Albums of 2012- 29. James Yorkston - I Was a Cat from a Book

29. JAMES YORKSTON - I WAS A CAT FROM A BOOK

This Scottish folk musician has been slowly coming to my attention over the last few years. I'd heard a couple of his songs before on compilations and stuff but never listened to a full length album. I'm aware of his soothing voice though; it's really affecting.

This album is really tender, nuanced and musically diverse. Opener "Catch" tells a story about tall tales "catching each other out". I don't know what the tall tales are that Yorkston is singing about always, even his words I can't always make out, but it's not about a visually arresting narrative here, instead the sum of the parts of this album make for something very pretty.

Not too twee. Beautiful instrumentation. Lovely vocals. All together, one of the folk albums of the year.


BEST PLAYED: When wanting something lovely.

albums of 2012 - 38. Parquet Courts - Light Up Gold

38. PARQUET COURTS - LIGHT UP GOLD

Stories in punk. Nice narratives that aren’t too dumb.  Quirky. Retro. From New York City. Though not the sound of NYC as it incorporates Texas members too.  Lean and economical. Fun.  Nice name. Good vocals. A nice band chemistry. A late discovery this year for me. Hard to say more; I will add a quote:

“Parquet Courts are a New York/Texas based band featuring A. Savage an amazing musician known for his contributions to Teenage Cool Kids, Wiccans, and Fergus & Geronimo. Parquet Court’s sound is hard to pin down. Parquet Court’s sound is a mish mash of sounds including psych punk made popular by bands such as Woods and Later-era Meneguar to more straight forward punk. Added to this beautiful mess is a post punk sound influenced by bands such as Sonic Youth, Guided By Voices, and Built To Spill. This style might not be for some, but people open to hearing something new and different really need to give Parquet Courts a listen. Great stuff! Enjoy!”

The Elementary Revolt ---August 2012---

BEST LISTENED TO: When you want some no-nonsense light punk with a storyline.