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Product Description
Review
First, a little background. Kenny ‘King Creosote’ Anderson is a Fife-based singer-songwriter and patriarch figure of a loose conglomerate of folk-inspired musicians, the Fence Collective. Architect of a good three-dozen records since 1998, mostly self-released, but some appearing on bigger labels – see 2005’s KC Rules OK and 2007’s Bombshell, which saw the light on 679 Recordings – his style is so intimate, low-key, but often surprisingly affecting songs that accrue a real emotional weight.
His collaborator here on Diamond Mine is one Jon Hopkins, a graduate of London’s Royal College of Music who has worked on a couple of big projects recently: he contributed keyboard and sound effects to Coldplay’s last album, and collaborated with Brian Eno, composing material for the ambient pioneer’s 2010 album Small Craft on a Milk Sea. King Creosote has none of the stadium bombast of Coldplay, or the experimental tendencies of Eno – but all the same, this is a collaboration that makes sense. Both share a taste for a rather languid tempo, that of small-town life and the more tender, bittersweet emotions; and theirs is a pairing that’s complementary, Hopkins colouring in the spaces around Anderson’s wearied voice, guitar and woozy accordion.
It starts with a splash of such colour in the shape of First Watch, a field recording of a bustling café, spare piano slowly picking its way round the clink of cutlery and the counting out of change. This segues into John Taylor’s Month Away, which ponders the sorry lot of a sailor, "With shattered boyhood dreams / And not much sleep," and it’s rendered beautifully, strummed guitar and droning accordion slowly subsumed beneath watery ambience.
Aging, and its effects, is a common theme here: Bats in the Attic sees Anderson contemplating his greying temples over sparse drum pads and piano, while Running on Fumes finds him asking "So why do we bother with all this fighting / Especially at our age?" as Hopkins’ choral synths call a troubled note. You sense, though, that Anderson is the sort to sing a sad song to make himself feel better, and it all concludes with the serene Your Young Voice, which fits a familiar King Creosote mould: a paean to his daughter, sung tenderly and gently, to fade.
--Louis Pattison
Find more music at the BBC This link will take you off Amazon in a new window
Product Description
CD
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
41 of 41 people found the following review helpful
By Big Jim
TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is one of those albums where the cover picture kind of gives the game away. Redolent of the small fishing villages on the East Neuk of Fife this album represents the sort of music you might hear a couple of guys playing in the corner, playing for themselves as much as anyone else, but knowing that the beauty in the songs has captured everyone's attention. Hopkins' lush electronic ambience and keyboards backs up Kenny "King Creosote" Anderson's crystal clear vocals - his voice has never sounded better by the way. With no more than some gentle strumming and accordian work on top of that, this is a minimalist, almost sombre album that somehow lights up your day as the ethereal beauty shines through. I am given to understand that there are reasons for it being quite a short album (in today's terms at least) but as they say, you should leave them wanting more which is certainly the case here. So hit the "repeat" button and enjoy again
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
By Arthur Dooley
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Audio CD
What a gorgeous piece of music. I've been a long time devotee of King Creosote and The Fence Collective and was a wee bit disappointed by Kenny (KC's) last album Flick the V's. Alas...haven't heard the Burns Unit offering yet. This album which I downloaded this morning has been on constant play. It made an instant impression on me which is unusual. Kenny's languid vocals perfectly complimenting the instrumentals of Jon Hopkins. It's a dreamy,melodic and totally mellow.As another reviewer suggests,A perfect chill out album to soundtrack a weekend evening.It was great to see the album featured on the frontpage of The Guardian recently. Both musicians deserve far wider recognition but such is the dumbing down of UK culture this century that it's highly unlikely that either will ever achieve this.Ahh well...the wider public's loss is the Fence devotees gain!
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Chris G
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
In a year that didn't see the release of a true, all-time classic album in the shape of PJ Harvey's "Let England Shake" this would have been a real contender for album of the year. An unlikely collaboration between electronica composer John Hopkins and Fife's finest; Kenny Anderson, known as King Creosote produces magical, touching and beautiful results that yields more and more of its charms with repeated listening. Lyrically the album explores the lives of fishermen on the unforgiving Fife coast, exploring the relationship between the land and the ocean and the difficulties of a life spent exploiting the sea.
Musically the album achieves a seamless link between Anderson's unashamedly lo fi instrumentation (he is a master accordion player and competent acoustic guitarist) and the atmospheres and soundscapes created by Hopkins. We start with a beautifully realised soundscape combining snippets of conversation with a building electronic atmosphere that segues wonderfully into the gorgeous "John Taylor's Month Away". Put on the headphones and listen to seagulls, waves rolling against a rocky shore all of them taking on musical qualities against Anderson's beautifully recorded strumming.
By some distance the finest quality of this tremendous album however is Anderson's vocal performance. Rarely have I found male vocals as beautiful and affecting as Anderson's and on this album you will find many of his finest recorded moments. On the hearbreakingly lovely "Bats in the Attic" Anderson's vocals set against understated piano chords, some subtle drums and reverb which perfectly holds everything together the vocals soar and intertwine with beautiful harmonies in a way that few could master. An album then of beautiful components, bound together by wonderful songwriting and arrangements that still manages to surpass the sum of its parts. A rare occurrence indeed and one to be treasured. Highly recommended.
Musically the album achieves a seamless link between Anderson's unashamedly lo fi instrumentation (he is a master accordion player and competent acoustic guitarist) and the atmospheres and soundscapes created by Hopkins. We start with a beautifully realised soundscape combining snippets of conversation with a building electronic atmosphere that segues wonderfully into the gorgeous "John Taylor's Month Away". Put on the headphones and listen to seagulls, waves rolling against a rocky shore all of them taking on musical qualities against Anderson's beautifully recorded strumming.
By some distance the finest quality of this tremendous album however is Anderson's vocal performance. Rarely have I found male vocals as beautiful and affecting as Anderson's and on this album you will find many of his finest recorded moments. On the hearbreakingly lovely "Bats in the Attic" Anderson's vocals set against understated piano chords, some subtle drums and reverb which perfectly holds everything together the vocals soar and intertwine with beautiful harmonies in a way that few could master. An album then of beautiful components, bound together by wonderful songwriting and arrangements that still manages to surpass the sum of its parts. A rare occurrence indeed and one to be treasured. Highly recommended.
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4.3 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fabulous
Easily the best album of 2012.
Haunting, deeply musical and always thought provoking.
My only complaint is that it is too short.
Haunting, deeply musical and always thought provoking.
My only complaint is that it is too short.
Published 2 months ago by Paul Cunningham
5.0 out of 5 stars
A masterpiece!
Without a doubt it's a must have CD. Beautiful and calm rythms. For me the best of both artists so far.
Published 2 months ago by Tanomaky
3.0 out of 5 stars
quite enjoyable but a bit boring
quite enjoyable but a bit boring give it a go and i think you will enjoy it but after the first few weeks i bet you wont put it on again
Published 2 months ago by d proffitt
5.0 out of 5 stars
A diamond
This is a beautiful cd - the music is relaxing, lyrics are great and the effect is electrifying - very cruisy
Published 2 months ago by denise sepulchre
5.0 out of 5 stars
I didn't realise...
...this is just the tip of a recent (for me) iceberg of a brilliant artist. If you like this as I did, I strongly suggest looking up the rest of the stuff you can get by this... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Hitch22
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better buy Diamond Mine instead
Seems crazy to say it, but the world that lives in the bubble of Diamond Mine is spoilt by bolting on an additional album that is at odds with the perfect length and perfect... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Neppo
5.0 out of 5 stars
Less is more
I very rarely review anything on Amazon but this has moved me to do so.
This album is simply beautiful. There are only seven tracks but each one is a gem. Read more
This album is simply beautiful. There are only seven tracks but each one is a gem. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Buster Blister
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hauntingly beautiful
When this album was released I had an impatient listen and dismissed the album on the account of being `boring'. How wrong I was. Read more
Published 8 months ago by ktvowles
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hauntingly beautiful & evocative
As usual, all the most memorable and beautiful music that makes you go to Amazon next day to buy, is to be heard on Radio 3's Late Junction. Read more
Published 9 months ago by S. Ahmad
5.0 out of 5 stars
A little piece of listening heaven
I found King Creosote and Jon Hopkins relatively late in life, but what a joy!
Each track is very different - with minimal production - the collection has the intimacy... Read more
Each track is very different - with minimal production - the collection has the intimacy... Read more
Published 10 months ago by Karen UK
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