In the Flagpole today they had a review of TBWTAS. For those of you who don't know, the Flagpole is like a free local Athens "entertainment"-type newspaper thing. I haven't read the review yet, so I don't know if it's good or well-written or not, but here it is: BELLE AND SEBASTIAN The Boy With The Arab Strap Matador Belle and Sebastian are the auditory equivalent of a warm blanket. Last year's full-length _If You're Feeling Sinister_, as well as three subsequent EPs, have transcended hipster boundaries worldwide and attracted a devoted and ever-growing cult of listeners who have been labeled, by publications such as the _Village Voice_, as born-again Smiths fans. The music of Belle and Sebastian belies that narrow definition, though, as this Glasgow octet play very well-crafted, catchy pop songs invested with a real sense of intimacy and delicacy. The result is something that sounds like Nick Drake crossed with Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart. Lyrically, Belle and Sebastian are apt to be too clever by half and a tad precious, but when this band is firing on all cylinders--as they were the majority of time on _Sinister_--it's about as perfect as pop music gets. It was inevitable, then, that Belle and Sebastian's new release, _The Boy With The Arab Strap_, would have a difficult time living up to _Sinister_'s grandeur. While the songs on this new album generally aren't as strong as the band's previous work, they are a great deal more fleshed out than the spare arrangements found on _Sinister_, incorporating lush strings and organs--and on "Sleep The Clock Around", bagpipes from the motherland--into most of the tracks. Lead singer/songwriter Stuart Murdoch shares vocal duties with his bandmates this time around as well, helping move Belle and Sebastian closer to a fully-functioning, collaborative octet rather than just the group of friends Murdoch originally assembled to help augment his songs. This more collaborative, wizened affair leads to some interesting highlights, including the Stevie Jackson-sung "Seymour Stein", a lovely melancholy tune that sounds like it could be an outtake from VU's _Loaded_ (featuring a humorous riff on Johnny Marr's lackluster project Electronic--for all those born-again Smiths fans). Other great moments include the carousel-like cacophony that emerges from the background as Murdoch sings happily of "seven weeks of staying up all night" in "A Summer Wasted" [shouldn't that be Wasting-steph], the shuffle and twisted sexuality of the title track (go ask your parents what an "arab strap" is) grounded on a bassline spryly barreling forth from the '70s classic "Draggin' the Line", and the lonely piano that emerges halfway through "The Rollercoaster Ride", and continues to play long after the vocals have ceased. The real keeper here, though, is "Dirty Dream Number Two". As good a pop song as you'll hear this year, it's Dusty Springfield with whispered vocal. Spector without the Wagner, and closer to a Bacharach-David song in 1998 than anything Elvis Costello's own collaboration with Burt is going to muster up, all driven by a backbeat right out of 1965. In the last 55 seconds of the song, as the strings and horns ride the beat, soaring forward and higher, your heart soars with them, and it's almost as good as that first crush, that first slow dance, that first kiss. This is why God gave us pop music. (625 Broadway, 12th floor, New York, NY 10012) James Blount Okay, that was it. *Whew!* My fingers are really tired now. Cheers & love, Stephanie "Even when I was a tiny girl, I preferred being alone...I could give my imagination free rein and live in a world of lovely dreams"--Greta Garbo +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo@majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" +---+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+