Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Track Listings
| 1. SONG FOR IRENA - MIKE HERON & JOHN BURNSIDE |
| 2. STEAM COMES OFF OUR HOUSE - DE ROSA & MICHEL FABER |
| 3. A CALVINIST NARROWLY AVOIDS PLEASURE - JAMES YORKSTON & BILL DUNCAN |
| 4. DREAMCATCHER - FOXFACE & RODY GORMAN |
| 5. A SENTIMENTAL SONG - ALUN WOODWARD & ALASDAIR GRAY |
| 6. THE SIXTH STONE - AIDAN MOFFAT & IAN RANKINE |
| 7. GIRL - NORMAN BLAKE & JOHN BURNSIDE |
| 8. THE GOOD YEARS - KARINE POLWART & EDWIN MORGAN |
| 9. THE WAR ON LOVE SONG - SONS AND DAUGHTERS & A L KENNEDY |
| 10. THE LEAVING - ALISDAIR ROBERTS & ROBIN ROBERTSON |
| 11. MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE - STRIKE THE COLOURS & RODY GORMAN |
| 12. IF YOU LOVE ME YOU'D DESTROY ME - AEREOGRAMME & HAL DUNCAN |
| 13. THE REBEL ON HIS OWN TONIGHT |
| 14. HALF AN APPLE - TRASHCAN SINATRAS & ALI SMITH |
| 15. THE FIRE - VASHTI BUNYAN & RODGE GLASS |
| 16. WHERE AND WHEN - KING CREOSOTE & LAURA HIRD |
| 17. JESUS ON THE CROSS - EMMA POLLOCK & LOUISE WELSH |
| 18. THE WEIGHT OF YEARS - IDLEWILD & EDWIN MORGAN |
Product Description
About the Artist
Chemikal Underground Records are proud to announce the release, in March 2007, of Ballads Of the Book, an elaborately ambitious project featuring some of Scotland's best writers and musicians.
The brainchild of Idlewild's Roddy Woomble, Ballads Of The Book began as a simple idea to bring together the literary talents of Scotland's writing community with a diverse range of new and established recording artists. Following Idlewild's work with Edwin Morgan on their Remote Part album, Roddy wanted to explore the possibilities of more artistic collaborations with various writers providing original lyrics for recording artists to interpret in whichever way they saw fit. Having enlisted the enthusiastic support of the Scottish Arts Council and with Chemikal Underground onboard, it wasn't long before the nascent idea and fledgling list of interested parties flourished into a brilliantly realised collection of songs: as musically eclectic as they were elegantly poetic.
From the literary world, the list of those involved reads like a who's who of the great and the good in Scottish literature. The giants of Edwin Morgan and Alasdair Gray rub shoulders with cutting edge, contemporary writers like Ali Smith, A L Kennedy, Louise Welsh and Ian Rankin. Esteemed poets like Robin Robertson, Bill Duncan and Rody Gorman feature alongside successful writers and novelists like Michel Faber, Alan Bissett, Laura Hird, Rodge Glass, Hal Duncan and John Burnside.
From the musical world there is a rich collection of both established artists and upcoming, even unsigned acts. Idlewild, James Yorkston, Norman Blake, Sons And Daughters, Karine Polwart, King Creosote, Alasdair Roberts and The Trashcan Sinatras contribute tracks alongside Chemikal Underground acts Aereogramme and De Rosa. There are rare appearances from Vashti Bunyan as well as The Incredible String Band's Mike Heron as well as solo performances from Emma Pollock and Malcolm Middleton. First time incarnations also feature for ex-Arab Strap frontman Aidan Moffat (Aidan Moffat And The Best Ofs) and ex-Delgado Alun Woodward (Lord Cut-Glass) in addition to the (as-yet) unsigned talents of Strike The Colours and Foxface.
The album cover is an original, specially commissioned artwork by Alasdair Gray and the genesis of the project is the subject of a film documentary due to be broadcast by Scottish Television around the release. Live performances in support of the album are scheduled for Glasgow's Celtic Connections festival in January of next year, with additional launch events, acoustic performances and talks by the writers and musicians planned around the release also.
In short, Ballads Of The Book is an extraordinarily ambitious and original piece of work: simplistic in its origins and imaginatively executed, it's hard to imagine an album with more impeccable credentials.
The brainchild of Idlewild's Roddy Woomble, Ballads Of The Book began as a simple idea to bring together the literary talents of Scotland's writing community with a diverse range of new and established recording artists. Following Idlewild's work with Edwin Morgan on their Remote Part album, Roddy wanted to explore the possibilities of more artistic collaborations with various writers providing original lyrics for recording artists to interpret in whichever way they saw fit. Having enlisted the enthusiastic support of the Scottish Arts Council and with Chemikal Underground onboard, it wasn't long before the nascent idea and fledgling list of interested parties flourished into a brilliantly realised collection of songs: as musically eclectic as they were elegantly poetic.
From the literary world, the list of those involved reads like a who's who of the great and the good in Scottish literature. The giants of Edwin Morgan and Alasdair Gray rub shoulders with cutting edge, contemporary writers like Ali Smith, A L Kennedy, Louise Welsh and Ian Rankin. Esteemed poets like Robin Robertson, Bill Duncan and Rody Gorman feature alongside successful writers and novelists like Michel Faber, Alan Bissett, Laura Hird, Rodge Glass, Hal Duncan and John Burnside.
From the musical world there is a rich collection of both established artists and upcoming, even unsigned acts. Idlewild, James Yorkston, Norman Blake, Sons And Daughters, Karine Polwart, King Creosote, Alasdair Roberts and The Trashcan Sinatras contribute tracks alongside Chemikal Underground acts Aereogramme and De Rosa. There are rare appearances from Vashti Bunyan as well as The Incredible String Band's Mike Heron as well as solo performances from Emma Pollock and Malcolm Middleton. First time incarnations also feature for ex-Arab Strap frontman Aidan Moffat (Aidan Moffat And The Best Ofs) and ex-Delgado Alun Woodward (Lord Cut-Glass) in addition to the (as-yet) unsigned talents of Strike The Colours and Foxface.
The album cover is an original, specially commissioned artwork by Alasdair Gray and the genesis of the project is the subject of a film documentary due to be broadcast by Scottish Television around the release. Live performances in support of the album are scheduled for Glasgow's Celtic Connections festival in January of next year, with additional launch events, acoustic performances and talks by the writers and musicians planned around the release also.
In short, Ballads Of The Book is an extraordinarily ambitious and original piece of work: simplistic in its origins and imaginatively executed, it's hard to imagine an album with more impeccable credentials.
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This collection of colloborations between scottish writers and musicians really suprised me, the standard is very high with a varied collection of folk and alternative interpretations of writers poetry.
Tracks 1-13 almost run like a perfect album, the scottish accents blending in with some beautiful arrangements. The stand outs for me are the Malcolm Middleton and De Rosa tracks. One is all effects laden guitar and spoken dialogue,the other a loud,folky lament.
Dont forget the writers here too: Edwin Morgan,John Burnside,Alisdair Gray,Ian Rankin and many others deliver some fine lyrics. Rankin tells the tale of "the fifth stone" while Burnside supplies some dark and brooding material.
Organized by Idlewild frontman Roddy Woomble, this is a superb project supported by the scottish arts council and easily one of the best works of 2007 so far!.
Tracks 1-13 almost run like a perfect album, the scottish accents blending in with some beautiful arrangements. The stand outs for me are the Malcolm Middleton and De Rosa tracks. One is all effects laden guitar and spoken dialogue,the other a loud,folky lament.
Dont forget the writers here too: Edwin Morgan,John Burnside,Alisdair Gray,Ian Rankin and many others deliver some fine lyrics. Rankin tells the tale of "the fifth stone" while Burnside supplies some dark and brooding material.
Organized by Idlewild frontman Roddy Woomble, this is a superb project supported by the scottish arts council and easily one of the best works of 2007 so far!.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
I bought this after reading some of the poetry, & being interested & a fan of some of the musicians involved.
Good if you like modern Scottish folk music.
Good if you like modern Scottish folk music.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
2 reviews
Why don't we have more of this?
19 May 2012
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is for the folks that love folk. I found out about it through Idlewild, one of my favourite bands and a featured artist on this album. From the first song to the last I was just about enchanted. The skill of the writers and musicians is clearly evident every moment the album is playing. There are no weak songs, a wonderful array of styles at hand and beauty in every word. It's albums like this that make me wonder why Scotland's music is so poorly known across the globe.
0 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Ballads
12 Nov 2008
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Bought this item for a friend and said it is very good songs in it.
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
