Who are these people that prefer "The Life Pursuit" to "Dear Catastrophe Waitress", and why?

My favorite thing of anything of "theirs" is the Avalanches remix of "I'm a Cuckoo."

Then again, I'm the weirdo who actually enjoyed most of Fold Your Hands.

Still no huge B&S fan though. But the lack of danceability is a positive thing about their music. :)

But "FLF" is their finest single/video ever. except for .....

I think both albums are pretty good.

WAHT

Best album of aught six; B&S's "best since...". Murdoch's "We're in our 'You Can't Always Get What You Want' phase" bar-setting may well prove apt.

Better question: Who are these people who prefer TLP to IFS?

yes

I phrased that incorrectly: I meant 'attentional to detail', and (quite sepearate from this) an amateurishness in the recordings. It's the former that's lacking on DCW. Affecting the latter, I agree, is irritating ... although the Razorcuts are exempt in my book ;-)

u jokin' right?

they covered "whiskey in the jar" as a b-side to a single off tlp, forget which one.

no I ain't!

like I said..I never cared enough. B&S fans and my x's have that on me...

DCW is a better album, btw -- it retains their charm in the midst of the stepped-up production.

"sukie in the graveyard" = Stu Murdoch definitively convincing himself that he is Marc Bolan incarnate

you REALLY should listen again, jay

Now, I'm sure I'll eventually get over my distaste for the performance, and the record is certainly pleasant enough. But no matter how much I'm willing to forgive, it'll ever be any more than that. The early records have a deep, honest ache and beauty that can't be pinned entirely to "amateurishness" and which B&S haven't touched in a long, long time. (Plus better tunes.)

Huzzah!

I have a feeling this sentence is the more relevant one. Sad, really.

Still, the only part of the show that felt alive was when they hauled one of the adoring (sufferable, less than hideous) up on stage to duet with Stuart. She stole the show in a heartbeat. Made the actual band look like shabbily constructed androids.

I'm just listening to the Life Pursuit for the first time, and it's totally great! I was one of those people that thought they're discography was all diminishing returns. But I really like this! I wonder how it's going to hold up.

*their*

it's just occurred to me that TLP is the only belle and sebastian record i don't have.

it's also occurred to me i have too many B&S records considering i never listen to any of them

Until today I could have typed the exact same thing. And I still do, except now I have TLP, and I'll definitely be listening to it again! Hardcore B&S fans must be shaking their heads...

oh marc hogan how could i say no to you

to answer the original question i don't get it either.
especially seeing as IF SHE WANTS ME is their best ever song.

dom passantweemo

Yeah, one thing I've never been known for is my love of twee pop, huh?

Who are these people that prefer "The Life Pursuit" listening to Belle & Sebastian to "Dear Catastrophe Waitress" dying a slow, painful death, and why?

lol you like depeche mode

I would be more distressed if people preferred The Life Pursuit to B&S's first 3 full-length albums.

it kills boy with the arab strap though.

Personally I think DCW is one of Belle & Sebastian's very best. Not quite as good as Sinister or the 1997 EPs, but closer than you'd think. The Life Pursuit lacks DCW's graceful production and songwriting, but there's a lot of good on it anyway.

I have a hunch that the movie/musical Stuart Murdoch is working on is going to be awesome. Also, I listen to The Life Pursuit more often than any other B&S album aside from Tigermilk. Most of the songs on TLP are pastiches, but they're exceptionally good ones.

lets agree to disagree, but you were wrong about arab strap, that album is awesome in every way.

oh marc hogan how could i say no to you

-- jaymc, Friday, November 9, 2007 1:11 AM (16 hours ago) Bookmark Link

^^^drunk post

xp I love Arab Strap too but the weaknesses are more obtrusive on there, for one thing. Anyhow I still rate Fold Your Hands as at least my 3nd favorite full length so I never expect to agree with anyone on B&S threads ;)

I basically agree with mark h. But, like Adam Beales, when I saw them tour TLP they were totally charmless. Then I ended up loving the record. The live performance kind of pulled all their songs into this dull middle ground. But on record, with fewer songs and clearer production to distinguish them from one another, I think I value that cohesiveness a lot more. Sinister is my favourite, and that has a lot more focus than the other early stuff - I think that gives it its personality.

TLP has got focus as a whole (+consistency, the odd 'Best Of' contribution), where DCW kind of hops about before deciding what to do at the end. Its like Trevor Horn picked them up and threw them this way and that trying to see how they worked (that makes it sound more fun than I've ever found it). I kind of have FYHetc and DCW in the same bracket - they don't really hang together as albums, they've got some dross, and they've got some great stuff. If anything I prefer FYHC - its two albums I don't ever want get to the end of, and at least that one has better highs if I'm going to be hitting the skip button.

WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE THAT PREFER LISTENING TO BELLE AND SEBASTIAN TO DYING A SLOW, PAINFUL DEATH

AND WHY

I definitely prefer TLP over DCW for many of the reasons stated above.

DCW has several great songs and lots of filler. I've never been a big fan of the move to include more songs by or featuring members other than Stuart Murdoch.

TLP is much more solid, more consistent, more enjoyable. And it is particularly nice because it seems like a true break from their past work. They were in a rut and needed the change.

TLP is consistantly boring.

TLP is consistantly boring.

hay i fixed that one for you k? ^^

TLPB&S is consistantly boring.

hay i fixed that one again, the second time

<3<3 'the life pursuit' <3<3

recently realized how much latter day B&S sounds like late 70s/early 80s Kinks, lyrics/music/everything

can't believe it's been 4 years since these guys have released an album.

there's a new one on the horizon right?

DCW has greater highs, but TLP is more consistent.

The idea of B&S releasing an album in 2010 is kind of hard for me to get my head around.

The needless hair splitting in the thread title is hilarious.

DCW has greater highs, but TLP is more consistent.

it is more consistently rubbish, certainly. I re-listened to all my B&S stuff recently, and I was really stunned by how bad TLP is. Even the songs that are a bit better than the others would only count as filler on another B&S album.

I get the idea that a lot of B&S fans do not like DCW that much, but this might be more a factor of thinking they stopped being any good after IYBS.

I remember when DCW, being rather surprised by how good it was. I wish they had stopped then, it would have made a nice late career highlight and finisher.

DCW had a lot of nonsense on it though. TPS has some proper tunes - Dress Up In You is one of their better ballads, the Act Of The Apostle tracks are great too. And To Be Myself Completely is the best song by that one guy who isn't Stuart.

Love TLP, only intermittently engaged by their back catalogue. I'm in a more upbeat phase right now though, so as soon as I go back to mopey music I'm sure I'll begin to prefer Tigermilk etc. But since its release I'm always glad to hear a track from TLP crop up on shuffle but I can't say the same for DCW.

"Dress Up In You", "Sukie", "White Collar Boy", that other T-rex one, what was it, oh yeah, "Blues are Still Blue", "Another Sunny Day", to a somewhat lesser extent "Frog" and "Apostle I & II"... love 'em. This record feels to me like (not sounds like) one of the Smiths' better albums; I retrieve similar pleasures from it. I do recall there were a couple of stinkers on it, though.

I like TLP but I'm pretty sure it's my least favorite B&S album (BWTAS being the most favorite, obv)

TLP is the only B&S i still think to put on these days. i tried listening to sinister a few weeks ago and i just couldn't relate to it anymore.

Neither album compares well with their earlier albums, but TLP is such a dog of an album.

raises hand, i love The Life Pursuit always puts me in a good mood.

Who are these people that think any one LP that came out after 'The Boy with the Arab Strap' is the best Belle and Sebastian LP as opposed to those before and including TBwtAS?

People that focus on lyrics more than the music?

I think this may be true as I love lyrical construction and wordplay and TLP ranks high for these in my very blinkered tastes.

DCW has greater highs, but TLP is more consistent.
This is the correct take. I love them both equally

I don't think I'd listened to either since the poll a couple of years ago. A ridiculous track-by-track showdown after such a hiatus suggests that it might be a tie for me. I barely had to think at all to select a winner in each match, and the more annoying bits of each record are neatly eliminated, lol. A compilation of the victors could even be their best LP. Sorta. Maybe.

THE LIFE PURSUIT                 DEAR CATASTROPHE WAITRESS              WINNER
Act of the Apostle 1+2           Step into My Office, Baby              TLP - 
Another Sunny Day                Dear Catastrophe Waitress              TLP - 
White Collar Boy                 If She Wants Me                         - DCW
The Blues Are Still Blue         Piazza, New York Catcher                - DCW
Dress Up in You                  Asleep on a Sunbeam                    TLP - 
Sukie in the Graveyard           I'm a Cuckoo                            - DCW
We Are the Sleepyheads           You Don't Send Me                      TLP - 
Song for Sunshine                Wrapped Up in Books                     - DCW
Funny Little Frog                Lord Anthony                           TLP - 
To Be Myself Completely          If You Find Yourself Caught in Love     - DCW
For the Price of a Cup of Tea    Roy Walker                             TLP - 
Mornington Crescent              Stay Loose                              - DCW

Both albums are maybe a song or two too long but a compilation of the best of both would beat even Sinister

In my head DCW is my favourite, but looking at the two tracklistings it's very very close

And man, TLP sounds BIG today. It kinda rocks. Those horns at the end of "Sukie"...

"mornington crescent" and "dress up in you" are probably among my 5 or 10 most played B&S songs

Dress Up In You is definitely a career highlight.

Very keen on To Be Myself Completely as well. Maybe my favourite non-Murdoch song?

DCW has greater highs, but TLP is more consistent.
This is the correct take. I love them both equally

this is pretty much where I'm at in theory, but the reality is that I only ever listen to a few songs off either of them these days.

Very keen on To Be Myself Completely as well. Maybe my favourite non-Murdoch song?
Yeah, that's definitely my favorite Stevie Jackson song