So what is it about Belle and Sebastian?

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quix
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Re: So what is it about Belle and Sebastian?

Postby quix » 06 May 2009, 21:59

Nick wrote:
Harvey K-Tel wrote:Will listening to Belle and Sebastian improve my chances with the opposite sex?


Depends what kind of chicks you want to pull. If you're into girls who are ditzy, wafty, poetic and fey with a kind of pre-Raphaelite aesthetic going on then you're laughing.



nick, what are you talking about.

I love belle and sebastian and i take it up the bum. :D

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Re: So what is it about Belle and Sebastian?

Postby Minnie the Minx » 06 May 2009, 22:49

I really enjoy Lazy Line Painter Jane but all else I have heard reminds me of middle class sixth formers plaiting their hair and wearing over long skirts and putting stickers on their guitar cases.
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Re: So what is it about Belle and Sebastian?

Postby mentalist (slight return) » 06 May 2009, 22:53

Nick wrote:
Harvey K-Tel wrote:Will listening to Belle and Sebastian improve my chances with the opposite sex?


Depends what kind of chicks you want to pull. If you're into girls who are ditzy, wafty, poetic and fey with a kind of pre-Raphaelite aesthetic going on then you're laughing.


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Re: So what is it about Belle and Sebastian?

Postby Bungo the Mungo » 06 May 2009, 22:59

Minnie the Minx wrote:I really enjoy Lazy Line Painter Jane but all else I have heard reminds me of middle class sixth formers plaiting their hair and wearing over long skirts and putting stickers on their guitar cases.


I sort of agree, but there's also this, which is class:


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B
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Re: So what is it about Belle and Sebastian?

Postby B » 06 May 2009, 23:00

Like I already said, I never liked 'em

But last year when they were the backing band for the Vaselines they did a very good job of playing the songs and staying out of the way. So I give them props for that at least.

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Re: So what is it about Belle and Sebastian?

Postby mentalist (slight return) » 06 May 2009, 23:02

this one's great



They did a bit of a woopsie with Dog On Wheels which is Lee Hazlewood's Summer Wine.
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Re: So what is it about Belle and Sebastian?

Postby Prograstinator » 06 May 2009, 23:18

Prograstinator wrote:The Boy with the Arab Strap is the best album I can name and inarguably the best Scottish album. ;)


OK. Maybe a slight overstatement. The only reason I would say something like that would be to provoke an argument. So let me tell you why I like it.

It's their third album and it's the sound of a band still finding their feet, perfecting their sound, throwing off their naivety.

Between their second album and this one they released a string of E.P.s 'Dog on Wheels', 'Lazy Line Painter Jane' and '3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light' all in '97. They chose not to include any of these songs on TBWTAS, not because they lacked in quality, anything but. The simple fact is they were experiencing an incredibly rich creative period and found themselves in the somewhat enviable position where they could make the album exactly how they wanted it.They rounded of 98 with another E.P. ' again featuring new material, then they would take a break from recording.

With the exception of the title track (an indication of the ineffable pop that will not be repeated until five years later with Dear Catastrophe Waitress,) none of the songs demand your attention, no, these melodies are effortless and, like a nice dream, there is a good chance you'll forget about them after.

The album is available to stream stream on spotify
...

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Re: So what is it about Belle and Sebastian?

Postby The Write Profile » 24 May 2017, 09:41

Piggly Wiggly wrote:They were very RIGHT for me when I first heard them. It was those first three records - Tigermilk, If You're Feeling Sinister, and The Boy With The Arab Strap - which really hooked me. There was something really muted about them and their sound - nothing brash or striking - yet there was something which just sort of gradually drew me in. Very quickly, songs like "Stars Of Track And Field", "Dirty Dream Number Two", "Is It Wicked Not To Care", "Seymour Stein", "Chickfactor", and several others were just...I dunno, autumnal.



I recently picked up the first two records and I'm enjoying them, however I'm finding that Murdoch's delivery- which doesn't change in intonation or measure regardless of the subject matter- makes for an occasionally deadening listen. There's no denying his way with a lilting melody, and you also get the sense that he worked out his sound and influences very early on in the piece. Certain chord changes and lyrical twists appear through the self-imposed fog. But there is a bit of a sense that it's all very self-contained, which is fine, but it does mean (to these ears) they don't always connect as much as I'd like them to.

Some of the songs on those first two records are oddly moving, tho. If You're Feeling Sinister doesn't take a false step at all, but then again, it never really ventures that far out its prescribed sound. Then again, I like a lot of the artists which have influenced this (Love and Nick Drake, mid-to-late 80s Scottish indie), so I don't mind too much.
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Re: So what is it about Belle and Sebastian?

Postby pcqgod » 24 May 2017, 15:01

Pretty much agree with the original post. The music sounds fine but nothing really grabs me.
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Re: So what is it about Belle and Sebastian?

Postby joels344 » 24 May 2017, 19:14

I used to be a huge fan, but I've slowly lost interest in their music over the years. I find that their music doesn't hold up very well under multiple replays, because their catchy tracks tend to become unimaginative and stale after many listens. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy If You're Feeling Sinister and Tigermilk. But that whole indie pop sound has been done better by bands like Tindersticks, The Smiths and The Go-Betweens.
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Re: So what is it about Belle and Sebastian?

Postby The Write Profile » 25 May 2017, 03:31

joels344 wrote:I used to be a huge fan, but I've slowly lost interest in their music over the years. I find that their music doesn't hold up very well under multiple replays, because their catchy tracks tend to become unimaginative and stale after many listens. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy If You're Feeling Sinister and Tigermilk. But that whole indie pop sound has been done better by bands like Tindersticks, The Smiths and The Go-Betweens.



I think one of the issues is the fact that Murdoch doesn't really change his intonation from song to song, so it means that the words and vocals has the tendency to wash over in extended plays. If You're Feeling Sinister is largely saved by its often acerbic and knowing lyrics and the occasionally inventive arrangements, but compared, to say, the Smiths or even the Go-Betweens, it's pretty claustrophobic. That's not too much of a problem, in the sense that I still enjoy listening to them, but it lacks a certain fervency.
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Re: So what is it about Belle and Sebastian?

Postby joels344 » 25 May 2017, 14:16

The Write Profile wrote:
joels344 wrote:I used to be a huge fan, but I've slowly lost interest in their music over the years. I find that their music doesn't hold up very well under multiple replays, because their catchy tracks tend to become unimaginative and stale after many listens. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy If You're Feeling Sinister and Tigermilk. But that whole indie pop sound has been done better by bands like Tindersticks, The Smiths and The Go-Betweens.



I think one of the issues is the fact that Murdoch doesn't really change his intonation from song to song, so it means that the words and vocals has the tendency to wash over in extended plays. If You're Feeling Sinister is largely saved by its often acerbic and knowing lyrics and the occasionally inventive arrangements, but compared, to say, the Smiths or even the Go-Betweens, it's pretty claustrophobic. That's not too much of a problem, in the sense that I still enjoy listening to them, but it lacks a certain fervency.


Those are good points. His delivery makes many of their albums monotonous due to his often one-dimensional style. On If You're Feeling Sinister, you have some interesting structures and arrangements, which almost forces Murdoch to attempt different vocal fluctuations. The Boy With the Arab Strap is probably my least favorite album by Belle and Sebastian. This could also be due to its muddled and spacey production aspect, but that certainly does not work well with Murdoch's uniform delivery on that album.
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