The new EP arrived Thursday. What you get is a well-balanced, 20-minute dose of Belle and Sebastian. If you saw them live, or if you do some tape-trading, then probably you know at least 2 or 3 of the songs already. "This is Just a Modern Rock Song" is more polished than the session version, but not especially different. It simply does better justice to the song's potential. The playing and singing are more confident. If someone had asked, though, I might have suggested "more feeling" (whatever that is supposed to mean) at the start. I only knew "I Know Where The Summer Goes" from hearing it once at the recent live show (Chicago), but the melody was already in my head anyway. I wonder how many takes they did. Probably not many. The song came out perfectly well live, and aside from the clearer sound that is coming from your stereo (I hope) it is probably no better and no worse than you remember either. "The Gate" is a worthy song. However, I would like it much more if someone else sang it. Isobel's voice may work marvelously in the background, but her breathy, weak, uncontrolled singing is problematic for lead vocals. Not only that, but she'll give herself nodes if she keeps this up. I prescribe vocal exercises and probably some coaching: learn to project from the diaphragm, and do pitch-matching with the piano. BTW, Steve's voice sounds better to me when he is not trying as hard. Compare the radio version of "Seymour Stein" to the LP version. Just sing it, and put it on tape. Beyond the fact that Isobel could do serious damage in the long term, the female voice has the potential to be so much more agile than the male voice. So, to my ears, clumsiness sounds that much more clumsy in a female voice. I also had a session version of "Slow Graffiti". The EP version is extremely similar in the first section, and the arrangement in the second section -- the horns/winds especially -- really gels this time. Since the version on the Acid House s/t is supposed to be different, I will try to hunt that down. This must be one of their strongest songs, and the lineup on the s/t looked pretty decent as well. --Mark __ Burning Rome : SENSELESS CD on Mindfield Records MindCD03 Cathartium 14
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