Pitchfork

Break out the librarian glasses and the Scottish stereotype of your choosing, kids: it's time to get literary in the highlands. See, indie rockers and their fans have always been a bookish sort, so the marriage of writers and rockers on the forthcoming Ballads of the Book compilation seems only natural.

Idlewild's cartoonishly-named frontman Roddy Woomble conceived of the idea following his band's collaboration with Scottish scribe Edwin Morgan on their 2002 set The Remote Part.

"Why not have a bunch of (mostly) Scottish musicians interpret the writings of Scottish authors and poets in one raging orgy of liberal arts awesomeness?" he thought.

And so he set up a chatroom (read: pure conjecture) and invited all his music pals and his literature buddies to pair off. After a bunch of OMGs and LOLs, pair off they did. Before he knew it, Roddy had Vashti Bunyan, ex-Arab Strap gents Aidan Moffat (with the Best Ofs) and Malcolm Middleton, ex-Delgados Alun Woodward (as Lord Cut-Glass) and Emma Pollock, Aereogramme, Sons and Daughters, Trashcan Sinatras, Mike Heron (The Incredible String Band), Alasdair Roberts, James Yorkston, King Creosote, and Karine Polwart commingling with the likes of Morgan, Ian Rankin, and Alasdair Gray.

Hence, the 18-track Ballads of the Book arrives March 5 via Chemikal Underground Records, with support from the Scottish Arts Council. To celebrate, Roddy's recruited a number of Ballads contributors for a concert gala, going down tonight (i.e., pretty much right now) at Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall. Performers include Idlewild, Yorkston, Heron, Polwart, Roberts, and more.

Ballads of the Book:

01 Mike Heron & John Burnside - "Song for Irena"
02 De Rosa & Michel Faber - "Steam Comes Off Our House"
03 James Yorkston & Bill Duncan - "A Calvinist Narrowly Avoids Pleasure"
04 Foxface & Rody Gorman - "Dreamcatcher"
05 Lord Cut-Glass & Alasdair Gray - "A Sentimental Song"
06 Aidan Moffat and the Best Ofs & Ian Rankin - "The Sixth Stone"
07 Norman Blake & John Burnside - "Girl"
08 Karine Polwart & Edwin Morgan - "The Good Years"
09 Sons and Daughters & A.L. Kennedy - "The War on Love Song"
10 Alasdair Roberts & Robin Robertson - "The Leaving"
11 Strike the Colours & Rody Gorman - "Message in a Bottle"
12 Aereogramme & Hal Duncan - "If You Love Me You'd Destroy Me"
13 Malcolm Middleton & Alan Bissett - "The Rebel on His Own Tonight"
14 Trashcan Sinatras & Ali Smith - "Half an Apple"
15 Vashti Bunyan & Rodge Glass - "The Fire"
16 King Creosote & Laura Hird - "Where and When"
17 Emma Pollock & Louise Welsh - "Jesus on the Cross"
18 Idlewild & Edwin Morgan - "The Weight of Years"