Comparing someone to a rare form of monkey-centric Asperger's (Jack Johnson) or major depression (Norah Jones) seems unkind, but the sepia toned allegories of 34-year old Scotsman James Yorkston’s third album - the first credited with his band The Athletes (double bassist Doogie Paul, percussionist Faisal Rahman, accordionist and concertina player Reuben Taylor, fiddle player’s Jon Bews and Wendy Chan, and whistle piper Holly Taylor) - The Year Of The Leopard, kudos to Steve Jobs for this unique The Mac OS X Leopard marketing attack, warrant it. Yorkston is part of Fife’s Fence Collective that includes the American Idol McPheever singing, Ugly Betty theme song licensing, Devil Wears Prada soundtracking dynamo K.T. “Got Your Money” Tunstall.
Looking like Mr. Darcy (Tom Hollander) and Morrissey made a rather-robust-for-a-vegan freckled baby and delivering his soft-spoken Wes Anderson-style deadpan monotone with a quiet sense of urgency that propels the songs forward, Yorkston use of first take vocals adds a ‘first draft’ to the Folkloric Feel of many songs, and yet The Year Of The Leopard labored in a yearlong recording process… Interesting, interesting. “Summer Song” – file that one under Field Recording. “Steady As She Goes”, if only it were the Raconteurs song. But no it’s a humorless stream of conscience about Yorkston’s friend’s sister and drinking (ah, in vino veritas) – what is it about concertinas (“Steady As She Goes”) that are so ‘Babe: Pig In The City’? Title track “The Year Of The Leopard” is a Greensleaves-style self-indulgent ode unto itself - the beauty of its melody, if Yorkston does say so himself.
The Year Of The Mac OS X Version 10.5 has some beauties. The Celtic instrumentals of “5 A.M.” are reminiscent of Torngat’s Édith Piaf stylings, as is “Orgiva Song”. “I Awoke” is a bitter sonnet bridged with violins and punctuated with piano that feels like Friday night at Largo with Patrick Park circa Loneliness Knows My Name. ”The Brussels Rambler” – Death Cab has some competition (oh, it’s on.) “Don’t Let Me Down” is the kind of song that could drain the happy from Jim Shearer’s face – it’s just that depressing (“Don’t let me down, don’t let me down - when my time comes, I shall not be scared, I shall not hold on”) and reminiscent of Philip Glass’ compositions for Stephen Daldry’s film The Hours.
“Us Late Travellers”, another Jack Johnson-style acoustic about a cat (sleeping on his chest, she fell and rose with his breathe), the barefooted one never wrote about a cat’s sleeping habits, for Monkey Business (Curious George) is the name of his boring game. Yorkston is a monkey person too. “Woozy With Cider” – a spoken word piece about David Gray’s “Babylon” (life in London), monkeys and whiskey – rather similar to Primitive Radio God’s “Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth with Money in My Hand”. |