From Scotland with Love

Superb compilation of Scottish archive film broadcast in Scotland on BBC2 ahead of UK transmission and DVD release. As usual with these compilations it recycles footage from a huge selection of sources, but is very well selected and mixed together and full of references - I'm now on my 4th viewing and still finding stuff. Lots of scenery, boats, trains, trams, cars, people making things (ships, stockings, rifles, linoleum, whisky, mint humbugs and whatever else), people enjoying themselves (seaside, holidays, funfairs), people working hard (factories, farming, peat-cutting, fishing, schools), people protesting/marching for major causes, people just living their lives, and so on. No Scottish clichés, a good sense of humour, and never boring. Lots of insights - for instance how much until the 50s the home was just a place where people only really ate and slept - fun and entertainment were things done outside with your friends in pubs and dances and picnics and stupid beach competitions. Every so often something really poignant gets thrown in (wars, deserted crofts, emigrations) to jolt the mood back - one of the most powerful was a blink-and-miss-it moment in a sequence of kids running round and splashing on beaches on Arran, which cuts to a polio girl with leg braces unable to join in. Soundtrack by King Creosote - his music usually leaves me lukewarm, but this soundtrack is very effective and possibly his best stuff yet.

Very highly recommended for anyone interested in Scotland, and worth watching more than once.

The images captured in this beautiful film of my country are wonderful to me and alas my parents would have been amazed to recall. I feel like an angel recalling memories of the nation through hard time and being grateful for coming through it all and being prepared for what life could throw at me again, Thanks to all who brought all this together for me, my past and my future peers. I can see so many images in this that are so easy to transport my self to and feel,smell,good and bad but most of all feel. Hard work built our nation on a monstrous levels for all the world to see. The weekend spending the money-we earned on just that wee bit magic that brought our dreams and hopes to fruition snd started the next generation that goes on. Here's hoping we never forget our past brought to us through our cherished memories and the talents and skills of the people who brought all these magical memories together. Thankyou, Brien.

Beautiful romantic and fragile. A love letter to Scotland aided by an excellent soundtrack. I loved it.

Being a huge fan of King Creosote i was excited to see him perform this album in full, accompanied by a backdrop of the archive footage. It did not disappoint. King Creosote ( Kenny Anderson) is for me one the great singer song writers of our time and criminally under rated. His beautiful soft vocal is a pleasure to the ear, his delivery is hypnotising and draws you in making listening to him feel like an intimate moment shared only between him and you. His musicianship is second to none, being a multi instrumentalist and compliments his vocal style perfectly. The film and the score covers love, loss, migration, work and play with some truly incredible film moments of old Glasgow trams, or the men down the ship yards, as well as footage of beaches being jam packed with day trippers. For those of a certain age it's a wee trip down memory lane, for those such as myself who were born into a world bathed in colour it's a reminder of times gone, when our Parents or Grand Parents were young and carefree, playing in the streets or out earning a wage to keep food on the table. There's some real fun in here, one of my particular favourite moments on the album i s the song 'Largs' where he's singing about being down the beach, chatting up the lassie at the ice cream stand but being turned down constantly. If you haven't watched this film yet or even listened to the album then what are you waiting for? Get it top of the 'to do' list.