belle and sebastian really haven't aged well, now have they?

but yeah, there's something about 'em that still makes me think of that era.

were they particularly relevant to anything when they first came out? I always thought their irrelevance was part of their charm.

I don't really understand what relevance is, but I think that in 1999 I knew about quite a few groups/artists who had a similar sound, or at least that I connected mentally with b&s for some reason (maybe it was a nick drake influenced thing? a tweeist thing?), and that kind of style has - temporarily? - passed, been replaced by a slightly more bombastic version. But then I don't listen to much new indie these days, so for all I know...

Pleasant then, pleasant now - but then again I never understood the "cult" aspect which marks them as different from many other similair bands, maybe you were a big fan investing "magic" into the band and the benefit of time has given you a new outlook?

"irrelevant" = "I don't like it any more"

Well, it really screams out 1970, if you've heard Nick Drake's Bryter Later or any Donovan. B&S have always sounded dated to me.. which isn't meant as a slight against them. But I always thought that was the idea(?) of the band... maybe?

*cue Prince cut*

I do know what people mean about how it seemed that there was a whole universe of music organized around Belle and Sebastian; remember Bowlie? Some of those bands (Camera Obscura!) are just B&S worshippers; others (the Delgados or Arab Strap) got a free ride because of Scottishness or that sexual edge or both; and others (The Field Mice, and especially Felt) got pulled into it retrospectively. It was a big thing. At the B&S show I went to there were more frat-boy guys singing along with "Sleep the Clock Around" than there were twee indie kids. I suspect that B&S did more to solidify a retrospective notion of what twee was then, say, Saint Etienne have.

Anyway, I still love those early records--Tigermilk, Sinister, Arab Strap. The thing I liked about them the most was what sounded to me like a pretty serious emotional heft... That's what I miss in the newer records.

The hell...? Fraternities have changed a lot since I was in school, apparently. Belle & Sebastian are the new Steve Miller?

xpost: What I mean is: sure, they are less relevant today, because they were once incredibly relevant. But the old records still sound awesome.

I’m probably better back in the kitchen. I can still see Jupiter from here.. just. Also, in the front room I spend my time gazing out over the rooftops, and don’t get anything done. I was speaking to this girl the other night, Sally, and she thinks she can see my house from her balcony.

“Oh God, I better be careful, I’m always walking about in the scud in front of the window!”

“Don’t worry about it. My neighbours seen my baps about fifteen times. I’m always sunbathing on my balcony.”

So I’ve been on constant bap patrol since last Thursday. Election Night, as it happened. Not much changed. Blair with a reduced majority; voter apathy. At least that wank Howard never got in. A wank’s always a waste of a good election.

IYFS stands up to the test of time; none of the other ones were consistent at all anyway.

As for the music, I like a much smaller proportion of the new stuff than the old, but I haven't listened to any of it for ages because it's all on 12" and I don't have a turntable and Fopp are sticking to their guns and refusing to put them in the £5 section so it'll stay that way for a while. I really should get a turntable.

The DVD makes me feel slightly ill.

1) Tigermilk [now traverse 18 astronomical units] 2) DCW 3) Strap 4) Sinister 5) Peasant

Rollercoaster ride/Gonna take y'all on a rollercoaster ride, yeeeah

Stick around after the gig where we're going to kick it up a notch and give you an extended 4 hour set of Minimal and Electro House.

Waitaminutewaitaminutewaitaminute. How was the Go-Betweens gig?

I bet some of the instrumental bits would still rule though.

btw i always liked them as they reminded me of nick drake. i loved them for that nostalgic feel they gave me 25 years after drake's death. for their "datedness" even then...

Do you mean sort of distorted and muffled? My Vinyl copy's like that.

Reminds me I must dig that out and have another listen. Slow-Jungle.

Well, there could be a link.

I wasn't a big B&S fan. But Lazy Line Painter Jane is one of my favourite songs ever. Bought the single way back and played it on repeat for an hour.

I do. The rest is slightly less stripped-down, and sound better to my ears.

Also, Baby Bird, Simple Kid, Seahorses, Space, Drugstore, Darling Buds, Fauves, Preston School of Industry, Tricky, Sigur Ros, The For Carnation.

For some reason I pair Belle & Sebastian in my head with the Wu Tang Clan -- both eccentric, sprawling, clubby, insular. Two of the best bands of the '90s, and I think they both still stand up just fine.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Sunday, May 15, 2005 11:13 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark

pretty genius comparison, that is. and the wu and belle & sebastian may be my 2 favorite 90s acts, not coincidentally.

i actually disagree strongly with the idea that they haven't aged well. there are isolated songs that sound odd ("Electronic Renaissance"), but most of the Sinister album has aged magnificently to my ears.

..plus they released The Life Pursuit in 2006 shortly after this post and just kept it all going! I'm another fan of both Belle and Sebastian and the Wu Tang Clan who likes the comparison, hah!

For some reason I pair Belle & Sebastian in my head with the Wu Tang Clan

you're not the only one... I remember some time back in Glasgow, that Avalanche record shop had a sign up advertising a free t-shirt for the purchaser of any "Indie Wu-Tang" record.

there used to be a zoo, in glasgow,

the old records have aged, very well indeed

i don't think a band of pop classicists like b+s could sound dated in the first place. a lot of their tunes could have been made any time since the late 60s.

i think what happens is people discover B&S and fall in love with them, forgo the effete tweeness and sensitivity for their strong sense of lyricism and melody and end up listening to practically nothing else for months. then a few years later they dig out "boy with the arab strap" and "sinister" and all they can hear are these songs about school bullies and anorexics and church meetings, thinking "what on earth was i doing getting into this embarassing sentimental slop?"

It's not that B&S have aged badly, but it's subjective thing.

For the record I still think they're a fine band but I'm not sure I can listen to them in the same way i did back when I first got into them.

I disagree with you.

ah it's that WE have aged badly, right?

We have aged baldly indeed.