does anyone still like Belle and Sebastian?

I like the more eccentric synth stylings on Tigermilk best, but again, I'm not very passionate about them.

And I like Stevie Jackson's voice as well. Chickfactor is great.

in their weaker moments, belle and sebastian make me lament the death of nick drake in the same way that puddle of mudd and staind make me lament the death of kurt cobain.

*runs for cover*

next time: me, hstencil, and shakey mo will karaoke it over "century of elvis".

(the above 's from the ile what-are-you-listening-to-today thread, though as to whether mark s did dig 'em or not... go figure)

The absolute worst B&S song is the duet that Isobel and Stevie sing on Fold Your Hands...I think it's called "Before The Sunrise". That song is painfully bad, I often think of it as being one of the worst songs I've ever paid to own a copy of.

I look forward to the *sound* of future B&S records, even if the songs might be a bit flimsy. I liked Storytelling quite a bit and I got the (perhaps entirely mistaken) impression that it was a Stevie-driven thing.

Do you like Bernard Sumner too?

Or: the pinefox is to B&S as Roy Hattersley is to 'socialism'.

I first heard it at THE VICAR'S HOUSE. (The Old Vicarage - it's just inside THE PHOENIX PARK.) It sounded surprising - as in: 'jeez, what's this - a new B&S record??'. It seemed to me to have arrived very suddenly.

It has some fine tunes. That comment looks blander than it should. It really does have one or two fine tunes.

Swearing should be banned from pop song titles, though.

it also has samples of dialogue from the film. They are great, particularly the one about how great New Jersey is. Having heard these snippets of dialogue I feel that the best of the film has been extracted for me. Thanks B&S!

tigermilk = the first one
if you're feeling sinister = the 5000 spirits....
arab strap = hangman's beautiful daughter

and after that will come a bunch more, none that are actually TERRIBLE but nothing essential or particularly inspired.

On the original question: only a handful of tracks post-Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance have really stuck with me, so maybe I'm pretty much off the wagon now?!

Their setlists have been quite varied in recent years such that I'm pretty sure I'd still enjoy the "just surprise me" vibe a large-ish discography allows more than, um, dare I say a more 'nostalgia-oriented' show!? (But I don't pretend to know how to survive in the 21st century music business.)

Having said that, a handful of late-ish tracks like "We Were Beautiful" *do* actually rank amongst their best for me, if no one else lol.

Anyone know if Isobel & Stuart D. are involved?

That would be a dealmaker for me.

bird--to clarify, I called and asked about fees, but bought in person. unfortunately they weren't selling the 2 night passes (which they didn't mention on the phone) and only had 1 ticket left for the second night (!)(they said more might be released at some point with the whole 2 night pass deal). saved enough money that I'm fine waiting to find a second ticket that I want for night 2.

hate buying this far out, but telling myself I'll love being up there both nights!

Which is the best of the last few albums? I'm going to the Manchester 'Tigermilk' live show next year, but I think I tuned out after Girls in Peacetime. I haven't heard a note of the last two I don't think.

Both the last two are just average at best, imo. Late Developers is the better of the two but that’s not meant as a major recommendation.

Thanks btw, pgwp!

smdh at a thread called “does anyone still like belle and sebastian?” and it’s the from 2003 when they made their best album and were arguably at the apex of their career.

dear catastrophe waitress was their 6th lp, and the first one i didn't buy.

Snrub: this thread was started 6 months before Dear Catastrophe Waitress was released. Their last well-regarded album before it, The Boy With the Arab Strap, was coming on five years old. I think it was very fair to wonder if their best days were past them in early 2003. Unless your post was less a complaint and more a "huh, who'd have guessed"

you can be reasonably certain there were people on Indiepop-L who got off the B&S bus around If You're Feeling Sinister

I see. (x-post)

If I had posted when the thread was new (instead of a few months later) I feel I may have said something like "the contents of the Jonathan David and I'm Waking Up to Us singles plus that last Peel Session makes for a pretty interesting make-believe post-Fold Your Hands album, however."

Is Stuart David's book bad? Is Stuart Murdoch's book also bad?

Did Isobel write a book? I'd read it.

Sinister is an almost-perfect album, but DCW is my favourite

DCW is certainly the last album I loved. I didn't like the LIfe Pursuit at all so it was kind of a surprise.

TLP is strong, I'd say. Objectively as good as DCW if we're going song-for-song even though the tone is slightly less playful

I loved "Girls in peacetime.." but it did feel like time to get off the bus.

Welll....

Nobody reads anymore, neither my posts nor wayward books by indies.

"Come On Sister" from 2010's Write About Love is as strong as any song in their catalog.

I read the Stuart David book In the All Night Cafe and remember enjoying it. Stuart Murdoch's book I gave up on after a chapter or two. I don't remember why, the writing was bugging me

thank you erasingclouds <3

I'm only really here for the albums up to and including DCW, but the poll did lead me to 'Play for Today', which I now consider their best song.

nice, it's one of my favourites too, doesn't do itself any favours by taking like 5 minutes to get going though

My personal ranking - top tier albums I return to regularly; spotty but still some excellent stuff; and mediocre to bad

Sinister
Arab Strap
DCW
Tigermilk
Life Pursuit
—
Fold Your Hands
Write About Love
Girls in Peacetime
—
A Bit of Previous
Late Developers
Storytelling
Bagnold Summer

I love the slow unfolding of 'Play for Today' - makes the payoff even more powerful, imo.

Bagnold Summer = bad soundtrack for a terrible, terrible film.

oh it's not a Cure cover?

scttnnt, agree with that list 100%, and everything collected on Barman in the top rank too.

Oh, the movie...

I watched it with Alice, just before she started her music degree course. Kinda felt it was an introduction to what she'd be doing...

Anyway, I enjoyed it.

Lots of other people didn't...

Best Letterboxd Review of Stuart Murdoch's Debut Feature Film, "God Help the Girl".

still haven't brought myself around to watching that

EPs box set or Push Barman to Open Old Wounds would have be in my top four if it counts.

(along with tigermilk, DCW, and sinister of course)

xposts it's very amateur, some are very good (Olly Alexander) some are doing their best, shall we say?

You'll either find it charming, or, um, the opposite of charming...

Reminds me of that Boaby skit where Boab, Alan McGee and Stuart Murdoch do a Q&A at a college in the US...

Stuart begins a long answer on his film, "God Help the Girl".

BOAB (to Al): Here, whit's this aboot a film?
AL: He directed a film.
BOAB: Whit, that wee rat? Whit's it aboot?
AL: Glasgow, supposedly.
BOAB (suddenly interested): Glesga?

Boab decides to listen in to another question on the film.

AUDIENCE MEMBER: Uh, I just wanna, um, bring up one of the, uh, criticisms levelled at your movie in certain quarters...
STUART (sitting forward in his seat): Mmm-hmm?
AUDIENCE MEMBER: ... uh-huh... the criticism was that there was a lack of diversity in your portrayal of Glaz-gow, specifically a lack of African-American characters and faces and, um.... how do you answer that, um, criticism?
STUART (squirming slightly): Well, I think that's a... (*clears throat*)... a good question... em... I mean, Glasgow isn't as ethnically diverse as most American cities...
BOAB: Bollocks.
MODERATOR: Pardon me?
BOAB: There's loats o' Asians in Glesga fur a stert.
MODERATOR: Really? I had no idea, do you have... like a Chinatown?
BOAB: Ye whit?
AL (to the moderator): He means South Asians.
BOAB: Aye, well a loat o’ them dae live in Pollokshields and Govanhill but ye dae get some north o' the river an' aw.
AL: Glasgow might not be that ethnically diverse, but it has got one significant group that seemed to be absent from your film, Stuart, if I may say so.
STUART: Oh, really? Who?
AL: Glaswegians.