RFI James Yorkston

New album and tour:

http://www.dominorecordco.com/uk/news/28-05-14/james-yorkston-announces-details-of-his-new-album-eurothe-cellardyke-recording-and-wassailing-societyeurotm/

hey, the new song is pretty great!

I only just finally got a copy of I Was a Cat from a Book... backlog!

Early days with the new album. I've so far thought "Oh, this is boring" and "Oh, this is magical".

OK getting namechecked by The 1975 these days, guess that counts as relevancy...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfTyaBxYwUw

beats your Richard Dawson bisnes with a stick, imo

Yorkston is emblematic of a particular kind of listening experience for me wherein I get so much from one record, I never quite get past it enough to listen to anything else with any kind of objectivity - in this case Moving Up Country, which I love to distraction. I've dabbled here and there and seen him live a few times, but nothing quite lives up to that ongoing relationship with the first album.

Happy he's going for spoken word again - I love love love Woozy With Cider

the Yorkston/Thorne/Khan album from a few years ago is very good.

the album he did with the Big Eyes Family Players is also excellent, although his last couple of solo albums haven't clicked with me.

> the Yorkston/Thorne/Khan album from a few years ago is very good

Their version of Norma Waterson's "Song for Thirza" is devastating.

love these opening three posts

Please tell me your opinions on James Yorkston.
― Richie Cunningham, Friday, March 14, 2003 6:10 AM (fifteen years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

he is rather good
― electric sound of jim (electricsound), Friday, March 14, 2003 1:39 PM (fifteen years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

he is shit
― Cozen (Cozen), Friday, March 14, 2003 2:01 PM (fifteen years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"My Mouth Ain't No Bible" sounds a good un'.

(A long time since I've wanted to play a track over & over).

beautiful new song, featuring Tom Arthurs on trumpet
https://youtu.be/OzdKpDL2q7M

Collaboration with Max Cooper:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFVM40mTUtA

I'd never really noticed that ILXOR isn't particularly into Yorkston.

Anyway,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhJw5K-LLpw

I love him, everything up to 2009's Folk Songs with the Big Eyes Family Players is great, but after that he committed to that kind of rapid, crammed-together lyrical style that I just don't like. Still gonna buy the new album, just to see what he's up to.

this new song I like, and the video is absolutely gorgeous!

I adore the new album. I will try and think of something more articulate to say.

Alternate version of one of the songs:

http://dominorecords.s3.amazonaws.com/jamesyorkston/James_Yorkston-Struggle-Miles_Mix.mp3

New album is very good. JY has one of my favourite voices.

The latest one sounds damn fine tonight, from a 2-days-back-on-the-drink perspective at least. (just deleted like 3 lines here cus i just scanned back and even I had no idea what the fuck I was on about, seemed to be mainly COASTAL WEATHER related fwiw)

I'd never let alcohol stop you posting.

It sounds like there is going to be a Second Hand Orchestra version of the album?

Alternative version of the Wide, Wide River:

https://singasongfighter.bandcamp.com/album/reimagining-the-wide-wide-river

Surprised it hasn't sold out, to be honest.

I haven't yet been tempted by the J Wright Present LP - an electronic one. Has anyone played that?

A Yorkston playlist started a while ago but added to after seeing him play live recently:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7C3dPDcC1imWkxcK4t9HIj

Nice to see him in a pub/community centre venue, with - I guess - 100 people. I had a weird worry that seeing him live would put me off, for some reason. "Broken Wave" seemed particularly moving.

(I quite like making playlists like this out of a wonder of what others would include - a sort of "what am I missing?/what should I relisten to?")

Nice selection. He played not far from me recently but I couldn't make it. I'd probably have to have 'Lang Toun' on any Yorkston playlist.

Considering how much I loved "Moving Up Country" when it came out, I feel a little shady for basically completing forgetting about James Yorkston for 15 years. Where's good to catch up? (apart from your playlist)

I adore "When The Haar Rolls In". Then I think there are great tracks on everything else.

I know friends who went off him came back with "The Wide, Wide River".

"Where's good to catch up? (apart from your playlist)"

I really like The Route To The Harmonium, on which Tom Arthurs' trumpet works beautifully.

I too drifted away after the first couple of albums...everything was set in place with Moving Up Country and he never seemed to develop enough to keep my interest. Failure of my own weak attention-span I'm sure, I wanted him to progress like John Martyn in the 70s.

the cover of “Song for Thirza” from the first Yrokston/Thorne/Khan album is so staggering beautiful. just sitting here crying…

Realised I've bought but not really played "The Great White Sea Eagle" - certain I've never played it all the way through before but it sounds decent tonight.