Customer Reviews

Moving Up Country

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first saw James and his Athletes supporting David Gray in Dublin. I was really impressed - it was an unusual choice of support, but the songs stood out for themselves. I bought a copy of "moving up country" on the way out of the gig, and it's been my "discovery" of the year. 3 of the songs they played are on this album - "Tender to the blues", "Sweet Jesus" and "6:30 is just way too early". Each one is a pure marvel, but why they didn't play "St. Patrick" (from the album) is beyond me, it has to be the most beautiful song i've heard for years. Even my boyfriend admits to liking it!
I strongly recommend you buy this album and fall in love. it's my most rewarding purchase since "White Ladder"
bye!!

I have had this CD since last fall but pulled it out again after I saw James Yorkston perform in NY earlier this week. If you like Nick Drake but want something that sounds more hopeful, James Yorkston is it.
There's really gorgeous, gentle arrangements that are delicate as air and continue my love of contemporary Scottish bands. Acoustic guitar, harmonium, piano, violin and percussion form the background but Yorkston's got this soft plaintive voice that's heartfelt and sincere.

Hailed by every important music publication in the UK as a breakthrough, this album easily lives up to the praise it has garnered so far. Irresitstibly subtle and poignant, the music sails confidently over a deep sea of understated but dramatic arrangements that betray the moving power of folk and visionary writing. With compositional touches that share spectacular yet quiet elements of classic rock at it best (a la Pink Floyd) and disarmingly engaging singer-songwriter atmospheres (a la Nick Drake), "Moving Up Country" is a must for anyone in search of a musical landscape fashioned out of personal idioms and ambitious artistic ideals. Not one to give five stars easily, I am left with no option in a case like this.

I was in a Rough Trade Records store in Notting Hill when i noticed this album in a stack of cd's. The clerks there said it was phenomenal and when I got back stateside and investigated, they proved to be right. One of the best albums to come out in 2002, Yorkston mixes quality lyrics with beautiful folk music. Every track is simply a delight. Highlights would defiently be St. Patrick and the title track. Lots of cellos, harmonicas, shakers and other smooth sounding instruments. A+++

James Yorkston's melancholic vocals and soft melodies are the perfect antidote to todays up-tempo, hi-profile, style obsessed, substance starved artists. Walking a non-existent line between early folk, blues, and some form of pop, he comes to a halt in a joyously confusing melting pot of genres, fine musicianship and wonderfuly melodic, guitar based genius. Now i use the phrase genius loosley as this is only his first complete album, however it is fascinatingly addictive and gentle as a summers day spent lying on a grassy hill, surrounded by rabbits while staring aimlessly at the clouds. Sounding fresh and original is a tall order of late, yet Yorkston manages to fashion something very fresh and exciting with the familiarity of something old. The album complements any circumstance, its perfectly suited to sunny days, dark nights, warm rooms, cold breezes, with friends, with enemies, with no-one, whatever, wherever, this album is the perfect accompaniment. He's an old soul with a new sound, and thats too good to miss.

James Yorkston's *Moving Up Country* is a pastoral album of wandering meadows, roaming fields, and babbling brooks. This is all fitting given that Yorkston grew up around the countryside of the British Isles. His vocals are reminiscent of Beck's on *Mutations* and *Sea Change* - weary enough from the burdens of the labor of love but forward enough to keep pursuing the dream. "Tender To The Blues" even sounds as if it could've been lifted from Mr. Hansen's songbook. Title track, "Moving Up Country, Roaring The Gospel" and "Cheating The Game" have an old saloon feel to them while "I Spy Dogs" is easily the most raucous cut centered on a soul-like piano melody. Unfortunately Yorkston puts some of the least accessible tunes at the beginning of the disc which makes *Moving Up Country* initially slow to appreciate, but repeated listens prove an album worthy of the beautiful landscape it depicts.

I saw James open up for Beth Orton this summer and was left speechless. Accompanied by only one sideman and his own acoustic guitar, he performed with conviction, grace, and soul. This CD captures those elements well, but fleshed out with the addition of a full band. Poetic like Dylan Thomas, spiritual like American gospel, gorgeous like the Scottish countryside... it's perhaps the most sincere and moving record I've heard this year.

...don't buy this album! "Moving up Country" is criminally overrated... It's simply mediocre. The worst thing about it is how good it could have been. I wanted it to be as minimalist and subversive as early Palace, as intellectual as B&S, and as tuneful and inviting as Ida, but it's not. It has all the significance of Elastica... or whatever, just another blip on the radar screen of mundane, here-today-and-gone-tomorrow Britpop. The album's weakest point is Yorkston's lyrical abilities. His lyrics read like the musings of a disaffected ninth grader, only less sincere. His deadpan delivery might work for a more impressive songwriter, but Yorkston only ends up sounding bored with himself... and I can understand why.