From AL Kennedy to Lorraine Kelly, lemmings in distress to 24 hour bakeries, culture in Dundee is more than Desperate Dan and cow pie

In five words

Design, change, Scooby snacks … teckle.



Sound of the city

Lemmings in distress. It was Dundee where the potential to turn lemmings purple before killing them on your desktop PC was first realised. The same deviant minds at Rockstar Games then created Grand Theft Auto – the game, not the crime. Now Dundee is home to dozens of developers, making everything from Minecraft to games that fight cancer as you play.

Everyone’s tuning into …

Sadly, the days of Dundee’s optimistically niche independent music TV station Channel Six and its diet of former Stephen Malkmus (of Pavement fame) videos has long gone.



Best venue

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Reading Rooms, where not a lot of reading goes on... Photograph: Reading Rooms

Housed inside a former library, The Reading Rooms has been the hipster’s choice since before there were such things at hipsters. The best night out in Dundee and a fantastically intimate venue for live music.

Who’s top of the playlist?

Model Aeroplanes signed to Island Records last year and are expected to go over the top soon but keep an eye on The Mirror Trap, who have just completed their fourth album and could he heading for big things in 2016.



Best local artist

Novelist AL Kennedy is so Dundee she wrote a Doctor Who book and set it in the weirdest, most alien place she could image: Arbroath.

Best cultural Instagram account

DLove Dundee is, seemingly, never home. Luckily she has a great eye for pics.



What’s the big talking point?

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The new onshore location of the Victoria and Albert Museum at Dundee Waterfront. Photograph: V&A

The V&A. Construction work on the waterfront museum, first announced nine years ago, is now proceeding apace. Its cost may have rocketed from £45 million to over £80 million but it has already changed the way people view Dundee. More importantly, it’s transformed the way Dundonians think about their own city.



What does Dundee do better than anywhere else?

Reinvention. Scotland’s fourth city has often been seen as a poor relation to Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen but has fashioned an entirely new identity for itself – and is finally taking advantage of its stunning location. Not that it’s frightened to celebrate its past, or the glories of a 24 hour bakery dishing out sustenance to clubbers on their way home.



Comedy gold

Paul Pirie isn’t quite a hit yet but should be. He’s gone from hustling gigs in Dundee to one of Scotland’s funniest stand-ups. Even with the wild man beardy look he is currently sporting.

Moment in history

Sure, The Beatles and Frank Sinatra played The Caird Hall and the Emperor from Star Wars (the prequels anyway) calls Dundee home but this disco/funk band from the 70s pretty much sums Dundee up – anything goes so long as it’s good. And, the drummer Howie is a genuine local legend who can often be spotted DJing around town. Or jamming with the city’s in-house zydeco band, Boogalusa.

Best street art

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Lorraine watches over the city’s amateur footballers ... Photograph: Stefan Morkis

Dundee is famous for the grounds of its two professional teams – Dundee and Dundee United – standing just yards apart but there’s an even more interesting pitch nearby: the DFM park is a council run pitch surrounded by stunning graffiti work … and even a portrait of the city’s adopted daughter, Lorraine Kelly.



From me

Stefan Morkis is lead reporter for The Courier, a regional daily paper published in Dundee. He’s originally from Fife but likes it here now. Follow him @CS_Morkis.



Five to follow

Dan McDaid

Teckle books

Alfie Pound

Creative Dundee

Fat Goth