does anyone still like Belle and Sebastian?

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.

B & S have become an easy target now that they are no longer making the same kind of music and having the impact that they had a few years ago, when they were as loved as deeply and pointlessly as any schmindie band had been for years.

They are what they are - an oasis of mostly gorgeous sweet, inoffensive and occasionally beautiful well-crafted pop at a time when there is little like it around, and they should be cherished for it.

ps: I think Stuart Murdoch ought to give up trying to combine management duties at Wimbledon with leading B & S - it's affecting his workload !

this is worth emphasising - they have become such a kickarse big fun live band it's almost hard to believe, especially if you saw ye liveliest awfulnesse that was their gig in Dublin's Olympia (looooong gaps between songs, manifestly bad vibes onstage, Stuart smashing his guitar, etc.).

that said, Isobel leaving loses the band an air of entertaining onstage mentalism.

A bit of 'Ashes To Ashes' at the beginning, too.

well it's clearly spare snare

I still love everything prior to that last album which I hate.

This is straight up madness, as The Life Pursuit was pretty much the only thing by B&S worth hearing since If You're Feeling Sinister.

The Life Pursuit was pretty much the only thing by B&S worth hearing since If You're Feeling Sinister.

you just aren't down with that orchestral pop, THATs the true madness. it's beautiful, imo

The blurb was from the HMV website, folks.

Often referred to as the 'greatest Scottish band ever',

You could remove the word "Scottish" from there and you'd get no argument from me.

wit & sebastian

it just strikes me as kind of ummmmmm that a band as derivative as Belle & Sebastian would be championed as the best specimen of anything

is there anyone ever who didnt like If You're Feeling Sinister?

yes kevin, there are many people in this world who don't like that album

Probably most people, if you could play it for every person in the world.

that's a good point

That list of the best Scottish band upthread is a peyle of shyte, fer fooks sake. No BMX Bandits, no cred.

surely most people would like the eps more than sinister

or the life pursuit

Actually, I've found the best B&S album to play to someone whose never heard them is Dear Catastrophe Waitress.

That's because Dear Catastrophe Waitress is easily their very best album. (ducks & runs..)

This is straight up madness, as The Life Pursuit was pretty much the only thing by B&S worth hearing since If You're Feeling Sinister.

― Johnny Fever,

you are deaf

^^^ werd

whenever i'm in a record shop in glasgow and they're playing some unspeakable shite over the sound system, it always turns out to be belle and sebastian

I saw a review this morning, seemed to suggest that the christmas session was an extra on CD2..

Oh, I see what they've done...

The Belfast show was a christmas gig.

Their b-sides and EP collections feature their best work. Hooking up with Trevor Horn was a bad idea in the long run, but where else would they have taken their sound? Oh well, still have the early music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJbIqiBNQX0

Such a great live band. The audience is getting older and surlier though. Someone threw spitballs at me for standing & dancing when they played at a seated concert hall in Toronto last year :(

the youtube that I posted is strangely amazing btw

I can't stop watching it