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On the Shelf 139: Belle & Sebastian
Apr. 8th, 2015 06:39 pmI feel like Belle & Sebastian will be my last greatest obsession.
One reaches a certain age and there's no surprises any more. You can only hear and discover, say the Clash, the Smiths, the Ramones, etc once.
That generally (for most) is the teen years and is usually followed by the new obsessive quickly looking up the discography.
Belle & Sebastian fits the mold for a few reasons. I had reached my mid-20s, moving out of adolesence. Belle & sebastian had put together a discography that was laregly undiscovered by American ears until 1998, but consisited of hard-to-find import EPs. Also, the band made a niche that was unlike anyone else.
It's impossible to mention the band without going for the Smiths reference, but there was more to them than that. They were as much influenced by Nick Drake (and even Donovan-ish) style folk, the Postcard records bands of the 80s, the weird are bands like the Left Banke and Burt Bacharach inspired pop.
It's hard for me to imagine that I would be as charmed with any new band the way I was with B&S, and in finding such a unique sound, as well as having the pleasure of discovering this lost treasure trove of songs.
(There are probably other bands. For example not so much for me, but for my friends, Guided by voices was a similar epiphany of an unique sound and unheard music.)
I was a big fan, but have not been as excited for the last few albums.
In that case, I want to calls this a bit of a return to form, though, some may disagree.
There is a train of thought that the band lost their mojo when Isobel Campbell left the band. We are told that shouldn't matter and she wasn't that integral part of the band's creative process (though as vocalist and instrumentalist, one must argue she had a role). There is another train of thought, which is a standard one for rock critics that when Stuart Murdoch worked out some of his personal demons, then the art suffered.
In any case, I wasn't that excited about the last couple of albums, but this one has me back in step. It feels like it has the same elements that made me love the band in the first place.
Absence may make the heart grow fonder. It is true that the album probably benefits in that it is the first album since 2010, and it has been almost a decade since The Life Pursuit.
This let Murdoch do a few things outside of the band, and certainly, the band hasn't tried to be over prolific.
A big deal has been made of the dance elements on this album. I find that a bit overblown. There is certainly a dance element, maybe none more so than the single "The PartyLine" and it follows through the album, but the dance element blends in quite well with the bands usual pop elements.
One thinks it ironic that such doom and gloomers would use dance beats, but when you hear the record, it isn't altogether different than say St Etienne or even some Pet Shop Boys records. It then becomes less far fetched that the Smiths could have made a disco record.
The dance inspiration does mean that the album's songs do grow to 6 and 7 minute lengths, and with 12 songs, it does seem to go on for awhile. Though, that seems like a shallow complaint.
My favorite song is probably the "Everlasting Muse" which seems like it would fit well with the first records and finds a typical B&S lyric like "She says "Be Popular, Play Pop" and you will win my love", as the song veers into strange jazz and folk territories.
One reaches a certain age and there's no surprises any more. You can only hear and discover, say the Clash, the Smiths, the Ramones, etc once.
That generally (for most) is the teen years and is usually followed by the new obsessive quickly looking up the discography.
Belle & Sebastian fits the mold for a few reasons. I had reached my mid-20s, moving out of adolesence. Belle & sebastian had put together a discography that was laregly undiscovered by American ears until 1998, but consisited of hard-to-find import EPs. Also, the band made a niche that was unlike anyone else.
It's impossible to mention the band without going for the Smiths reference, but there was more to them than that. They were as much influenced by Nick Drake (and even Donovan-ish) style folk, the Postcard records bands of the 80s, the weird are bands like the Left Banke and Burt Bacharach inspired pop.
It's hard for me to imagine that I would be as charmed with any new band the way I was with B&S, and in finding such a unique sound, as well as having the pleasure of discovering this lost treasure trove of songs.
(There are probably other bands. For example not so much for me, but for my friends, Guided by voices was a similar epiphany of an unique sound and unheard music.)
I was a big fan, but have not been as excited for the last few albums.
In that case, I want to calls this a bit of a return to form, though, some may disagree.
There is a train of thought that the band lost their mojo when Isobel Campbell left the band. We are told that shouldn't matter and she wasn't that integral part of the band's creative process (though as vocalist and instrumentalist, one must argue she had a role). There is another train of thought, which is a standard one for rock critics that when Stuart Murdoch worked out some of his personal demons, then the art suffered.
In any case, I wasn't that excited about the last couple of albums, but this one has me back in step. It feels like it has the same elements that made me love the band in the first place.
Absence may make the heart grow fonder. It is true that the album probably benefits in that it is the first album since 2010, and it has been almost a decade since The Life Pursuit.
This let Murdoch do a few things outside of the band, and certainly, the band hasn't tried to be over prolific.
A big deal has been made of the dance elements on this album. I find that a bit overblown. There is certainly a dance element, maybe none more so than the single "The PartyLine" and it follows through the album, but the dance element blends in quite well with the bands usual pop elements.
One thinks it ironic that such doom and gloomers would use dance beats, but when you hear the record, it isn't altogether different than say St Etienne or even some Pet Shop Boys records. It then becomes less far fetched that the Smiths could have made a disco record.
The dance inspiration does mean that the album's songs do grow to 6 and 7 minute lengths, and with 12 songs, it does seem to go on for awhile. Though, that seems like a shallow complaint.
My favorite song is probably the "Everlasting Muse" which seems like it would fit well with the first records and finds a typical B&S lyric like "She says "Be Popular, Play Pop" and you will win my love", as the song veers into strange jazz and folk territories.
