My first Tigermilk track comes after 6 IYFS tracks.
― Nabozo, Wednesday, 5 December 2018 14:46 (five years ago) link
Submitted!
Some perhaps slept-on tracks to consider (or which at least don't seem to have been discussed here) - Expectations from Tigermilk (obvious one, but I fear it might get left out), title track of Dear Catastrophe Waitress, Black and White Unite from Storytelling, and Suicide Girl, which is a bonus track from Write About Love.
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 15:09 (five years ago) link
Might throw a vote to the title track from "God Help the Girl." in its original recording from the pre-film album. Incredible string arrangement on that one.
― resident hack (Simon H.), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 15:11 (five years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAZOmYUh6wY
― resident hack (Simon H.), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 15:12 (five years ago) link
Reading that Times interview, this popped out:
“We lost a lot of the original fans when I stopped being miserable,” Murdoch told me recently.
But you know what? I never thought of this band as particularly miserable, certainly nowhere near the morose melancholia of Morrissey or especially Nick Drake (both referenced in the piece). There are definitely sad B&S songs, but the music is always so warm and welcoming and pretty that it's not exactly mired in misery. Stuff like (for example) Elliott Smith or Low, sure, I can see why people might be drawn to that music for its often strikingly raw bad vibes, but B&S to my ears has always been about as miserable as Vince Guaraldi's Peanuts theme.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 5 December 2018 15:20 (five years ago) link
I really like the title track of God Help the Girl, too. Couldn't squeeze it in, though.
How many ballots does it look like we might end up with?
― Have the Rams stopped screaming yet, Lloris? (Chinaski), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 15:24 (five years ago) link
Going through the catalogue has made me realise that I like Stuart's songs best when he sounds defeated, sad or just fatigued. I am a monster.
― Alba, Wednesday, 5 December 2018 15:25 (five years ago) link
My ballot's in. Heavily weighted towards the early stuff, sorry. This poll made me listen to a lot of the last decade's material that I haven't really engaged with. And it's really good. But it just doesn't break through the wall of affection and awe I feel for the older records.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 17:09 (five years ago) link
There are definitely sad B&S songs, but the music is always so warm and welcoming and pretty that it's not exactly mired in misery.
But maybe that's exactly the point, songs about joy and beauty are only truly compelling when the person writing and singing is secretly miserable
otm!! "i'm lucky i can open the door and i can walk down the street" set to the perkiest music imaginable
― weird woman in a bar (La Lechera), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 17:14 (five years ago) link
I had two IYFS tracks in my 30, one only just made it. Four Tigermilk tracks in my top ten.
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Wednesday, December 5, 2018 7:24 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
same ratio, more spread out
the barman singles ran away with my tracks list ofc
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 17:19 (five years ago) link
It's funny how tracks creep up on you. A week ago I didn't think I was going to include Put the Book Back on the Shelf but now it's completely essential and top half. The Songs for Children bit definitely helps.
― Alba, Wednesday, 5 December 2018 18:22 (five years ago) link
I've already submitted so please stop posting names of songs I couldn't fit on there, it hurts me
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 18:32 (five years ago) link
We're really sorry for all the trouble we've caused.
― Alba, Wednesday, 5 December 2018 18:41 (five years ago) link
― Alba, Wednesday, December 5, 2018 10:22 AM
the whole 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light EP is awesome!
― Dan S, Wednesday, 5 December 2018 18:47 (five years ago) link
So pretty happy with my submitted ballot. The first 24 aren't going to change between now and poll reveal. The final 6 could switch out interchangeably with about ten other tracks and I'd still be happy enough.I think the top three I voted for are nailed on to make it, my fourth might not though!
― avoid drinking on an empty liver (fionnland), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 18:49 (five years ago) link
It really is! I considered putting three of the tracks on (never really liked the chorus of Beautiful so that one was out)
― Alba, Wednesday, 5 December 2018 19:04 (five years ago) link
no "beautiful" is perfect!!!!!
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 19:06 (five years ago) link
Actually I don't even know if it's the chorus. I mean the 'beautiful only slightly mental' bit. And I don't much like it when SM does pat A-B rhymes like ill/pill, photography/pornography, and the orthopaedic shoes/fashion blues line really makes me wince.
But the "if you knew what's going on in her life" key change is lovely
― Alba, Wednesday, 5 December 2018 19:10 (five years ago) link
sent my ballot!
― big crime for a SPECIAL WHATEVER (voodoo chili), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 20:30 (five years ago) link
And I don't much like it when SM does pat A-B rhymes like ill/pill, photography/pornography, and the orthopaedic shoes/fashion blues line really makes me wince.
he does it constantly! she had the knowledge to get her into college!
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 20:33 (five years ago) link
I know – it's quite bad. Maybe I don't like this band after all.
― Alba, Wednesday, 5 December 2018 20:51 (five years ago) link
lol
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Wednesday, 5 December 2018 21:07 (five years ago) link
I mean..
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/dec/05/belle-and-sebastian-indie-music-cruise-stuart-murdoch-plans-festival-at-sea-next-summer
― piscesx, Wednesday, 5 December 2018 21:10 (five years ago) link
Turns out the best way to listen to the Human Problems stuff is while doing data entry. Got a whole bunch of ballots overnight [GMT+10], and nearly every track is working for me now.
That's 20 ballots so far and... *checks again* 110 distinct tracks selected.
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Wednesday, 5 December 2018 23:40 (five years ago) link
Through throwing myself into their catalog for this poll, I appreciate B&S way more than I did before. For years, I thought that If You're Feeling Sinister and Dear Catastrophe Waitress were all I needed from them - I still think those are the peaks of the two eras, but there's a lot of great songs scattered throughout the other albums. Even some songs I wrote off suddenly have an appeal they didn't before
― Vinnie, Thursday, 6 December 2018 03:44 (five years ago) link
I appreciate how "This is Just a Modern Love Song" builds.
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 6 December 2018 03:47 (five years ago) link
This listening process has focused and dispelled a lot of ideas I'd had about B&S. First, that Murdoch is a martinet of a leader. There's a lot of push-and-pull and collaboration, and there's been less turnover in the band than I figured. On the one hand you've got songs (mostly earlier, but Nobody's Empire is a shining example) that focus on a Murdoch melody and his emotional buy-in (the "the very best songs, being ones important to the songwriter" songs). But rave ups like "Legal Man", where he disappears into the collective vision of the band are just as satisfying. There's some clumsy experiments that speak to less self-awareness, less irony that I took from them 20 years ago. And while the top 15 songs or so were easy for me to pick out, there's easily another 40 just a step below, with very bright spots on records I dismissed at the time.
― eva logorrhea (bendy), Thursday, 6 December 2018 15:50 (five years ago) link
I think you nailed it, really. On a song by song basis most of the band's output has been solid at least, exemplary at best. But in an album context even many of those solid songs don't always come off as well as they might have on, say, stuck on a b-sides comp.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 6 December 2018 16:47 (five years ago) link
Oh lord, thought I would do a one-time listen through Girls in Peacetime and see if anything jumped out before submitting - but it's too good! there's like three or four tracks I could see making my ballot, I need more time with this album
― Vinnie, Friday, 7 December 2018 00:59 (five years ago) link
yeah, was my experience too
this time through The Party Line, The Cat with the Cream, and Today (This Army's for Peace) stood out, also Enter Sylvia Plath and The Everlasting Muse
― Dan S, Friday, 7 December 2018 01:09 (five years ago) link
Enter Sylvia Plath was the biggest one for me, like a lost Abba song or something
― Vinnie, Friday, 7 December 2018 01:12 (five years ago) link
also, as mentioned multiple times above, Play for Today is great
― Dan S, Friday, 7 December 2018 01:32 (five years ago) link
Is this still due on Dec 10 or is it possible to push it back? They have many more ballot-worthy songs than I remembered.
― kornrulez6969, Friday, 7 December 2018 01:52 (five years ago) link
i'm glad everyone loves my new favorite belle and sebastian album girls in peacetime want to dance
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Friday, 7 December 2018 01:57 (five years ago) link
wish i could've found room for "power of three" on my ballot, that song is just gorgeous
― jolene club remix (BradNelson), Friday, 7 December 2018 02:02 (five years ago) link
Yeah that song is really nice too. I think Sarah's vocals have gotten noticeably better every record
― Vinnie, Friday, 7 December 2018 02:40 (five years ago) link
Is this still due on Dec 10 or is it possible to push it back?
It's possible to push it back a tiny bit. Though I really want to roll it out way before Xmas. If folks are still struggling once 11:59 PM 10 December has passed in every timezone, I'll certainly wait for any stragglers. But hopefully no more than a day or two...
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Friday, 7 December 2018 04:11 (five years ago) link
Just sent mine. Am sort oh hoping and sort of not hoping that I've brought the distinct-track count up.
― Alba, Friday, 7 December 2018 12:59 (five years ago) link
I think you might have increased it. :) Though I was pleased to finally gain some company re at one least of your selections.
Total count is apparently now 117 tracks.
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Friday, 7 December 2018 13:21 (five years ago) link
didn't make my 30 but yes this jumped out at me too
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 7 December 2018 13:45 (five years ago) link
sent!
― resident hack (Simon H.), Friday, 7 December 2018 14:48 (five years ago) link
This is old news, but SJ's thoughts on the relative merits of their long-players makes for a curiously dour piece in places.
https://noisey.vice.com/en_uk/article/kzgqj9/rank-your-records-belle-and-sebastian-guitarist-stevie-jackson
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Friday, 7 December 2018 21:07 (five years ago) link
that Sylvia Plath number is long!
― Your sweetie-pie-coo-coo I love ya (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 7 December 2018 21:24 (five years ago) link
Stevie's ranking in that Noisey article aren't too far off the mark (well, aren't too far off my ballot). He does seem to rank them more on how fun they were to make rather than how good the music is, but it's interesting that there's a correlation.
― enochroot, Friday, 7 December 2018 21:40 (five years ago) link
To be truly honest with you, when we finished this I thought, "Well, we got to make a better one than this," but the next few years of our records just got worse and worse. I was definitely disappointed about the whole thing because I knew we could have been much better. It's a marathon, not a sprint, and I think we made some great records. I think this became the favorite because we followed up with stuff that wasn't as good.
― Karl Malone, Friday, 7 December 2018 22:09 (five years ago) link
(SJ on Sinister)
Nag! i have a v. important exam on Monday, i was wondering if I could have an extension on the exam on the poll, would just need an extra day. I have my 30 selections now it's just a question of ordering them.
― Van Horn Street, Friday, 7 December 2018 23:33 (five years ago) link
Arbitrarily ordered, drunkitly SENT
― Jonathan Hellion Mumble, Saturday, 8 December 2018 00:31 (five years ago) link
Actually not that arbitrary, in the final cull it became clear that I cannot objectively evaluate these songs, they are far too connected to my life and where I was in my life and how I felt about my life then and I make no apologies for this ballot with the first song I heard by them at number one and nothing past DCW anywhere. Like, I listened through the catalogue for this and it was all... fine. But we parted ways some time around 2005, like Christopher Robin and Pooh, we no longer needed each other but that doesn't invalidate the times we spent together...
This post brought to you by Glen's, "The Exciting Vodka".
― Jonathan Hellion Mumble, Saturday, 8 December 2018 00:48 (five years ago) link