
Post Electric Blues
DIV020LP
Single 180g LP
19th October 2009
Side 1
1 Younger Than America
2 Readers And Writers
3 City Hall
4 Bring You Back To Life
5 Dreams Of Nothing
6 Take Me Back To The Islands
Side 2
1 Post Electric
2 All Over Town
3 To Be Forgotten
4 Circles In Stars
5 Take Me Back In Time
Idlewild : Post Electric Blues
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Whilst Brit-pop was still in full-swing, Idlewild were dropping out of art school and ingesting early REM, Fugazi, Meat Puppets, Superchunk, and all those small bands on American indie-rock labels. Whilst considered a safe bet for Blur’s label “Food”, their angular indie rock was more in-keeping with the label’s earlier output of the likes of Crazyhead, Woodentops and Diesel Park West, than Blur’s increasingly faux-cockney “sing-along” style that was to define the Brit Pop sound. Food were engulfed by Parlophone/EMI around the same time as Idlewild’s debut mini LP “Captain” was released, and whilst Blur took on the world, their Scottish labelmates quietly got on with the business of producing astounding indie rock. Angular and edgy, but always full of melody, Idlewild were the critics favourite (Steve Lamacq at Radio 1 leading the pack!)
Fast forward to 2009, and with a brace of massive top ten hit singles such as “You Held The World In Your Arms” and “American English” behind them, endless touring (including some very high profile dates supporting REM, and a few triumphant homecomings at T In The Park, Scotland), alongside 5 hugely successful gold and silver selling LPs, and an outstanding Best Of compilation, their creativity shows no sign of abating, which their stunning new album “Post Electric Blues”.
They’re also a band who’ve grown old gracefully with their unfaltering fan base. As the band and their admirers hurtle towards maturity, so they’ve broadened their musical tastes. Roddy Woomble particularly has spent the last few years (re)discovering the fascinating, indigenous sounds of his Scottish folk heritage, and its knack for compelling story telling which he alongside a collective of musicians, have modernised and perfected. The folk-tinged album “Warnings/Promises”, the band’s last for EMI, struck a perfect balance between the old and new Idlewild songwriting ethic, and was the springboard for Roddy’s superb solo album “My Secret Is My Silence”. Roddy has become part of a burgeoning new scene of modern folk artists including Karine Polwart, Heidi Talbot and not forgetting Kris Drever and John McCusker, who’s album with Roddy, “Before The Ruin”, was a real triumph for the Navigator label, pushing boundaries the likes of Richard Thompson had set over thirty years before.
Post Electric Blues loses none of the power chord prowess of their earlier albums (thanks to legendary rock producer Dave Eringa), but sets new crossover standards. With guest vocals from Heidi Talbot, the multi-part harmonies pay homage to trailblazers such as Fairport Convention without sycophancy, whilst McCusker on violin provides that perfect extra element to “Take Me Back To The Islands”.
Available to buy
Kris Drever : Where The World Is Thin
DIV057LP
Album Information
180g Single LP, Gatefold Sleeve & CD.
18th December 2020
Georgia Ruth : Fossil Scale
DIV056LP
Album Information
180g Single LP, Gatefold Sleeve & download code.
3rd February 2017
Eleanor McEvoy : Out There
DIV010LP
Album Information
180g Single LP, Gatefold Sleeve & Hybrid SACD.
19th September 2016
Kris Drever : If Wishes Were Horses
DIV055LP
Album Information
180g Single LP, Gatefold Sleeve & CD.
3rd May 2016
Kris Drever : Mark The Hard Earth
DIV054LP
Album Information
180g Single LP, Gatefold Sleeve & CD.
3rd May 2016
Amy Duncan : Undercurrents
DIV053LP
Album Information
180g Single LP, Gatefold Sleeve & DL.
19th February 2016
Eleanor McEvoy : Naked Music
DIV052LP
Album Information
180g Single LP, Gatefold Sleeve & CD.
1st February 2016
Paper Aeroplanes : Joy
DIV050LP
Album Information
180g Gatefold LP & Download code.
6th April 2015
Eddi Reader : Vagabond
DIV049LP
Album Information
180g Gatefold LP & CD.
23rd April 2014
Polly Paulusma : Leaves From The Family Tree
DIV047LP
Album Information
180g Single LP & download code, Single Sleeve.
2nd September 2013
Roddy Woomble : Listen To Keep
DIV044LP
Album Information
180g Single LP, Printed Colour Inner plus CD.
9th April 2013
Danny & The Champions of the World : Hearts & Arrows
DIV035LP
Album Information
180g Single LP.
6th February 2012
Carrie Rodriguez : Love And Circumstance
DIV032LP
Album Information
180g Single LP, Gatefold Sleeve.
10th November 2011
Richmond Fontaine : The High Country
DIV031LP
Album Information
180g Single LP.
26th September 2011
Simone & Ian Felice : Lost Tapes Volumes I & II
DIV030DLP
Album Information
180g Double LP, Gatefold Sleeve.
26th September 2011
Joan Baez : Play Me Backwards
DIV029LP
Album Information
180g Double LP, Gatefold Sleeve.
26rd May 2011
Fionn Regan : The Shadow Of An Empire
DIV026LP
Album Information
180g Single LP.
2nd February 2011
Mark Olson : The Salvation Blues
DIV014LP
Album Information
180g Single LP : Gatefold Sleeve
Dolly Varden : The Dumbest Magnets
DIV007LP
Album Information
180g Single LP : Gatefold Sleeve