hello all, like a ton of others, i'm relatively new to the list and the band, but i quickly became obsessed after hearing the new album. here's a review from my webzine "going underground" (http://come.to/going-underground). Belle & Sebastian - The Boy With The Arab Strap (Matador) "He had a stroke at the age of 24, it could have been a brilliant career," sings leader Stuart Murdoch at the beginning of this, the third album from Scotland's Belle & Sebastian. Drawing richly from the English folk tradition of Nick Drake and Donovan and late '80s twee pop, the eight-piece B&S modernizes it with surprisingly sharp lyrics and songwriting. The second track, "Sleep The Clock Around," blends glorious swoops of synthetic horns, Murdoch's velvet voice, and a bopping beat to his sad story of "the memory girl." It's hard to describe how beautiful this song is in mere words, but after a hundred listens, that's the best I can come up with. Murdoch composed all of the songs on the last two B&S records, but here cellist Isobel Campbell offers the sweet and sinister "Is It Wicked Not To Care." "Seymour Stein" describes the story of the famed record exec wining and dining B&S guitarist Steve Jackson over a dusky, slow-bubbling background. An album of mellow pop would grow tiresome to some listeners, so it's good to know the most upbeat tunes are slotted near the end of the LP. "Dirty Dream #2" sounds like a long-lost outtake from Nick Drake's Bryter Layter, with insistent drumming and a sharp horn and string arrangement. It's probably the most exciting backing that can be given to a song that's blatantly about a typical teenage boy hang-up: wet dreams ("You are dreaming, you are sleepy, you are stuck to the sheets"). The title track is another English folk stomper; this time it details the adventures of the singer of the band Arab Strap with the equine sexual device of the same name. The Boy... then falls into the piano-ballad beauty of "Chickfactor" (named after a US zine), a simple song about the "Simple Things" to make "a young boy sigh," and the seven minute "The Rollercoaster Ride." It seems like I've been saying this a lot lately, but there's been a lot of awesome albums that have a unifying mood and actually keep the same level of enjoyment throughout the songs. The Boy With The Arab Strap is no exception. It's amazing to notice how Belle & Sebastian have captivated a small legion of die-hard fans on the strength of last year's If You're Feeling Sinister (their debut, Tigermilk is impossible to find). The band refuses to be photographed (the booklet is filled with blurry pics of band members in a vaguely medieval setting), and have an aura of overall mystery surrounding them. However, just a small glance at the bustling Sinister mailing list shows just how many slavering B&S devotees there are. The Boy With The Arab Strap is a perfect pop album, and demonstrates that Belle & Sebastian are worthy of all the accolades and devoted fans. You can count me as one of them now. ------------------------------------------------------- on a completely unrelated note, is there a b&s fan here in the states willing to tape me a copy of tigermilk? if so, e-mail me off the list. bye, Zach B. _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+