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BELLE AND SEBASTIAN

Belle And Sebastian

Days Of The Bagnold Summer

    Days of the Bagnold Summer began life as a 2012 award-winning graphic novel by Joff Winterhart, was turned into a feature film and the directorial debut of Simon Bird (The Inbetweeners, Friday Night Dinner), and is now a wonderful, rich, bittersweet, and warmly welcoming original soundtrack album by Belle and Sebastian on Matador Records.

    The album features eleven brand new Belle and Sebastian songs, as well as re-recorded versions of classics 'Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying', originally appearing on 1996's If You’re Feeling Sinister, and ‘I Know Where The Summer Goes’, from 1998's This Is Just a Modern Rock Song EP.

    STAFF COMMENTS

    Barry says: Whether they're writing stand-alone albums, performing live or soundtracking, Belle And Sebastian have a pedigree that can't be denied. 'Days Of The Bagnold Summer' is in the latter camp, but works perfectly as a standalone album too, showcasing exactly why they're one of the most beloved bands on the indie circuit and have been for a great many years.

    TRACK LISTING

    Sister Buddha (Intro)
    I Know Where The Summer Goes
    Did The Day Go Just Like You Wanted?
    Jill Pole
    I'll Keep It Inside
    Safety Valve
    The Colour's Gonna Run
    Another Day, Another Night
    Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying
    Wait And See What The Day Holds
    Sister Buddha
    This Letter
    We Were Never Glorious

    Belle And Sebastian

    Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance

    Recently, The Quietus published an interview with Stuart Murdoch and Richard Colburn which gives a hint of what to expect from "Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance". The album opens with “Nobody’s Empire,” which Stuart said “is absolutely the most personal [song] I’ve ever written.” About the beginnings of his lifelong struggle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which led to his first forays into songwriting, it is easily one of his most musically and emotionally epic songs.

    What it doesn’t indicate is how fun the album is. Produced and mixed at Maze Studios in Atlanta by Ben H. Allen III, best known for his work with Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective, and Raury, among others, the band – who have been listening to things like vintage Detroit techno and Giogio Moroder – have brought a dance-party element (and a disco song about Sylvia Plath) into their gorgeous tales of sensitive souls navigating a world gone awry. It is perhaps the most inspired and wide-reaching album Belle and Sebastian have ever made.

    TRACK LISTING

    1. Nobody's Empire
    2. Allie
    3. The Party Line
    4. The Power Of Three
    5. The Cat With The Cream
    6. Enter Sylvia Plath
    7. The Everlasting Muse
    8. Perfect Couples
    9. Ever Had A Little Faith?
    10. Play For Today
    11. The Book Of You
    12. Today (This Army's For Peace)

    Belle And Sebastian

    Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance - Deluxe 4LP Box Set Edition

      Recently, The Quietus published an interview with Stuart Murdoch and Richard Colburn which gives a hint of what to expect from "Girls In Peacetime Want To Dance". The album opens with “Nobody’s Empire,” which Stuart said “is absolutely the most personal [song] I’ve ever written.” About the beginnings of his lifelong struggle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome which led to his first forays into songwriting, it is easily one of his most musically and emotionally epic songs.

      What it doesn’t indicate is how fun the album is. Produced and mixed at Maze Studios in Atlanta by Ben H. Allen III, best known for his work with Gnarls Barkley, Animal Collective, and Raury, among others, the band – who have been listening to things like vintage Detroit techno and Giogio Moroder – have brought a dance-party element (and a disco song about Sylvia Plath) into their gorgeous tales of sensitive souls navigating a world gone awry. It is perhaps the most inspired and wide-reaching album Belle and Sebastian have ever made.

      TRACK LISTING

      Side 1
      1. The Party Line

      Side 2
      1. The Everlasting Muse
      2. The Power Of Three
      3. Today (This Army's For Peace)

      Side 3
      1. Enter Sylvia Plath

      Side 4
      1. Born To Act
      2. Two Birds
      3. Ever Had A Little Faith? (Extended Version)

      Side 5
      1. Play For Today

      Side 6
      1. Nobody's Empire
      2. Piggy In The Middle
      3. The Book Of You

      Side 7
      1. Perfect Couples (Extended Version)

      Side 8
      1. Allie
      2. A Politician's Silence
      3. The Cat With The Cream

      Belle And Sebastian

      Write About Love

        Unlike its predecessors, "Write About Love" is an album which has come together in a relatively short period of time. After reconvening in February 2010, a period of writing and pre-production in Glasgow was followed by a trip to Los Angeles for recording with Tony Hoffer (who also produced ‘The Life Pursuit’) at the renowned Sound Factory Studio B.

        Adopting a more fluid approach than on the previous record, fourteen songs were recorded and mixed by the start of June, of which eleven feature on the CD and vinyl releases. Two further tracks from these sessions appear on a bonus 7” with the vinyl edition of the album.

        As ever, the record draws the band’s internal songwriting strengths, but this time includes some guest performances. Stuart Murdoch wrote the majority of the songs on the album, while Sarah Martin takes lead vocals on her two contributions, "I Didn’t See It Coming" and "I Can See Your Future" and Stevie Jackson on his ("I’m Not Living In The Real World"). In addition, Norah Jones contributes lead vocals to "Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John" (which also appears on her forthcoming album of duets and collaborations called "Featuring") and actress Carey Mulligan sings on "Write About Love". Strings were added by LA residents The Section Quartet.

        TRACK LISTING

        1. I Didn't See It Coming
        2. Come On Sister
        3. Calculating Bimbo
        4. I Want The World To Stop
        5. Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John (Feat. Norah Jones)
        6. Write About Love (Feat. Carey Mulligan)
        7. I'm Not Living In The Real World
        8. Ghost Of Rockschool
        9. Read The Blessed Pages
        10. I Can See Your Future
        11. Sunday's Pretty Icons

        Belle And Sebastian

        The Boy With The Arab Strap

          After 1997's "If You're Feeling Sinister" made them critics' darlings, Scottish octet Belle And Sebastian ran straight into a series of label woes, and into the inevitable feeding frenzy that surrounds a free agent with their prodigious talents. Their experience with one label exec is detailed in "Seymour Stein" on "The Boy With The Arab Strap", which finds theband building on the pastoral pop charms of "Sinister...", adding a palpable layer of anger and an increasingly rich sonic palette to their painfully shy tales of despair.

          Near-overnight success taught the band a lot. This album moves from their trademark confessional diary sketches (still in abundance, as on the disarmingly naive "Is It Wicked Not To Care", and the tender "Rollercoaster Ride") to genuine social criticism, as on the title track, a narrative meditation on Britain's pretensions and societal ills. "Chickfactor" pulls apart the banality the band encountered on arrival in New York, an experience which only served to deepen the bashful anger that makes Belle and Sebastian so endearing.

          TRACK LISTING

          1. It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career
          2. Sleep The Clock Around
          3. Is It Wicked Not To Care
          4. Ease Your Feet In The Sea
          5. A Summer Wasting
          6. Seymour Stein
          7. A Space Boy Dream
          8. Dirty Dream Number Two
          9. The Boy With The Arab Strap
          10. Chickfactor
          11. Simple Things
          12. The Rollercoaster Ride

          Belle And Sebastian

          If You're Feeling Sinister

            Their first 'official' release, after the limited edition "Tiger Milk" album. Includes "The Stars Of Track And Field" and "If You're Feeling Sinister". Clever, witty songs - a true indie classic.

            TRACK LISTING

            1. The Stars Of Track And Field
            2. Seeing Other People
            3. Me And The Major
            4. Like Dylan In The Movies
            5. The Fox In The Snow
            6. Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying
            7. If You're Feeling Sinister
            8. Mayfly
            9. The Boy Done Wrong Again
            10. Judy And The Dream Of Horses

            Belle And Sebastian

            Dear Catastrophe Waitress

              Fifth album from Scots indie-pop heroes and their first for Rough Trade. Featuring their usual blend of twee chamber-pop and dry wit, the album was produced by Trevor Horn, the man behind the desk for such pop luminaries as Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Grace Jones and The Pet Shop Boys.

              Belle And Sebastian

              Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant

                For their fourth and most cleverly titled album, Glasgow's fey folk-popsters Belle & Sebastian have constructed another11 songs that at times reach into new musical and lyrical areas. Following secondary composer Stuart David's departure, de facto leader Stuart Murdoch divides the songwriting chores among the other members; yet what's apparent is the single-mindedness of Belle & Sebastian's song focus.

                The overall mood is even softer and more precious (if that can be believed) than their previous efforts. Murdoch and Chris Geddes' "Don't Leave The Light On Baby" is the band's attempt at a '70s soul ballad, a Wurlitzer adding a Music-of-My-Mind vibe to a lovers' dissertation. Isobel Campbell's "Beyond The Sunrise" is biblical Celtic-prog-folk, all flutes and acoustic guitar, while Jackson's own "The Wrong Girl" is an upbeat, country-ish lament with typically soulful Belle & Sebastian strings and trumpet giving the song an understated melodic kick. Of course, Murdoch contributes a classic or two - "I Fought a War" is a gentle away-at-the-battlefield tale imbued with the greatest sense of dread Murdoch's ever given a song. And "Woman's Realm" is the kind of pop stomper "Arab Strap" was packed to the gills with, highlighted here by its increasingly quiet surroundings.

                TRACK LISTING

                1. I Fought In A War
                2. The Model
                3. Beyond The Sunrise
                4. Waiting For The Moon To Rise
                5. Don't Leave The Light On Baby
                6. The Wrong Girl
                7. The Chalet Lines
                8. Nice Day For A Sulk
                9. Women's Realm
                10. Family Tree
                11. There's Too Much Love


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