Like the name Ian Turnbull of Broken Records has chosen for his side project, there are two elements to each track title on this album: one that references a location usually in Edinburgh, another in brackets that hints at a more personal starting point for the music.
And herein lies the beauty of Turnbull's instrumental creations: he finds something that's subtly moving and unexpectedly universal in what was, by his own account, an emotionally turbulent period of his life. Even within each individual piece there is the tension of juxtaposition: the incisive ping of a glockenspiel against the fuzz of guitar on Café Royal (Difficult Conversation) or the undulating drone beneath the organ's spiritual uplift on Kitchen 3.06am (Go To Sleep Little Guy). Textures mix and each track becomes a moment of tangible expression, a collage of sounds and feelings that, even as fragments, connect with the listener. Turnbull has namechecked Gavin Bryars and Brian Eno; I'd place some bits closer to home, near Mogwai's score for The Returned.
Alan Morrison
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.Â
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.Â
That is invaluable.Â
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article