THE ART OF LOVING, the new album by Olivia Dean, is out Friday – read our ★★★★ review www.theskinny.co.uk/music/review... [Review: @rhagiwr.bsky.social]

"Lyrics are so sharp they could pierce the skin" ★★★★ album review: ALL THAT IS OVER, by SPRINTS, out this Friday – read the full review below 👇

A wry look at Carrbridge's annual contest with a cast of characters you couldn't make up. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 📽️

Patricia Lockwood's highly anticipated follow-up to No One Is Talking About This is a formal and narrative masterpiece – ★★★★★ from us, out this week on @grantabooks.bsky.social www.theskinny.co.uk/books/book-r...

'One of Biffy's most personal albums to date, cementing their status as one of the country’s most iconic bands...' Scottish rock legends Biffy Clyro return with their monumental tenth studio album, Futique

Samizdat Eastern European Film Festival is back – win tickets to screenings in Glasgow and Edinburgh on the website, closes on Thu... www.theskinny.co.uk/competitions... @glasgowfilmtheatre.bsky.social @filmhouseedinburgh.bsky.social

“The goal with this type of literature is that spark of recognition” @theskinnymag.bsky.social speaks with Glasgow author Selali Fiamanya whose debut novel BEFORE WE HIT THE GROUND is a tender & wrenching account of immigrant family dynamics 💙📚 www.theskinny.co.uk/books/featur...

Another Friday update to our New Scottish Music, SHEARS on the cover, get it on Spotify and YouTube SPOTIFY: open.spotify.com/playlist/6r1... YOUTUBE: youtube.com/playlist?lis...

'It's catharsis, levity, and pinning you down in the darkness, all at once...' Wednesday burst out of the 'indie country' boom on new album Bleeds – here's our review... www.theskinny.co.uk/music/review...

Our friends at @takeoneaction.bsky.social kick off their festival in Edinburgh this week. See the programme at www.takeoneaction.org.uk

"It would be cool if we were a stadium band, but we also love the little cult following we have at the moment... that already feels like a crazy amount of people." INTERVIEW: Scottish sunshine pop duo The Cords ☀️ www.theskinny.co.uk/music/interv... @skepwax.bsky.social @slumberlandrecords.com

"Living these experiences is the challenging part; writing about them is quite cathartic" Following the release of her latest single FEEL IT, and ahead of the release of her debut album, we catch up with Leith producer and pop artist SHEARS (@imSHEARS)

"The past versions of dwellers on that street have been recorded and we’re assured we will be too" One writer reflects on how maps can transform the places we know and love 🗺️

"You really have to search for trans history so the idea of someone just happening upon it feels really gorgeous to me" For Edinburgh Art Festival last month, Ellis Jackson Kroese collected and curated ephemera related to Scotland's trans masculine community

"We can’t wait to share our ambitious programme with you, including everything from queer heartbreak to camp horror" @sqiff.bsky.social (Scottish Queer International Film Festival) brings features, shorts, live performances, a craft fair and more to Glasgow

"An architectural labyrinth of orientation and disorientation" Last month, one writer explored three exhibitions at Edinburgh Art Festival, which are threaded together through a shared interrogation of transformed space and memory

Between lectures, parties, coursework and work-work, you’ve got a lot going on – our Student Guide looks at how cooking together with your flatmates can help build community and fuel your fun 🍲

Scotland’s heaviest festival, Core. returned to Glasgow this weekend with a healthy batch of homegrown talents and some transcendent visitors www.theskinny.co.uk/music/live-m...

Glasgow Youth Film Festival returns to @glasgowfilmtheatre.bsky.social this month with a programme that's fierce, fun and a little subversive – our preview, by @jamiedunnesq.bsky.social www.theskinny.co.uk/festivals/uk... #GYFF25

On the followup to his debut album, Reasons to Smile, Kojey Radical continues to carve out his own sound

Neo Sora takes the conventions of coming-of-age stories and infuses them with an air of dread that nonetheless doesn't sour the regular moments of joy, comedy and escapism Happyend, reviewed by @jslaterwilliams.bsky.social

Our very own @jamiedunnesq.bsky.social hosts a post-screening Q+A for Montreal drag scene drama SOLO at @filmhouseedinburgh.bsky.social tomorrow – details and tickets here: www.filmhouse.org.uk/movie/solo-qa

Thank you 🙏 🩷

Nice Cords feature in the current issue of The Skinny. Grab a copy in clubs across Scotland. And save one for us 😀 @theskinnymag.bsky.social

Our MUSIC NOW playlist is 30 tracks from across Scottish music – @riannedowney.bsky.social, Ike Goldman, @hamishhawk.bsky.social, Dancer, @malkamakesmusic.bsky.social, Saint Sappho + many more, links below 📺: www.youtube.com/playlist?lis... 🎧: open.spotify.com/playlist/6r1...

On Blurrr, Joanne Robertson's strongest and most focused work to date, she continues to build a gorgeous world of solitary melancholia www.theskinny.co.uk/music/review... @ad93rec.bsky.social