Search And Destroy: Belle And Sebastian

"gather up your wings and fly" by Felt is soooo proto-B&S

I'm curious as to what general consensus is wrt "EP version" of "The State I Am In" vs. "album version" of same

I listened to the EP version approx 100x more often than the album version, has a more naked and effective vocal performance but the arrangement on the album version is just deluxe loveliness

you said it imo, the "deluxe loveliness" of the album version seals the deal for me, though I do love the ep version too

were they pissed off about space boy dream? cause that's a parody of an arab strap song in everything but name (cool outro though)

― galaxy brian (voodoo chili), Tuesday, 27 November 2018 20:00 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

B&S had a competition to "do a window display for the "Boy with .." album, and it got won by someone who got aidan Moffatt to sit in the window etc. So, I guess it was a mixed blessing, or something.

And that's nothing compared to putting a photo of a different band entirely on the front of "Fold yr deckchair"

The State I Am In is all about the guitar coming in at 0.46, the EP version doesn't have that and I cannot forgive it

I like the addition of the rising bassline going into the choruses too, a bit of musical fellwalking

Cal Wiggum
1 month ago
This should have been played during the credits of Black Panther

[enjoyed this yt comment on "i'm a cuckoo (avalanches remix)"]

worst record, Fold Your Arms...(duh), worst track, 'Before the Sun' by a long margin (why God, why?!)

― Michael, Sunday, February 4, 2001 8:00 PM bookmarkflaglink

At their show last night, they played a neo-psych version of "Before the Sunrise" which was part Age of Aquarius and part Stone Roses, and went a long was towards rehabilitating the song.

Their setlist was heavy on tracks from Fold Your Hands, for some reason -- they're pretty self-aware about which songs/albums are fan favorites, so maybe they're making a concerted effort to improve that album's legacy?

In a recent interview about the Boaty Weekender, Stuart Murdoch said that he wants to play the entire "Fold Your Hands" album during those concert dates because the 20th anniversary of that album is coming up.

xp

Did it improve any of it for you? I did wonder when i saw the recent Manchester show setlist; SEVEN tracks from a non-classic old album.. wtf.

Also it's Stevie Jackson's 2nd least-liked album!
https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/kzgqj9/rank-your-records-belle-and-sebastian-guitarist-stevie-jackson

The new arrangement of "Before The Sunrise" was definitely a huge improvement, making me the think the primary problem with the original was that ponderous Leonard Cohen style arrangement.

They also played "Family Tree" and "The Wrong Girl", which I don't know if I'll ever come around on, and "Nice Day for a Sulk", which I've always enjoyed.

I was at the Manchester show and bloody love Fold Your Hands (#3 in the recent poll but probably #2 atm over DCW) so I was rather delighted. Especially "Women's Realm" and "There's Too Much Love" which are just absolute bangers and keep climbing on the list of my favs. Stevie's vocals really impressed me in general but maybe a little less so on "The Wrong Girl". The string arrangements throughout were just so on point though. Joyous evening.

Fold Your Hands totally deserves to be revisited/reappraised. It's B&S at their most baroque, plus "The Model" is their best song ever, imo.

i was just going to post, "The Model" is probably in my top 3 B&S songs of all time. incredible arrangement, incredible lyrics. i remember when the record came out and i was so shocked that many of my friends didn't like it!

There are a couple of good songs on it, sure, but no, please, FYHCYWLAP is really not a good album. The moment The Wrong Girl starts is their all-time nadir.

It beats the shit out of Dear Catastrophe Waitress.

Which was when I stopped paying attention. What a garbage record.

Nah, it's good. The Life Pursuit is good too. Even Storytelling is better than Fold Your Hands.

I will say my sister has exactly the same opinion as you. But she is also wrong.

DCW is totally unlistenable, it's all good.

Nah, it's good. The Life Pursuit is good too. Even Storytelling is better than Fold Your Hands.

eh, it's fine that y'all are wrong.

41,889 ILX posts can’t be wrong

DCW is just front-loaded with what seemed, in the recent poll here, to be a couple of their most divisive tracks. It's unfashionable to say it out loud, but the world is still waiting for a truly garbage B&S LP!

Surprisingly, for a forum that grew in large part from B&S fandom, there has been no mention yet of the band’s new song and video "Sister Buddha", part of a film soundtrack that will be released in September.

I must admit disappoint with the song, and it is also crazy that Stuart Murdoch chooses again to use the phrase "coffee bean" (in the singular) to complete a rhyme. It was already bad enough on "We were Beautiful". Inspiration seems to be running low.

Perhaps that is a reason that Fold Your Hands has risen in some fans’ rankings. At the time of its release, it was decried as an experiment in forced democracy, handing responsibilities over to the bandmates when people just wanted to hear Stuart Murdoch. But over time, Stevie and Sarah’s contributions have become rather more welcome, and indeed on the last couple of B&S albums a lot of the least inspired tunes IMHO were Murdoch ones.

The neo-psych version on Beyond the Sunrise might be the lengthy, mostly instrumental track I lost from my mp3 library a long time ago (vocals took a back seat). I’m still not convinced it was just some mislabeled audio galaxy download. It was realllly good.

FYHC has like 5 songs that are excellent on it ('Fought', 'Model', 'Realm', 'Family', 'Too Much Love') and the rest is straight up hard to enjoy.

That said, weirdly I feel similar about Boy With The Arab Strap, and I tend to go back to Fold Your Hands more than that album.

DCW is one of their best albums.

i agree with you for the most part, Dog Latin, though i really love "Waiting for the Moon to Rise," too, and would include it among those you mention.

would add don't leave the light on baby as well

^yup

With the exception of the last couple of albums, which I can't remember listening to, Fold Your Hands remains the Belle and Sebastian album whose entire track list scans as unrecognizable to me. Like, not ringing the slightest of bells.

it's got some of their best songs on it. Women's Realm and Too Much Love definitely so.

Is there a thread for albums like Fold Your Hands which are basically 50/50 brilliant/terrible?

chalet lines is a real nadir

Fold Your Hands is great though still, at best, their fourth or fifth best album. It's really good but the first three albums set a high bar. And those of you bagging on Dear Catastrophe Waitress are nuts.

And I was disappointed by Fold Your Hands when it first came out, which was compounded by the much worse Storytelling. I was ready to write them off but DCW and Life Pursuit resuscitated them for me, and when I eventually went back to FYH I realized it was much better than I'd originally thought. The comment about fans reacting to the democratization of the band is OTM.

Dear Catastrophe Waitress is their best album.

DCW is totally unlistenable, it's all good.

― blue light or electric light (the table is the table), Monday, July 15, 2019 12:01 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

This must be in jest; otherwise, this is blatant insanity. DCW isn't the best B&S album by far, but it sure as hell is the smoothest ride and most "listenable" (if we're trying to measure that in the first place) album they have to offer.

You sure picked an unlikely record to deeply dislike, Table. As much as that doesn't make sense to me, at all, I do admire that. It just leaves me wondering why you hate this album so much? Soooo many great tunes!

Can't imagine hating "If She Wants Me" or "Stay Loose" or "Wrapped up in Books" or "Lord Anthony" or...

Dear Catastrophe Waitress is their best album.

― EZ Snappin, Monday, July 15, 2019 2:34 PM (fifty minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

i've read a lot of wrong things on this board. i'd almost consider suggest banning for this wrong of a statement.

Do "Wrapped Up in Books" and "Piazza" and "Roy Walker" leave you completely cold, Table? Because damn that is some harsh shit man!

Christ DCW has a good 3 or 4 of my faves, i remain baffled by the hate.

And "Lord Anthony"? Better than anything they've done after that. xp

STAY LOOSE

- lock thread -

lol I'd love an explanation of how the album with If She Wants Me and I'm A Cuckoo on it is "totally unlistenable"

I just re-listened to it.

The production is too bright— vocals much too high in the mix, for one. It's very brassy.

I think the reason why I like FYH is because it seemed (and seems) like a sort of culmination of ideas that had been explored thus far taken to their logical and baroque extreme. DCW sounds like they decided to return to exploration, but kept the heightened production values of FYH, and it just doesn't sound right to me. It didn't when it came out, and it doesn't now.

Also, "Stay Loose" is probably the song i hate the *most* on DCW.

my favorite B&S is 'IYFS' btw

i've often thought that i just don't like anything after Stuart David left, and sort of left it at that.

Has anyone else listened to the new "Sister Buddha" track? Thoughts?