A faraway friend mentioned the other day that he believed Belle and Sebastian
would be as big as the Cardigans soon enough.
I can't really see this happening. The Cardigans have a dancey aspect that
makes them more accessible to a wider audience. I have heard from more than
one person that B&S are "depressing," thus destroying any mass appeal they
might have. I have even played them for a couple of people who I was certain
would like them, and they just kind of shrugged. Even the friend who likes
Simon and Garfunkel and does speed didn't like them.
What do you think? Are they movin' on up? And what kind of effect will
their rather odd way of dealing with press effect it?
michael
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Probably my favorite stretch of lyrics on IYFS is the last few lines in "Get
Me Away From Here, I'm Dying."
"This is no declaration, I just thought I'd let you know goodbye"
Said the hero in the story
"It is mightier than swords
I could kill you sure
But I could only make you cry with these words"
Just wondering if these were actually taken from "some old story" or if he
made them up himself.
thanks
michael
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Well, what I meant by "as big as the Cardigans" was mainly:
MTV popularity (buzz clips, reports by Loder on the possibilty of a Tigermilk
reissue, etc.) and
radio popularity ("coming up this hour we've got Bush and the new one from
Belle and Sebastian 'I Just Love Buses'").
I have no doubt that B&S will be recognized for what a great band they are
(and one day, were). That is largely the case with VU and Joy Division
nowadays. People "in the know" know these bands, but your average music
listener doesn't (he may have "heard of them"). But they do know the
Cardigans. And, yes, they will probably be forgotten as soon as MTV forgets
them.
I don't really know anything about Pulp, but then I have a short attention
span. I think they may have been largely a UK phenomenom. (I hope I am not
putting my foot in my mouth here.)
(parenthetically "yours")
michael
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J.P. Ord wrote
> I see "If You're Feeling Sinister" as being a very cynical,
> anti-religion song and so was surprised to read Stuart Murdoch declare
> his faith, and the fact that he lives within the confines of a church,
> in a recent Melody Maker interview.
It's the 90's and everyone is a cynic, but maybe he really meant it. I
regard Murdoch as a different character, as someone who got tired of
keeping that casual/cynic posture that is so dear and common practice among
too many these days. But it's my imagination, and if I met him, it might
melt or fade.
Cecilia
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Just heard on Radio 1 that the Evening Session is covering the CMJ festival
thing, and reporting how the British bands fair. They might cover B&S (I'm
assuming they are going to this CMJ thing !).
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Re: Writer's upbringing:
> I doubt he had a Catholic upbringing, because he says: "the vicar or
whatever", unless he was a
> rubbish Catholic who didn't know much.
Weeeelll.......actually there is an inaccuracy in that bit; we are told
that Hilary went to the *Catholic* church, but then has intercourse [shut
up] with 'the *vicar* or whatever'. It's likely that they realise that you
don't have Catholic vicars - and thus they add 'or whatever' to detract
from the mistake. And it fits, anyway; I don't think this necessarily means
the writer is not Catholic.........
And, by the way, the couplet,
'Hilary went to the Catholic church because she wanted information;
The vicar, or whatever, took her to one side and gave her confirmation'
Is actually very clever and true-to-life. In fact, it's so perceptive I
would guess that the writer has been in the situation [as, indeed, have I]
- and thus has had a Catholic upbringing.
* * * * * * *
Andrew O'Sullivan
aeos(a)dial.pipex.com
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/osullivan
"Nobody knows the way it's going to be"
* * * * * * *
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> hate to be boring, but isn't it a tour shirt? --hence possibly bus
> design.
I think it actually just goes back to the fact that at least one of the
band has a thing about buses.......and are we not told at least twice [once
certainly, on the inside of '....Sinister'] that Stuart was at one point a
bus driver [Ha ha!!]:
'We had a mutual agreement; they treated me like shit, I drove past their
stops'.
* * * * * * *
Andrew O'Sullivan
aeos(a)dial.pipex.com
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/osullivan
"Nobody knows the way it's going to be"
* * * * * * *
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there was a loud clang. turned out it was the duke dropping names: 8)
>i heard a story from a reputable source that goes
>like this: There was a party being held by, i
>think, Stephen Pastel, at which were assembled
>various pop personages and other glasgow
>hipsters.
dum de dum. i had an email from sarah a couple of
months ago and the address she gave me to reply to
was john smith's bookshop in glasgow. isn't this
the one where mr pastel also works?
actually, the pastels comparison may be better
than the smiths comparison - the pastels have been
plugging away for years loved by many and unknown
to many more. oh, you can ignore the hundreds of lineup and label changes
though.
and nobody answered when i asked whether 'songs
for children' that was mentioned in a list of
upcoming songs was a cover of the pastels track.
does anyone know?
and just why has glasgow produced more decent
bands than you can shake a whole bundle of sticks
at when edinburgh hasn't?
and whilst we're here: grass. just why is it
green?
andy
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About ten years ago, there was a band. Highly intelligent, both on and
off the lyric sheet, they sang about the less glamorous side of
real-life, which most bands wouldn't touch on in their songs. They'd
released three albums on a small indie label based in a large provincial
city. Their music was completely out of step with the mainstream at the
time. They built up a sizable cult following, but were largely ignored
by the general public. Nobody thought they had the remotest chance of
making it big.
Sounds familiar? Well this particular band were (and still are, unless
I've missed something major in the music press) called Pulp. And we know
what happened next. There is always hope for B&S...
Stuart G
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The Duke wrote ...
>i heard a story from a reputable source that goes
>like this: There was a party being held by, i
>think, Stephen Pastel, at which were assembled
>various pop personages and other glasgow
>hipsters. Lois Maffeo was there also... So
>Stephen and Lois were playing some songs on
>guitars, and because they were hip everyone was
>going 'yeah, cool' and being sycophantic
>apparantly.
Thanks for refreshing my memory ... is there a chance that your reputable
source is called Jennifer R****** ? I'd love to get in touch with her again !
Besides, Stuart used to have a recording of this or some similar party ...
unfortunately he lost it.
>ANyway, then Stuart played some of
>his own songs, and everyone (including Stephen and
>Lois) were looking really embarrassed and shifty,
>looking out the window, whatever, just not into it
>at all.
Hmmm ... I'm still wondering about the reasons for crediting Stephen McRobbie
on the latest album ... and about Stephen's more recent evaluation of B&S ...
>So just so you know, there was a time
>when Stuart and his songs were not loved by the
>people of Glasgow... never mind anywhere else.
Couldn't be more truthful ... five people coming for his first gig with a
"real" band (that is, accompanied by two other guys) in '95 ... for the books
... a corner pub somewhere near West Princess Street ... wasn't it called the
Cava ? Can't remember ...
Perfection As A Hipster
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