Jackie Balfour - Chip Pan Fire (Cooking Vinyl)

Kidman reviews the spoken-word album by Leven's fictional twin Jackie Balfour, one of two simultaneous Leven releases. Part 1: episodes from Balfour's first job as a local reporter at the notorious “Glenrodent Gazette” in Fife in the mid-1960s, interrupted by piano interludes by Michael Cosgrave based on Scottish dance forms. Part 2: three well-known Leven stories – Sting's Dead (live before a German audience), Stupid Local Boasts (from the Rankin show at the Edinburgh Festival 2004, Rankin as “straight man”) and Sex Tourist (club in Sydney, 2001). Verdict: affectionate and amusing, but suited only to a small audience.