Among the many special events and launches taking place at Celtic Connections 2020 is the launch of Return To Y’Hup: The World of Ivor Cutler by Citizen Bravo, Raymond MacDonald and Friends which is released on Chemikal Underground on 24 January 2020.
There is to be an exclusive Full Band Performance on Wednesday 29th January at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall. A glance through the ‘friends’ that are appearing on this album to help resurrect the mythical island of Y’Hup – a territory which Ivor Cutler dreamt up and described throughout his early recordings will be enough to persuade you that this ging to be a one-off unique experience which is described as “A celebration of the life and work of an artist of unrivalled musical and poetic vision. This ambitious project is a pioneering experiment in the field of imaginary archaeology: a sonic conjuring of a decades-old fictional island.”
Before you read on, take a listen to “Here’s A Health For Simon” penned by the oblique musical philosopher of Y’Hup…
The island has been populated with distinct Scottish voices alongside new arrangements of Cutler’s music, featuring a large number of high profile guest artists, including: Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai), Tracyanne Campbell (Camera Obscura), Kris Drever (Lau), Alex Kapranos (Franz Ferdinand), Stuart Murdoch (Belle & Sebastian), Pictish Trail, Emma Pollock (Delgados), Karine Polwart, Rick Redbeard (Phantom Band) and James Yorkston. Visiting the island as distinguished guests are two English vocalists, Phyllis King (Ivor Cutler’s longtime companion and collaborator) and living legend, Robert Wyatt.
Noting Cutler’s absence from an exhibit about the history of Scottish pop music at the National Museum of Scotland, Matt Brennan (Citizen Bravo) and saxophonist/composer Raymond McDonald (Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra) decided to set the record straight. They wanted to pay homage and re-affirm Cutler’s status as a national treasure, uniting their two very different two musical backgrounds in a freaky and fruitful collaboration. The core team was completed by producers Malcolm Benzie (eagleowl and Withered Hand) and Andy Monaghan (member of much missed Frightened Rabbit).
On the one hand, Mr Cutler’s absence from the pop music canon makes sense: he had always worked on the fringes of popular culture rather than at its centre. Typically accompanying himself on nothing more than a pedal-operated harmonium throughout his career, his oeuvre lay firmly outside the narrow conventions of chart pop. On the other hand, however, Ivor Cutler had always maintained a singular presence in the landscape of British music, and was much loved by key musical subcultures that came and went over his lifetime. Having performed sporadically on BBC television and radio in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Mr Cutler was an acknowledged influence on the Beatles and appeared in the Magical Mystery Tour film. Over five decades of recordings, concerts and broadcasts (he was invited by John Peel to do more sessions than any other artist apart from the Fall), not to mention numerous volumes of prose, poetry and children’s books, Ivor Cutler earned a reputation as a completely unique creative voice.
Although he was born in Govan in 1923, Cutler frequently claimed to be a citizen of neither Scotland or England, but Y’Hup – the richly wooded island with vigorous flora and fauna where he held the title of oblique musical philosopher. Return To Y’Hup is therefore an effort to summon Cutler’s imagined world and populate it with inhabitants, an ensemble who reflected the richness and diversity of Scotland’s contemporary musical landscape. Since all the featured artists on this album are self-avowed fans, they arguably also represent Cutler’s cultural descendants. As well as the artists previously mentioned, the album also includes; Sarah Hayes (Admiral Fallow, You Tell Me), Rachel Sermanni, Zoe Graham, Duglas Stewart (BMX Bandits), Heather Leigh, Adam Stafford, Future Pilot AKA, Megan Airlie, Limelight Ensemble, Chris Thomson, Kapil Seshasayee, Jo Mango and Anna Miles.
Side A contains new renditions of all the songs that appeared on Cutler’s 1959 debut EP recording on the Fontana label titled, appropriately, Ivor Cutler Of Y’Hup. It was rounded out with additional tracks from his early period that explicitly referenced the island and the creatures that inhabited it. Side B is filled with various favourites from Cutler’s later catalogue and a curatorial emphasis on tracks where the lyrics focused on his enchanted relationship with the more-than-human aspects of the world: trees, paths, countryside, and critters (including, of course, bugs).
As per the wishes of Ivor’s son Jeremy Cutler, proceeds from the album will be donated to a registered mental health charity called the Philadelphia Association (founded by Scottish psychiatrist – and Cutler’s contemporary – RD Laing). The album will be available on limited edition blue marble vinyl, CD, and digital release.
Tickets: https://www.celticconnections.com/event/1/return-to-yhup-the-world-of-ivor-cutler
Return To Y’Hup: The World of Ivor Cutler is released on 24th January, 2020. It is available on 180gsm blue marble vinyl and includes a download card for 320k MP3’s.
Pre-Order the album via Chemikal