Hoopoe, by James Yorkston (CD on Houston Party)

Description:	CD on Houston Party	UK ORDERS OVER £50 SHIP FREE!
Format:	CD
Label:	Houston Party
Price:	£7.29
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What we say

Rating: happy This record left our Clint feeling happy.

First up James Yorkston with a new EP on Houston Party records. This is a 6 song EP of lovely acoustic goodness from the man in the Mars and Sparks slacks. Gently thumbed acoustic guitars and banjos with some nice clarinets & warm instrumentation. I think this is a completely solo recording so there's no Athletes with him this time. Its very nice folky, Celtic sounding music - if you are fan you are going to need this as I don't think any of the tracks have been released elsewhere and its all tip top quality.

What the label says:

James Yorkston is a quiet man. Every Sunday he goes to his local pub in Fife to drink beer and play folk music with his friends the Fence Collective (King Creosote, Lone Pigeon, KT Tunstall et al). His favourite records are raw and unaffected, like the great country-tinged album Link Wray made in 1971 or Anne Briggs at her best.

However, it is Yorkston's hero, D'Gary, that has made the greatest impact on his music. Relatively unknown outside of his home country of Madagascar, D'Gary "plays guitars like an angel" says Yorkston. Back in the 90's Yorkston was playing in a garage-rock band called Huckleberry, when he heard D'Gary and decided to go solo. Following support slots with folk legends John Martyn and Bert Jansch, Yorkston released his debut album'Moving Up Country' to a wealth of critically acclaim. His second album, 'Just Beyond The River', which was recorded and produced by Kieran (Four Tet) Hebden was released in 2004 to further critical acclaim and proved Yorkston to be one of the most gifted songwriters in the contemporary folk world.

'HOOPOE' is a brand new solo EP that Yorkston has recorded exclusively for the excellent Spanish label Houston Party. More stripped down than the two albums Yorkston has made with his backing band, The Athletes, it showcases Yorkston's beautifully rich voice and subtle skills as a songwriter that remain untouchable. 'HOOPOE' features five new and exclusive songs, plus one re-working of the song 'Heron' from the 'Just beyond the River' album.

James Yorkston's subtlety and hushed self-confidence are unmatched by just about any other singer-songwriter out there right now and 'HOOPOE' is a perfect example of this.