Artist: Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
Album: Scotland Yard Gospel Choir
Label: Bloodshot Records
Year: 2007
Reviewed by: Woodstock Slim

Over 50 musicians appear on The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir, including core players Ellen O’Hayer (the band’s cellist and vocalist who moonlights in Bright Eyes’ touring band,) bassist and recording engineer Mark Yoshizumi, drummer Jay Santana, violin player Ethan Adelsman and Sam Johnson of Mucca Pazza and Head of Femur on trumpet. The extended Scotland Yard family is comprised of a who’s-who of the Chicago underground music community, boasting
the likes of Sally Timms, Nora O’Connor and Kelly Hogan, who sing backup on the album, and Nate Walcott (Bright Eyes, Rilo Kiley), Matt Priest and Megan O’Conner (Canasta), and Brett Whitacre (Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers.)
The sound of The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir is it's own and there is little place in the word of sub-pop or Americana or anywhere really. It has carved it warm little place for itself somewhere to one side off on its own. I would say somewhere between Beirut your top 5 Americana outfits, I guess. Hard to place specially with them referring to themselves as a "chamber pop collective" ...urf? ...what's that?
The tracks are honest. Billy Brag comes to mind now and then even a few artists with James in their names. The sound is almost very early nineties, that strange feeling you get when you listen to Interpol. Nice.
With Welsh-born Elia as the ringleader, The Scotland Yard Gospel Choir is a free-spirited collective of musical visionaries who turn out exuberant and rough-hewn chamber pop, if that's what they want then, there it is...
Ellen O’Hayer brings a sweet melancholy to the sound of the Choir. Her voice does not haunt which I find rather nice. The songs are about our lives we only realise in other peoples songs. More of this please!
 

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