Homegame: An audiovisual dispatch

Slideshow: Homegame 2010 (opens in a new window)

Photos by Su Anderson
Audio recorded by Billy Hamilton

Homegame report: King Creosote's Numerous Bits of Strange

If you had taken the trouble to scan this year's Homegame lineup, you may have sensed that someone or something was missing. That intangible lacking ingredient? None other than Fence co-founder Kenny Anderson, aka King Creosote.

But the singer/songwriter wasn't away on any sabbatical. No, that would be preposterous - you couldn't stage a Homegame without its reigning monarch after all.

In reality he was busier than ever, performing a new album of material to a small room of fans seven times over the weekend - and that's when he wasn't springing surprise pub gigs, introducing The Bluebells, packing up PA systems and chatting to anyone who said hello. It's just that it wasn't publicised to all-comers, y'see.



UtR was lucky enough to find a space in one of his Sunday afternoon shows, also known as KC's 7th Bit of Strange. As Anderson explained to us (and to his mum and gran, this being Mother's Day) the idea is that the album is performed live and the audience members record it on whatever piece of gadgetry they have to hand (phones, cameras, etc, as long as it's unobtrusive).

Later in the day we catch up with Kenny in a brief moment of respite, and he tells us the concept arose through a growing sense of frustration with the regimented process of the industry. It was last year, watching his album sales decline while his press coverage grew, that he came up with the idea of a live album in the truest sense, and he sees Nth Bit of Strange as a means of giving his most dedicated fans something unique while bypassing the carefully dictated, somewhat artificial terms of an official album release.



We sat attentively through our session, and although the darkly humourous background visuals, delicious half-time oatcakes and one-off Homegame whisky blend certainly perked us up, it was the genuine quality of KC's songwriting and the impeccable musicianship of his band that really impressed. More than this, everyone in the room felt privileged to be part of it.



Our dictaphone, with battery rapidly failing, was switched on and off at the requested points, so in the spirit of the experiment, here are a couple of short snippets of what we managed to capture. (Be warned: the sound quality is truly dire - but maybe that's partly the point.)





A few hundred people recorded the sessions at the weekend, so expect more Bits of Strange to surface online in the coming days and weeks.

The Homegame diaries - Day 3, Sunday 14 March

Going by the rows of ghoulish faces that greet our arrival in Anstruther, day three at Homegame starts on a traditionally fragile note.

But, after a good night's kip, us early-to-bedders have more sprite in our step than a Berocca-snorting Sonic the Hedgehog and we vroom our way to the Hew Scott Hall to watch a new, delicate folk band called Findo Gask. Hang on, so this seated quartet who soothe pulsing craniums with piano, violin and trumpet are the same band who turned Legends into a forest of flailing limbs two nights ago? Apparently so, and in this pared-down, semi-acoustic set-up they really earn their musical stripes.

Next stop is the Erskine Hall to catch Adrian Crowley, who flutters out a ream of cushioning notes that are lapped up by the hurting hoards. Such charm-stained brilliance is a world away from the turgid ineptitude we face back at the Hew Scott. Hardsparrow may have gone heavy on the bevvy last night, but to forget the names, the lyrics and the chords of your own songs smacks of tragic amateurism. It’s probably slipped his mind that most folk paid £75 to get here.

Quickly ducking out of this cringing abomination, we break for a tantalising cheese and ham toastie down by the shore where we find some locals regaling tales of the Bluebells in their heyday. Back to the Erskine Hall, we catch the tail end of crackly toned Lisa O’Neill and sip on coffee awaiting Adem’s arrival with baited breath. Thankfully, he doesn’t disappoint.

Sultry of voice and genius of song, the Domino-signed tunesmith whisks away the minutes with an incandescent set. His stirring selection of laments, tinted with experimental asides, captivates even the most hyperactive kids and his final notes are met with a thunderous blast of stomping feet and slapping palms.

With James Yorkston still tied to his sickbed, we make hay for the Hew Scott to find The Pictish Trail orchestrating the crowd with a skitter of 30 second cuts. Sure, it's ramshackle fare, but Johnny Lynch’s engaging patter and ear for a song, no matter the length, sees it off as a roaring success that’s exactly what the wilting Anstruther masses ordered.

Splintering into two groups, one half of UtR makes its way back to Edinburgh in preparation for the working week. But before lighting the ignition we stumble across the brilliant Men Diamler pulling out all the stops during an impromptu street performance. Hollering to the sky like a sleep deprived Dickensian villain, the hyperactive troubadour mesmerises the ever-expanding mob before leading them inside the Town Hall with pied-piper aplomb.

It's a fantastic finale to our Homegame 2010. But for the last UtR hack standing there’s still more music to be heard ...

... While the less hardy journos speed back along the A92, the remaining UtR representative sticks it out. After nabbing Fence svengali Kenny Anderson for a chat about this year's Homegame in a rapidly darkening graveyard (more on his new King Creosote project later), there's just enough time to inhale another fish supper before heading to the Town Hall for arguably the weekend's most alluring clutch of acts.

After grinning through various sound problems (it seems Kev's bank of gadgets is just a bit too hi-fi for Homegame), Fence staples Found endear themselves with live favourite You're No Vincent Gallo (altered to Gummi Bako on this occasion) and set-closer Let Fidelity Break, which instigates the usual rash of shape-pulling down the front (at least, so it appears from the balcony at the back).

Having almost recovered from the haddock and potato binge, the arrival of Django Django warrants a closer, more involved position. The London band who formed at art school in Edinburgh fulfill their esoteric rep by turning up in safari-style khaki uniforms with skull-hugging, David Byrne hair. And the music is anything but staid, a heady mix of The Beta Band, Dick Dale and electro house. Shouldn't work but it does.

Underlining Fence's crossover mindset these days, Four Tet is the Sunday headliner, and arguably the biggest name on this year's billing. The in-demand Kieran Hebden wastes no time in rewarding his hosts' faith by crafting a set of nuanced electronica and thunderous house that sets heads nodding and, slowly but surely, bodies shaking. By the time he hits the summit of his laptronic masterclass the front section of the crowd is overtaken by the kind of hands-in-the-air evangelical rapture surely never before seen in the Town Hall of this hard-bitten fishing village.

And at that, UtR is all partied out. The more energetic Homegamers certainly aren't, spilling off towards the Smugglers Inn for more impromptu pub sessions or Legends for more beats'n'bleeps. Driving home along the dark back roads of the East Neuk, we're left to reflect on the fact that Fence have created something very special in a sleepy, overlooked part of Scotland, and it's all done for the love of music. In this age of profit margins and brand relationships, that's something to be celebrated.

Words: Billy Hamilton & Nick Mitchell Picture: Su Anderson

Under the Radar podcast #7

It was looking like it might never happen, but finally we have recorded our first podcast of 2010.

Two months away from the microphone has rendered some of our chat slightly nonsensical (what's new?), but the standard of music on this podcast is probably the best so far...

We were fans of The Japanese War Effort from the first time we saw him play at the erstwhile Bowery venue last year, and we open on 'Usain Bolt', taken from his new LP, I Will Leave You Now, And Two Loudspeakers Will Take My Place. The fastest man alive should be proud.

Another act to have graced this blog are The Unwinding Hours, the new band comprising one half of Aereogramme, and from their self-titled debut album we've chosen the spine-tinglingly epic 'Tightrope'.

We also turn our attention to this weekend's main event, the Fence Collective's annual Homegame festival in Anstruther, Fife. In anticipation of three days and nights of crammed pubs, fish suppers and maybe even the odd bit of music, we've got tracks from a trio of acts on this year's bill: Django Django, Findo Gask and Silver Columns.

And that's not all. There's more tuneage from the sickeningly talented Miaoux Miaoux and the ethereal Call To Mind (both of whom have new EPs on the way), as well as the obligatory 6 Music post-match analysis.

Hope you enjoy, and, as ever, let us know what you think below...

Play: Podcast #7


Running order:
00:00: The Japanese War Effort - Usain Bolt
04:04: The Unwinding Hours - Tightrope
08:58: Django Django - Storm
14:59: Findo Gask - Va Va Va
18:42: Silver Columns - Brow Beaten
25:10: Miaoux Miaoux - Dream On
34:02: Call To Mind - Breathe Pt. 1

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Podcast: Billy Hamilton, Nick Mitchell

Previous UtR podcasts

Bringing it all back Home

As the Fence Collective's much-loved musical jamboree takes over Anstruther for a sixth year, dedicated fan Milo McLaughlin tells us what to expect



Anstruther is a tiny fishing village in Fife which is renowned both for the best fish suppers in Scotland and for being the unlikely HQ of Fence Records. Alternately described as a record label and a collective, Fence’s ‘forget the music industry, let’s just make great music and let people come to us’ ethos comes to a head this weekend when around 700 fans descend on the area for their annual Homegame Festival. In fact this will be the biggest year of the festival since it began in 2004, when it started off with the capacity for only 115 people (and has promptly sold out ever since).

The Fence community is headed up by King Creosote, The Pictish Trail and their pal James Yorkston, all of whom are outstanding songwriters and performers who will be amongst the must-see acts this weekend. But the wider collective includes bands on other labels and from wide and far, so expect a massive variety of musical styles on the line-up – it’s not all chin-stroking folk you know.

Play: The Pictish Trail - I Don't Know Where To Begin


As well as the Fence head honchos, some of the expected highlights of this year include sets by Found, David Thomas Broughton, Malcolm Middleton, Chemikal Underground’s latest signing the Phantom Band and a solo acoustic performance by Frightened Rabbit frontman Scott Hutchison. There will also be a special set of Daniel Johnston covers by James Yorkston and Adrian Crowley, who have recorded an EP together especially for the occasion. And of course let’s not forget the lesser known but no less essential Fence acts who include Rozi Plain, HMS Ginafore and Gummi Bako amongst their number.

Play: Rob St John - Like Alchemy


It’s also great to see UtR favourites Withered Hand, Meursault, Eagleowl and Rob St. John representing Edinburgh’s burgeoning music scene, and some brilliant musicians we’ve only just discovered like Men Diamler, Animal Magic Tricks and Panda Su. Phew!

It may be short notice, but we like to keep you on your toes – so if you’re a spontaneous, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type person there are still last-minute tickets available (and details of the full line-up) over at www.fencerecords.com. Accommodation may be thin on the ground at this point but hey, surely a line-up this good is worth sleeping on the beach for? Your intrepid UtR correspondent hopes to see you there.

Play: Panda Su - Moviegoer


The Homegame takes place in Anstruther, Fife, 17 - 19 April.

Are you planning to go? Who are you looking forward to seeing?
Reading this after the event? Have fun?

The latest dispatch from Under the Radar

This month's Under the Radar column features a track by Edinburgh band eagleowl, as well as news on Broken Records' album progress, the Homegame festival in the East Neuk of Fife and the latest Chemikal Underground signings, The Phantom Band.

Read - and listen - here.

You can also read an interview with The Phantom Band here.