Kevin Macdonald's The Last King Of Scotland was the film sensation of the month. Forest Whitaker made a scarily good Idi Amin, and James McAvoy stepped up a gear from Mr Tumnus in The Chronicles Of Narnia to play the naive Scottish doctor. Ballads Of
The Book was a genius collaboration between musicians including Karine Polwart, left, King Creosote and Roddy Woomble, and writers such as Edwin Morgan, Ali Smith, and Michel Faber. In the second week of January, we waffled on about it being one of the best albums of the year. Thankfully, it turned out we were right. Oh, and people started whispering about a camp, curly-topped popster called Mika...
FEBRUARYRussell Brand, above, did a top job hosting the Brits live for the first time since 1989, with ITV receiving hundreds of complaints thanks to his potty mouth. Amy Winehouse – then still in the innocent pre-Blake Fielder-Civil days – put in a top-notch performance of 'Rehab', and won Best Female, with Arctic Monkeys taking Best Album. David Mackenzie's Hallam Foe, from the novel by former Scotland on Sunday reporter Peter Jinks, premiered in Berlin, where it won the Silver Bear for Best Music courtesy of Franz Ferdinand's number. Notes On A Scandal, released at the start of the month and also about obsessive desire, proved a much better British flick. We were chuffed to see the Kelvingrove, left, on the longlist for the Gulbenkian prize. We weren't so pleased when the Mika album came out and we realised 'Grace Kelly' was its only great track.
MARCHScotland basked in the glare of publicity as the Edinburgh International Festival hit play Black Watch by Gregory Burke headed off on tour to Scotland, London and the States, and Calvin Harris became hot stuff (the Kylie Minogue connection). A bunch of Brazilian nutters called CSS launched themselves onto the electro-new-wave-global-supercool scene, with their hedonistic album, Cansei De Ser Sexy. Acts from Paulo Nutini to The Twilight Sad went over to the crucial American showcase South by South West in Austin, Texas, where La Winehouse, above, shocked everyone by staying sober!
APRIL Travis' album, The Boy With No Name, came out and the band returned to Glasgow for the first time since 2005 to play to lots and lots of very emotional men. The line-up for Scotland's new boutique festival, Connect, was announced and we wept with joy at the mention of one word: Bjork (left). Tartan Week in NYC was once again accused of being a gravy train, and the list of Scottish talent wasn't exactly awe-inspiring (Sandi Thom?). But the Arctic Monkeys album, one of the most anticipated of the year, didn't disappoint.
MAYThe spate of summer threequels started early with Spider-Man 3, left, but we were more excited at the prospect of Control, Anton Corbijn's Joy Division biopic, which went down a storm at Cannes and introduced the world to Sam Riley. Bjork's 'dance' album, Volta, was not as packed full of top tunes as we had hoped, despite Timbaland's involvement, but it grew on us. Andrew Marr's History Of Modern Britain and accompanying television series beat the socks off, well, everything.
JUNEThe announcement that legendary miserablists Jesus and Mary Chain, right, were reforming and were set to play their first Scottish gig in a decade at Connect was met with whoops of joy. New Young Pony Club furthered the nu-rave myth with the release of their album, prompting more people to scratch their heads and ask what exactly this glowstick movement actually was. Franz Ferdinand, left, played two storming gigs at Glasgow's Grand Ole Opry, showcasing new songs, and The Outsider festival in Rothiemurchus featured KT Tunstall and Crowded House and proved that you could mix music, an older crowd, and a beautiful Highland setting with an environmental message.
JULY Amy Winehouse never showed up to T in the Park – she said she was "exhausted" but this was thought to be a euphemism for "in the Hawley Arms" – and the weather was biblical, but Scotland's favourite festival, which for the first time took place over three days, was still a success. Though Back To Black should have taken the Mercury Prize, we were still pleased for the Klaxons. The biggest event of the month, though, was the publication of a children's book. The seventh and final instalment of the Harry Potter series had everyone speculating over whether the hero would snuff it. Of course, he lives on...
AUGUSTHere goes with the Festival… Julie Delpy and John Waters came to Edinburgh for Hannah McGill's first Film Festival. Over at EIF, it was all about early music and avant-garde collaborations with dons such as Lee Breuer, the Wooster Group and even the Tiger Lilies bringing work to Edinburgh. We weren't sure about Jardins Publics, the art strand of EIF, though. The Fringe was bigger than ever, with more than 2,000 shows, and the big established venues, such as Assembly, struggled to get bums on seats. Brendan Burns was the comedian du jour, and Fuerzabruta, left, was the most expensive, and thrilling ticket on the Fringe, but ultimately it was the smaller, and, ahem, less serious shows such as Eurobeat, The Sound Of Music Drag Show and Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea that were the big hits.
SEPTEMBERConnect was a blast, with performances from Björk, Primal Scream, and MIA being just some of the highlights. The Proclaimers, below, released Life With You, proving that they could still make an instant classic after 20 years in the business, and we were delighted by the return of Edwyn Collins, above. David Shrigley's Ants Have Sex In Your Beer was as good as everything the doodler does, and Atonement was the British film of the year, proving that 2007 was all about James McAvoy. Britney looked like she'd never encountered a stage before when performing 'Gimme More' at the MTV Video Music Awards.
OCTOBERRadiohead released In Rainbows as a digital download with customers choosing their own price, The Sugababes' fifth album, Change, came out and was much more interesting than the tired old rumours that the bitches brew was once again being stirred. The pairing of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss for Raising Sand was genius. Anne Enright won the Booker for The Gathering, which seemed the least interesting choice. The Bafta committee in London refused to put forward Seachd, left, the first Gaelic feature film to be given a distribution deal, for Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. Shame on them! Tragically, screen goddess Deborah Kerr died, the star of Black Narcissus and The King And I.
NOVEMBERElizabeth: The Golden Age was disappointing, as was Lions For Lambs despite the A-list powerhouse of Robert Redford, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise. Like Rendition and A Mighty Heart, Lions For Lambs went in for too much fence-sitting, trying to please both liberals and patriots. We were none too impressed by the Bafta Scotland Awards, only including one woman on the list for Best Actress. La Winehouse, topping off a rollercoaster year, called off all gigs and public appearances for the remainder of 2007. Meanwhile, Kylie, left, released X and it was deemed a bit devoid of emotion. What were you expecting?
DECEMBERThe Golden Compass was the big event, and though it boasted a fantastic performance from newcomer Dakota Blue Richards, it wasn't quite as magical as hoped. Mark Wallinger, left, won the Turner Prize – held outside London for the first time – and the nation fell in love with BBCs period confection, Cranford.
