The wistful Glasgow pop of Belle and Sebastian is appealing to many people. Their sophomore album If You're Feeling Sinister received pretty high praise, following under many Top 100 lists of albums from the 90s (Pitchfork - 17, Rolling Stones - 75, Spin - 59). Since Tigermilk was such a rare find back then, many considered this their debut album. It was part of the 33 1/3 book series on different albums. Sadly, during it's release, it didn't reach popular heights since music was primary dominated by Grunge at the time. Never-the-less, it's a must have for every collection.
The Stars of Track and Field open the album with a very solemn guitar strum and bass line, but slowly builds up until it hits a pumping drum snare and begins to serenade you. Whimsical can be easily used a lot in this review, so I'll use it once for Seeing Other People, but know it pretty much describes the whole album. Me and Major will be understood by any guy who has daddy issues, especially with the line "there is too much history, too much biology between us. Not to mention the killer harmonica solo at the end. The fun display of paranoia in Like Dylan in the Movies makes it hard to take this cautionary tale serious. The tender track The Fox in the Snow closes out the A-Side. The catchy tunes of Get Me Away from Here, I'm Dying is littered with folk inspired guitar. The title track starts out with the sounds of kids playing in school yards and leaves you with the feeling of youthful mischievous. Mayfly is the perfect summer listening song. The Boy Done Wrong Again feels like a funeral or something that Harold and Maude would slow dance too. Closing is one of my favorite songs, Judy and the Dream of Horses, it's just so freaking catchy, you get hooked to the very end.
If you are a fan of the Smiths meeting Simon and Garfunkel then you should give all the works of Belle and Sebastian a try. Amazon has it $18, but you can get it on Matadors official store for $16. This is a great album to relax too.
Happy hunting!
Pair With:
There's two things you can pair this album with. The first, is Stuart Murdoch's first film, God Help The Girl starring the beautiful Emily Browning (I'll be the first to admit I have a crush on her). The movie was powered by a Kickstarter. It will have it's limited release Sept 5th. But if you are a member of Cinefamily you can go to a member's only screening with Stuart Murdoch in person Sept 2nd!
Also, catch Belle and Sebastian on their small tour. They'll have two shows at the Ace Theater in downtown Oct 6th and Oct 7th. I saw their amazing Hollywood Forever Show, where they screened Trainspotting (which Stuart had a minor role) and played at midnight, opening with Sukie In the Graveyard. They are not to be missed. The shows are both sold out, but you can keep your eyes peeled on Craigslist for tickets or on StubHub.
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