Track Listing

1. Song For Irena by Mike Heron & John Burnside
2. Steam Comes Off Our House by De Rosa & Michel Faber
3. A Calvinist Narrowly Avoids Pleasure by James Yorkston & Bill Duncan
4. Dreamcatcher by Foxface & Rody Gorman
5. A Sentimental Song by Lord Cut-Glass & Alasdair Gray
6. The Sixth Stone by Aidan Moffat and the Best-Ofs & Ian Rankin
7. Girl bu Norman Blake & John Burnside
8. The Good years by Karine Polwart & Edwin Morgan
9. The War On Love Song by Sons & Daughters & A. L. Kennedy
10. The Leaving by Alasdair Roberts & Robin Roberston
11. Message In A Bottle by Strike the Colours & Rody Gorman
12. If You Love me You'd Destroy Me by Aerogramme & Hal Duncan
13. The Rebel On His Own Tonight by Malcolm Middleton & Alan Bissett
14. Half An Apple by Trashcan Sinatras & Ali Smith
15. The Fire by Vashti Bunyan & Rodge Glass
16. Where and When by King Creosote & Laura Hird
17. Jesus On The Cross by Emma Pollock & Louise Welsh
18. The Weight Of Years by Idlewild & Edwin Morgan

Product Details

• Released on: 2007-04-10
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Import, Compilation, Explicit Lyrics
• Dimensions: .13 pounds

Album Description
2007 collection, 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 realized 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 both Vashti Bunyan and The Incredible String Band's Mike Heron as well as solo performances from Emma Pollock and Malcolm Middleton. 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.Chemikal Underground. 2007.