Songs For The Young At Heart

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Jarvis Cocker, Bonnie Prince Billy and Belle & Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch all feature on a new compilation of children's songs. 'Songs For The Young At Heart', released on February 26, was put together by members of Tindersticks. It was inspired by "memories from their childhood of music from the radio, school room and television".

The collection first comes in a limited edition run packaged in a hard paged children's book featuring the tale of 'Albert The Lion' with illustrations by cult artist Sexton Ming. A video of Jarvis Cocker telling the story of 'Albert The Lion' - where Cocker sits in an actual lion's cage with the lion - will also be available.

Tracklisting:
'Theme For The Young At Heart' - Stuart Staples
'Uncle Sigmund's Clockwork Storybook' - Sung by Robert Forster (The Go-Betweens)
'Florence's Sad Song' - Sung by Stuart Murdoch (Belle & Sebastian)
'White Horses' - Sung by Cerys Mathews
'The Lion & Albert' - Told by Jarvis Cocker
'Robinson Crusoe' - Performed by Tindersticks
'Hushabye Mountain' - Sung by Stuart Staples
'Morningtown Ride' - Sung by Suzanne Osbourne
Inch Worm' - Sung by Kurt Wagner (Lambchop)
'Mary, Mungo & Midge' - performed by Tindersticks
'Puff, The Magic Dragon' - Sung by 'Bonnie' Price Billy and Red
'Hey, Don't You Cry' - Stuart Staples'The Three Sneezes' - told by Martin Wallace

This sounds awesome...I know Bonnie Billy did Puff before, but alas when i tried to download it my soulseek went tits-up and I cried for a bit. I want the limited edition thingummybob with the video wahey!

[Superplasmatron]

I want this alot

[Psychocandy]

I want this too. Almost as much as I want this...

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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

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.

[Psychocandy]

Actually...upon reflection...I want them both the same.

[bowieee]

The tindersticks were one of the first non "mainstream" artists I started listening to as a kid when I began exploring beneath the musical surface all those years ago. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for them. It's neat to see them still around making work and I'm stoked about alot of the people involved in this project. It's only available as an import over here so i had to order it online. i'll post my thoughts once the boys in blue short shorts deliver it to my happy home.

Shit I just saw that album Psychocandy posted. That looks nice too. Psychocandy let me know if it's any good once you get your mittens on it. If it's worth it, I'll be sending my dough over seas for another purchase.

[bowieee]

I got this in the postage last night.

I'm about halfway thru as I've been listening to it as I drive around town and it's a really pretty album so far. It brings up memories of laying on carpet while eating milk and cookies listening to childrens records as rain poured down outside. It doesn't feel gimmicky and so far all the material has been top notch.

[bowieee]

Finished listening to this quite a few times over the last few days.
There is a shit load of talent behind this release and the care and skill that went into it really shows. The songs are beautiful, the childrens stories are entertaining and I am very excited about finally having a decent version of puff the Magic dragon to put on whenever I feel like listening to it. This album rises way above the gimmick level it could have been and comes to the plate bearing real quality tunes that anyone can enjoy.