James Yorkston

Eye o’ the Dug - St Andrews, Sat 14 & Sun 15 Apr 2012

Fantastic bill featuring Django Django, Malcolm Middleton and more

27 Apr 2012

They may have quadrupled the size of their show, and conscripted beefcakes to man the doors, but the spirit of Fence chiefly prevailed at the inaugural Eye O’ The Dug – a musical hoopla which (kind of) filled a Homegame-shaped hole in the calendar (and…

The Hot 100 2011: 100-50

The definitive list of Scottish creative talent

16 Dec 2011

100: Gordon Ferris. Kilmarnock crime author makes good. The already packed Scottish crime writing field has finally found a bit of elbow room for another burgeoning talent. Joining the likes of Rankin, Brookmyre, McDermid and co is this Ayrshire-born…

Music Like a Vitamin - O2 ABC, Glasgow, Sat 2 Oct 2010

Rod Jones, Emma Pollock, Jenny Reeve and Karine Polwart

9 Oct 2010

For their Music Like A Vitamin event, Idlewild’s Rod Jones and The Delgados’ Emma Pollock have enlisted a Scottish musical dream team to create a fundraising album. Coinciding with the annual Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Festival, The Fruit…

Music: also released

12 Aug 2009

The Xcerts: Live at King Tut’s. James Yorkston & the Big Eyes Family Players: Folk Songs, Squarepusher: Solo Electric Bass, The Crystal Method: Divided By Night. Richard Thompson: Walking on Wire.

Fence Collective

1 Mar 2009

‘There was an article in the Sunday Times at the start of this year,’ says Johnny Lynch, head caretaker of Fife’s Fence label and also known as The Pictish Trail to his own musical fans. ‘They had an A to Z of musical genres in the world, all the…

James Yorkston

27 Nov 2008

It’s no longer news to say a James Yorkston album has been ‘critically acclaimed’ – because they always are. Since coming to John Peel’s attention in 2001, releasing early material through the Fence Collective and moving on to recent albums with Domino…

Music-themed Christmas parties round-up

Festive shindigs on offer from Song, By Toad, Phantom Band, James Yorkston, Fence and more

13 Dec 2011

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas in Scotland’s indie village without a bunch of our favourite bands getting together to chip in for mince pies and mulled wine and treat us to / inflict upon us some of their most diligently practiced seasonal covers. Yes…

Fence’s Flamin’ Hott Loggz Anstruther Town Hall, Anstruther, Sat 5 Nov

The Shivers, Withered Hand and Serafina Steer join Bonfire Night party

15 Nov 2011

There were no fireworks at Fence’s Flamin’ Hott Loggz pop ‘n’ Guy Fawkes hoopla. There was no need for pyrotechnics when there were songs that soared like gold dust – King Creosote’s rare variation of Dexy’s ‘Come on Eileen’ around a bonfire; Serafina…

James Yorkston

A droll and heartfelt memoir from the Fife bard

19 Aug 2011

Earlier this year, James Yorkston seduced a full-house in Glasgow, clad with a well-thumbed touring diary. It was not the first time, and it won’t be the last. While the Fife-based singer-songwriter and commended Fence Collective affiliate has long…

Fruit Tree Foundation - First Edition

Astounding group collaboration from some of Scotland's finest

3 Aug 2011

(Chemikal Underground) If you’re looking for proof that Scotland’s musical voices are far-reaching and brilliant, then we cordially direct you to First Edition. It’s a stellar, cohesive collaboration from Frightened Rabbit’s Scott Hutchison, The…

Musician James Yorkston publishes tour diaries

Domino Records and Faber publish Scottish singer-songwriter's book It’s Lovely to Be Here

14 Jan 2011

Not content with forging a career as one of Scotland’s best loved singer-songwriters, James Yorkston has just foisted himself upon literature in a most alluring fashion. As befits a troubadour whose talent is rivalled only by his modesty, Yorkston’s…

The best Hallowe'en music and club events in Edinburgh and Glasgow

29 Oct 2010

HALLOWEEN CLUBS There’s blood on the dancefloor as Hallowe’en takes over clubland. First up, Hung Up! host the annual Optimo (Espookio) as Glasgow’s weirdest Hallowe’en party rises from the grave (The Sub Club, Sun 31 Oct). And if there’s dressing up…

Fruit Tree Foundation launches new album tackling themes of mental health

Alasdair Roberts, James Yorkston, Scott Hutchison and others record album

22 Sep 2010

Sons and Daughters. Frightened Rabbit. The Phantom Band. Norman Blake. Perhaps because it sets out to encourage discussion of problems nearly everyone has come into contact with at some point in their lives, the Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film…

Autumn highlights: The best albums and gigs from Scottish bands

The Phantom Band, The Twilight Sad and Errors set for action

16 Sep 2010

The Phantom Band Chemikal Underground’s finest, most eclectic and most likely signings of recent years return with the follow-up to last year’s debut Checkmate Savage. The Wants is released on Chemikal Underground, Mon 18 Oct. The Scottish…

Fence Homegame 2010 line-up

20 Jan 2010

‘We’ve got the incredible Four Tet headlining on the Sunday night. His live sets are always spectacularly electric – so we’re really excited. Kieran has been to Homegame before, playing guitar as part of One Little Plane – so we’re delighted to have him…

Sick Kids Sunday 2

20 Jan 2010

It’s a bumper line-up with a definite wonky, folky, indie vibe as the GRV hosts this charity fundraiser. James Yorkston & Adrian Crowley take the headlining slot with their take on the songs of Daniel Johnson, with able backup from the likes of Broken…

The Link

6 Jan 2010

A fascinating project combining exhibition, auction and gig aims to examine the crossover between music and visual art, showcase artworks made by musicians, and throw a live show into the bargain. Appropriately named the Link, it’s the brainchild of…

Hitlist: Music

17 Sep 2009

Speech Debelle, Music Like A Vitamin, NME Radar Tour, Pixies

Kelburn Garden Party

11 Jun 2009

It may seem that there were enough stories of big weekenders failing to establish themselves – such as Isle of Skye and Indian Summer – even before the financial downturn, which has this year claimed the scalps of Connect, Dunstaffnage and The Outsider.

Fence Collective's Homegame: Homeward bound

16 Apr 2009

In the ever-growing Scottish music festival calendar, the Homegame remains something of a well-kept secret. Despite a steadily increasing profile since its inception six years ago, the weekend, run by Fence Collective head honchos Kenny Anderson (aka…

Summer festivals line-up announced

16 Apr 2009

Here at The List, we can barely take a jaunt to the water cooler without another festival announcement popping into our inbox. At the offices of T in the Park (Fri 10-Sun 12 Jul) there’s been the usual flurry of activity. One of New York’s finest…

Sound Advice - 10 Best gigs: Scotland (March–May) 

1 Mar 2009

Franz Ferdinand Thu 5 Mar, 7pm, Barrowlands, Glasgow (H5), 0141 552 4601, £20 The cream of Scottish indie play their home town; it doesn’t get much better than this. The Xcerts Sun 8 Mar, 8pm, Kings Tut’s Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow (E3), 0141 221…

Singles & Downloads

27 Nov 2008

What’s that Lassie? Name+Relucto are trapped down the well? ‘Spawnofspoon EP’ (Hum+Haw) ••• is a plinky-plonky kind of techno that is thankfully less like being punched hard in the face over and over, and more like the voices in your head have taken to…

The Pictish Trail

18 Sep 2008

SINGER-SONGWRITER The Pictish Trail is coming out of the shadows. Johnny Lynch (for the Trail is he) has until now focussed on running the Fence Collective and playing guitar for head-honcho King Creosote (aka Kenny Anderson). But with the release of…

James Yorkston - When the Haar Rolls In

21 Aug 2008

In this age of quick fixes and cheap thrills, there’s something deeply comforting about James Yorkston. This fourth studio album is the antithesis of the nasty fast food rush of most mainstream indie fare, more like a luxurious banquet in the company of…

Kelburn Garden Party cancelled

3 Jun 2008

The Kelburn Garden Party, a music festival due to be held between Friday 4th and Sunday 6th July in Kelburn near Largs in Ayrshire, has been cancelled by the organisers. The cancellation followed a management meeting in which it emerge that…

Also Released

7 May 2007

James Yorkston Roaring the Gospel A compilation album of off-cuts, outtakes, covers and traditionals that are of a quality that most artists would have as singles, not in their archive. (Domino) Seefeel Quique Welcome reissue of the drifting…

Ballads of the Book

WORDS & MUSIC

27 Feb 2007

Projects like Ballads of the Book don’t come along very often. And, looking at the roll call of writers and musicians involved, it is easy to see why. It must have been a logistical nightmare getting 54 of Scotland’s finest writers and musicians…

James Yorkston

Chapter and verse

10 Oct 2006

The best musicians and writers have a lot in common. Lonely years spent trying to create something artistic which has a modicum of truth and originality about it, only for it to get routinely ignored as the latest offering from Dan Brown or The Crazy…

James Yorkston - album review

James Yorkston

18 Sep 2006

FOLKISH-COUNTRYISH-SINGER-SONGWRITER THING For this third long player, undefinable Fife troubadour Yorkston has created an eclectic collection of moody gems which exceeds his own already extremely high standards. There is huge variety here, from the…