Press & Reviews
Reviews for "The Ossians - The Macpherson Tapes"
Released April 2008
Now this is a bit complicated. This mini-abum’s the last release of a
fictional band whose Highland tour is at the core of the new novel The
Ossians. Seven tracks of fiendish indie, sometimes sweet, sometimes
blisteringly noisy and sometimes too good never to be performed, ever.
Who knows, writer Doug Johnstone is also a member of Fence Collective
outfit Northern Alliance, and maybe he’ll relent and give this
mythical band a real-life existence. In the book, a music journalist
likens Ossians’ music to “Sparklehorse, Bright Eyes, Midlake, Rilo
Kiley or The Hold Steady”. But lead singer Connor adds Biffy Clyro,
Mogwai, Boards of Canada, King Creosote, Deus, Super Furry Animals,
The Arcade Fire and Sigur Ros into the mix.
You can hear most of those in there. The Haar – name of the evil east
coast fog that comes in to swamp a sunny day – is a haunting, hypnotic
song of regret, Geometry has echoes of Idlewild, My Evil Twin and
Justified Sinner have punky, fizzing guitars and some of the best
lyrics on the mini-album. Perfect listening as you read about the
Ossians’ disastrous Highland tour.
Margaret Chrystall, Highland News [4/5]
This album is a companion to a book - The Ossians - based on a
band's adventures. It's written by Doug Johnstone, a band member of
Scottish outfit Northern Alliance. This is a quirky collection of
songs with a Scottish rock edge. The Haar stands out for its gentle
melodic beauty.
Sunday Mail - [3/5]
THAT busy boy Doug Johnstone, not content with fronting the great Northern Alliance and writing a novel,
Tombstoning, has gone one better.
He's put the two together and has now written a book called The Ossians and released a mini-album under
their name.
While Northern Alliance helps you to float to better places, The Ossians are a rockier, rowdier bunch. Of
the seven songs, second tune RLS is how I wished Teenage Fanclub had been - harmonies with a bit of meat.
My Evil Twin starts with the wonderful lyric, "I know that you want to kill me tonight." While Shifting
Sands has a Merseybeat edge and again wonderful lyrics such as, "If I had a boat/I'd scuttle it for you."
Justified Sinner keeps up the eclectic feel of the album changing tack to include buzz-saw punk. In 1995,
U2 made an experimental album Original Soundtracks 1 but the label didn't like it and they changed their
name to Passengers - it's still one of their best albums. Doug has just done the same.
Daily Record, 28.03.08
THINGS could have turned out very differently for these guys if their volatile frontman Connor Alexander hadn't
blown their best chance for a record deal last year. The road to their demise is traced in Doug Johnstone's new
novel, The Ossians.
In fact, the band owe their entire fabricated existence to Johnstone, also a musician, who has breathed musical
life into his fiction creation with this mini-album, purportedly their demos and session material.
The recordings are as rough as a red wine hangover and Alexander has an on-off relationship with pitch, but there
are moments such as the hypnotic organ swirl of The Haar when you would wish The Ossians into existence.
The Scotsman, 28.03.08 [3/5]