A Sort of Homecoming: The Best of New Scottish Music by Various Artists
November 2009 on Fourtrak Records
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Compilation celebrates the best new Scottish music in the Homecoming year
It's hard to expect much from a compilation album. The ratio of great songs to filler is usually pretty low. Rarely do the tracks have anything to do with one another or give context to each other. That said, "A Sort of Homecoming: The Best of New Scottish Music" is a charming surprise.
Not all the tracks assembled on the comp are new or previously unavailable, but with so many of the collection's artists releasing albums either on their own or through tiny independent labels without widespread distribution, they may all seem new to you. Mostly "A Sort of Homecoming" is a rock and pop collection, but its two forays into other genres that leave you wanting more. Case in point: Bring Back The Planes unique brand of ‘happy go lucky folk’ and Iain Shaw’s quirky song “Dinosaur Egg” featuring lyrics by the enigmatic David Shrigley.
There's a lot more to like on this overstuffed album too. Like the supershiny mix of pop, rock and funk from Jakil, the female fronted The Great Money Trick and guts out rock from the fledgling Vertis. There’s also good old back to basics soulful rock from Dirty Modern Hero, the staggeringly beautiful string-laden “Running Out of Saturday” from Japanese pin-ups The Starlets and perennial indie underachievers Odeon Beatclub.
There are few misses, and even those are worth a listen. The bittersweet charm of Stockholm cuties The Social Services just veers on the right side of cloying, as does the folksy Katrina Borhan.
Because of the diversity on this album, there's absolutely no way that you'll love the full thing or hate all of this either, though the selection is still pretty damn good.
Author cookiegirl Mon Nov 30, 2009 6:42 PM
Album rating 8
Comments
It's hard to expect much from a compilation album. The ratio of great songs to filler is usually pretty low. Rarely do the tracks have anything to do with one another or give context to each other. That said, "A Sort of Homecoming: The Best of New Scottish Music" is a charming surprise.
Not all the tracks assembled on the comp are new or previously unavailable, but with so many of the collection's artists releasing albums either on their own or through tiny independent labels without widespread distribution, they may all seem new to you. Mostly "A Sort of Homecoming" is a rock and pop collection, but its two forays into other genres that leave you wanting more. Case in point: Bring Back The Planes unique brand of ‘happy go lucky folk’ and Iain Shaw’s quirky song “Dinosaur Egg” featuring lyrics by the enigmatic David Shrigley.
There's a lot more to like on this overstuffed album too. Like the supershiny mix of pop, rock and funk from Jakil, the female fronted The Great Money Trick and guts out rock from the fledgling Vertis. There’s also good old back to basics soulful rock from Dirty Modern Hero, the staggeringly beautiful string-laden “Running Out of Saturday” from Japanese pin-ups The Starlets and perennial indie underachievers Odeon Beatclub.
There are few misses, and even those are worth a listen. The bittersweet charm of Stockholm cuties The Social Services just veers on the right side of cloying, as does the folksy Katrina Borhan.
Because of the diversity on this album, there's absolutely no way that you'll love the full thing or hate all of this either, though the selection is still pretty damn good.
Author cookiegirl Mon Nov 30, 2009 6:42 PM
Album rating 8
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