POLLercoaster Ride - ILM Artist Poll #94 - Belle and Sebastian - Discussion/Campaigning Thread

He's not been mentioned as an influence so far, but 'I'm Waking Up To Us' is pure Cat Stevens.

doesn't he have a song called "I love my dog" too? (Quoted in "I love my car")

Wow, why didn't I notice that "I Don't Love Anyone" rips Hootie & the Blowfish?

bbut u wrote that in your blog

I was listening to a shuffled B&S playlist on spotify and I decided to look up the lyrics of two songs: ‘Marx and Engels’ and ‘Lazy Line Painter Jane’. I thought I would get a better understanding about the girls in these two songs but there really wasn’t much more to gain from the lyrics. Then I thought maybe I’m just stupid for not getting it.

Eventually I remembered that I really don’t know what the lyrics are *all* about for a lot of good songs and that can be a good thing. Plus I really don’t need to dig deeper to enjoy a song I already enjoy. And a lot if times lyricists don’t actually write anything deeper. They might prefer to leave some things open-ended.

Re-listening to everything in preparation for my ballot and, wow, "Lord Anthony" just snuck up. Hadn't thought of it in years. What a great song!

Wow, why didn't I notice that "I Don't Love Anyone" rips Hootie & the Blowfish?

Gotta say I genuinely love "Only Wanna Be With You" *and* "I Don't Love Anyone". Sang the former to my (dearly departed) cat.

here is the great 'loneliness of the middle distance runner' tv performance mentioned upthread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_nlGHj8lKY

the future's looking colourful / it's the colour of blood, chaos, and corruption of a happy soul

Oh wow look at those cuties! Thanks for posting that: was great to see it again.

It has reminded me that I transcribed the lyrics with a few question marks ("the dog lies down?") and posted them to the Sinister mailing list. Then out of the blue I got an email from Stuart Murdoch saying yes, that's right. Sent from one of those Amstrad email phones. What a moment!

And yet you had the cheek to mock his line about his phone being "full of silicon chips"!

Ha ha, i was listening to that on the way in to work today and it made me smile again. I put it in a special category with "She's got it all on computer disk / Cause she's a marketing analyst". TECHNOSTRAUN.

Thanks for posting, devvvine, but it says it's blocked in the US :(
I'm seriously considering signing up for a VPN just so I can watch that.

Ah figured out how to get the link to show in the US (try this)

That looks like the same configuration of band members as they had on the tour where I first heard them perform that song... about 2000 or 2001. I think Isobel quit the band mid-tour, but Stuart David was already gone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZGVgg-QI6w

"Your Cover's Blown" is a top three track for me, lovely evolution. My underrated campaign nom.

it's such an outlier in their catalogue but absolutely one of their best moments

Verses of Stay Loose were definitely ripped off by Of Montreal at some point

Not that I remember much about the show, but I found a copy of the setlist they played in Chicago in 1998!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/18097936@N00/2574704491/in/set-72157605587414204

That was sooooo long ago.

I love the epic structure of Your Cover's Blown. Definitely making my ballot.

Cover’s Blown is one of 4-5 tracks in competition for #1 for me

First listen to Your Cover's Blown. It's got more than a whiff of William Onyeabor!

That version of Loneliness ^^ is lovely. The B A E F#/F#m progression is the most Belle and Sebastian of them all.

That’s the Stars of Track and Field chorus, right?

Listened to Tigermilk for the first time ever to vote for this poll. For some reason, I was expecting something of demo quality, light on instrumentation. It's actually quite filled out, probably more interesting arrangements than Sinister. It's sad that I never listened to "The State I Am In" before now; some other great tracks too

Also listened to Life Pursuit, which was nice, but only "We Are the Sleepyheads" really caught me, which is kinda XTC-like?

We Are The Sleepyheads is wonderful, for some reason it was picked as a weak track in some reviews though.

My "everyone go listen to this now" track today is Play For Today from 'Girls in Peacetime'

That’s the Stars of Track and Field chorus, right?

Among so many others, aye.

I always loved the Dirty Dream #2 video, even if its American-ness makes it a bit strange for B&S. Might be my #1 track by them too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvqhSMAlkhQ

Noted elsewhere, but that video is packed with folks from the Athens E6 scene, plus Corin Tucker (whose husband Lance Bangs directed).

a rarity i adore: their rendition of 'o come, o come emmanuel'

I always loved the Dirty Dream #2 video, even if its American-ness makes it a bit strange for B&S. Might be my #1 track by them too.

it's my no. 1, still, and i've almost finished my discography run. perfect in every way. the strings, the guitar jangle after the chorus, the insistent motown pulse, one of murdoch's best melodies, ugh

lyrics are perfect too
i'm lucky i can open the door and i can walk down the street <-- i think about this all the time for some reason

Love that the video is obviously the American South, but the people and the film stock and clothes and general kissy kissy tweeness makes it feel exactly like the other early B&S vids.

New @bellesglasgow album artwork leaked
pic via @pipterino pic.twitter.com/reVtpaSw1m

— Avalanche Records (@avalanche_edin) November 30, 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ljpDsU3raE

Will be ranking Electronic Renaissance highly. Wish they had explored this low-fi synth pop zone a bit more. "Monochrome in the 1990's / You go disco and I'll go my way" is a kind of mission statement for early B&S

i like this one a lot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfTj6ErRQtQ

xp “synth pop zone”

Try “Judy Is A Dick Slap - New Extended Version” from the Jeepster Singles Collection. I heard it on spotify the other day. It’s not on youtube. Definitely perked my ears up.

"Act of the Apostle" seems to be their least loved LP-opener. There are but a handful of enthusiasts in the archives and the band don't seem to perform it terribly often. But it's great. The chorus does strange things to my brain. I'm moving it higher up my list, dammit.

Christ, this is a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Nine of the ten songs on Tigermilk made my 50 song long longlist! Sorry, Mary Jo.

I haven't heard How To Solve Our Human Problems yet and am tempted to skip it to make this easier on myself (I won't).

If you were all to campaign for one song from the last 5 years, what would it be? I'd go for Fickle Season.

i like this one a lot

Yes! I was thinking I would be the only one to vote for Winter Wooksie.

I have a complicated relationship with whimsy and at best I find it suspicious at worst it makes me want to do bad things to my fellow man. For whatever reason, Belle and Sebastian short circuit my whimsy-hate. But, fwiw Winter Wooksie is a step too far. Even that title is putting my teeth on edge!

I totally hear you and that’s how I feel about 50% of their songs, but not that one

Haha, I think 'Winter Wooksie' was the earliest of their tracks I started skipping altogether!

Re Human Problems, I hadn't heard a note of it a week ago and it hasn't been a particularly easy nut to crack. One track that does stick out is "Cornflakes" but I can't decide whether that is just because it's odd. S Jackson sounds exactly like Stephen Pastel and Edwyn Collins in alternate sections (these just sound like particularly lazy Scottish references, but I can't un-hear it) and it's disjointed in an endearing, vaguely psychedelic way. If I can work out whether all this equates to 'good' it may be even be in my thirty. I'm certainly getting a lot a mileage of it, just trying to decide.

S Jackson sounds exactly like Stephen Pastel and Edwyn Collins in alternate sections (these just sound like particularly lazy Scottish references, but I can't un-hear it)

You mean it sounds like he needs tae gie his snout a guid blaw?

Ha!

From the last five years... maybe "The Cat With the Cream". Not least because that string arrangement is kinda unsettling, which is always appreciated.

feel like both of stevie's write about love songs ("i'm not living in the real world" and ESPECIALLY the b-side "last trip") are better than almost anything stuart brought to the table for that record, curious reversal

"perfect couples" is also great but i'm generally pro-stevie

also i am really considering voting for "winter wooskie," slight but so sweet

better than almost anything stuart brought to the table for that record

i take it back, "blue eyes of a millionaire" is wonderful. why is it a b-side

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK_FsSTa7hI

this song was written before tigermilk???? i guess that makes a lot of sense. i'd love to hear the eight minute version which only came out on the girls in peacetime vinyl box set