Belle and Sebastian
Belle & Sebastian是一支独立流行乐队，1996年一月成立于苏格兰格拉斯高。Belle & Sebastian与诸如The Smiths和Felt这类有影响力的独立乐队有很多共同之处，也受到了北方灵歌(northern soul)与放客(funk)音乐的影响。
在Jeepster Records厂牌下发行了一些专辑和EP之后，他们现在签约于英国的Rough Trade Records厂牌和美国的Matador Records厂牌。
这个乐队取名于一个法国儿童电视系列剧，是说一个小男孩和他的狗是怎么互相珍爱的，可以说Belle & Sebastian也相当难能可贵，然而“难能可贵”可以是一个用来骂人的字眼，Belle & Sebastian却不具有这个字眼言外之意的那层贬义的意思——他们内向化却不孤立化，美丽却不懦弱，他们创作的旋律灿烂精致，听上去完整而统一。乐队在吉他手兼主唱Stuart Murdoch带领下，前后一共发行了7张唱片，并打造出一种类似于60年代流行乐以及民谣摇滚的亲密无间却又庄严宏伟的音乐，然而Murdoch的才华不仅仅体现在奇思怪想和超现实主义上，不安忧虑却充满情感的描绘更让歌曲无不反映出一种切实的现实感。
乐队成员
在队成员:
Stuart Murdoch: 1996–至今 (主唱，吉他和键盘)
Stevie Jackson: 1996–至今 (伴唱和吉他)
Chris Geddes: 1996–至今 (键盘)
Richard Colburn: 1996–至今 (鼓)
Sarah Martin: 1997–至今 (小提琴，键盘，吉他和伴唱)
Mick Cooke: 1998–至今 (小号和贝司)
Bobby Kildea: 2001–至今 (吉他和贝司)
前成员:
Isobel Campbell: 1996–2002 (伴唱和大提琴)
Stuart David: 1996–2000 (贝斯)
Kyle Burkett: 2000-2001 (伴唱和吉他)
Andrew Maxson: 2000-2001 (贝斯)
大事记
(1996-1997) 组队与成名
在 Stuart Murdoch 遇到男低音 Stuart David之后，Belle & Sebastian于1996年一月在格拉斯高成立了。 他们与Stow 大学的音乐教授Pilar Duplack一起录制了一些demo,这些demo被该大学的音乐商业厂牌收录在以Electric Honey为名义每年发行的一张唱片中。他们创作了一些单曲之后，加之这家厂牌对这些demo印象实在很深，Belle & Sebastian (名字来源于法国作家Cécile Aubry创作的一本儿童读物Belle et Sébastien)便录制了一张完整专辑：Tigermilk。传言说“Belle”是指Isobel (Campbell)，“Sebastian”指代Stuart (Murdoch)，因为在Isobel 2002年离队之前他们已结婚多年。然而，Stuart Murdoch 否认了这一点。
Tigermilk在三天之内就录好了，一开始只准备了1000张塑胶拷贝盘。这些最开始的拷贝现在已要价400英镑了。到那时，乐队又新增了一些成员，Stevie Jackson (吉他和伴唱), Isobel Campbell (大提琴和伴唱), Chris Geddes (键盘)， Richard Colburn (鼓)。
首张专辑成功之后，Belle & Sebastian 于1996年8月签约Jeepster Records。三月之后，第二张专辑If You’re Feeling Sinister发行。
在此张专辑录制之前，Sarah Martin (小提琴，伴唱)加入到乐队中。接下来，在1997年他们发行了一系列的EP。这些EP的第一张是Dog on Wheels，其中包含了正式组队前录制的四首小样。实际上，演奏这些歌曲的长期队员只包括Murdoch, David, and Mick Cooke ，后者在当时表演小号，而且几年之后才正式入队。此张EP在英国流行榜上排到了第59名。
接下来，EP Lazy Line Painter Jane 在七月发行.。这张EP在一个教堂里录制，并邀Monica Queen献声。可惜的是，这张EP差一点就进入了UK榜前40，排到了第41名。1997年的最后一张EP是发行于十月的3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light。此EP同时被NME和Melody Maker列为每周一歌，而且一度达到了第32名，因此也成为乐队的首个40大歌曲。
(1998-2002) 在Jeepster厂牌下继续取得成功
1998年专辑 The Boy with the Arab Strap 发行，排到了UK专辑榜的第12名。专辑录制过程中，小号手Mick Cooke被邀正式进队。发行这张专辑不久，乐队就在全音音乐奖（BRIT Awards）上获得最佳新晋乐队奖，打败了竞争对手Steps。接下来乐队又发行了EPThis Is Just a Modern Rock Song。
1999年，乐队主办了他们自己的音乐节，Bowlie Weekender。在乐队开始准备下一张唱片时，Tigermilk也由Jeepster发行了完整版本。新专辑叫做Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant，这也成为乐队的首张UK榜前10专辑。未收录的一只单曲Legal Man排到了15名，而且也使得他们首次在Top of the Pops中亮相。
随着乐队的知名度在世界范围内的提高，他们的音乐开始频频的出现在电影和电视中。2000 年的一部电影High Fidelity 提到了乐队的名字并且穿插了专辑The Boy with the Arab Strap 中的一首歌Seymour Stein 的片段。开始与2001年的英国剧集Teachers 在许多场景中都用到了他们的音乐，包括主题曲。
Stuart David 不久离开了乐队并开始专注于他的个人计划Looper和他的书籍，后者包括了The Idle Thoughts of a Daydreamer. Stuart David的位置由V-Twin的Bobby Kildea 替代。单曲Jonathan David（Stevie Jackson演唱）于2001年七月发行，紧接着乐队又在九月发行了I’m Waking Up to Us。这首曲子貌似描述了Murdoch和Campbell关系的破裂，但Murdoch 在2006年的专辑The Life Pursuit中的文案里否认了这一点。EP”I’m Waking Up to Us”中，乐队首次起用了海外制作人Mike Hurst。2002年的大部分时间里乐队都在巡演并且录制了一张原声带，Storytelling (由Todd Solondz执导的Storytelling原声). Isobel在2002年北美巡演中途宣布离队。
(2003-至今) Rough Trade厂牌下的发展
乐队在2002年离开Jeepster并签约了Rough Trade Records.。B&S在2003里完成了专辑Dear Catastrophe Waitress，由 Trevor Horn制作。这张专辑与前四张专辑相比，后期制作的成分加重了。一部记录性质的DVD, Fans Only在2003年十月由Jeepster发行，包括了增加的视频，现场片段和未发行的电影剪辑。取自专辑Catastrophe Waitress中的一首Step into My Office, Baby在2003年11月发行，而这将成为他们第一首取自专辑的单曲EP。
I’m a Cuckoo成为取自专辑的第二首单曲, 和以前的那些单曲EP相比，在电台的播放频率大大增加。而这也成为他们排名最高的一首单曲——排到了UK榜的第14名。EPBooks 随之发行, a double A-side single lead by “Wrapped Up in Books” From Dear Catastrophe Waitress and the new “Your Cover’s Blown”.这张EP成为乐队的第三首TOP20，与此同时，乐队同时被Mercury Music Prize 和Ivor Novello Award提名。2005年一月, B&S在由The List发起的一次投票中被选为苏格兰最伟大的乐队，打败了Simple Minds, Idlewild, Travis, Franz Ferdinand和 The Proclaimers。
2005年四月，乐队成员跟随英国慈善组织War on Want到访了以色列和巴勒斯坦。随后，乐队录制了由此次旅程所激发的一首歌曲The Eighth Station of the Cross Kebab House，而这后来成为2006年发行的一张B-side 专辑Funny Little Frog中的一首歌。.Push Barman to Open Old Wounds, 这是一张于2005年五月由Jeepster发行的单曲EP合辑，当时乐队正在加州录制他们的第七张专辑。The Life Pursuit成为他们的新专辑，由Tony Hoffer担当制作人。在2006年2月发行后，该张专辑成为他们排名最高的一张，UK榜排到第8，美国Billboard 200榜排到第65位。之前发行的Funny Little Frog也成为他们最高的单曲排名歌曲——第13名。
2006年6月，乐团与洛杉矶交响乐团合作，在好莱坞露天剧场进行了一次历史性的表演。18000张门票销售一空，开场暖场乐队是The Shins，该乐队的成员将之看作标志性的事件，用Stevie Jackson的话来讲就是“人生中最震撼的时刻。”
2006年10月，乐团成员参与了一张名为Colours Are Brighter的为孩子们准备的专辑的制作， Franz Ferdinand 和 The Kooks也参与其中。
乐团计划发表一张在1996至2001年表演的Radio One sessions的集结。
音乐作品
专辑
Tigermilk (1996)
If You’re Feeling Sinister (1996)
The Boy with the Arab Strap (1998)
Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant (2000)
Storytelling (2002)
Dear Catastrophe Waitress (2003)
The Life Pursuit (2006)
现场专辑
If You’re Feeling Sinister: Live at the Barbican (2005)
合集
Lazy Line Painter Jane (boxset) (2000)
Push Barman to Open Old Wounds (2005)
Late Night Tales: Belle & Sebastian (2006)
单曲和EP
Dog on Wheels (1997)
Lazy Line Painter Jane (1997)
3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light (1997)
This Is Just a Modern Rock Song (1998)
“Legal Man” (2000)
“Jonathan David” (2001)
“I’m Waking Up to Us” (2001)
“Step into My Office, Baby” (2003)
“I’m a Cuckoo” (2004) Books (2004)
“Cassaco Marron” (2006)
“Funny Little Frog” (2006)
“The Blues Are Still Blue” (2006)
“White Collar Boy” (2006)
“Are you coming over for Christmas?" (2007)
其他歌曲收集
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (trad. cover) on the Xfm charity compilation It’s A Cool, Cool Christmas, released November 20, 2000 on Jeepster Records
“Final Day” (Young Marble Giants cover) on the Rough Trade 25th-anniversary compilation Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before, released September 23, 2003 on Rough Trade Records
“Poupée de cire, poupée de son” (live Serge Gainsbourg cover) on the Fans Only DVD, released October 20, 2003 on Jeepster Records
“The Eighth Station of the Cross Kebab House” on the War Child charity album Help: A Day in the Life, released September 9, 2005 on Independiente Records
“Cassaco Marron” (Trio Esperança cover) on the Belle & Sebastian-compiled album Late Night Tales: Belle & Sebastian, released on February 27, 2006 on Azuli Records, and as a limited-edition 7-inch vinyl single (b/w David Shrigley’s spoken-word piece
“When I Was a Little Girl”) released February 13, 2006, also on Azuli
“The Monkeys Are Breaking Out the Zoo,” a children’s song on the Save the Children charity album Colours Are Brighter, released October 16, 2006 on Rough Trade Records
DVDs
Fans Only（2003）
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
A band that takes its name from a French childrens television series about a boy and his dog would almost have to be precious, and to be certain, Belle & Sebastian are precious. But precious can be a damning word, and Belle & Sebastian dont have the negative qualities that the word connotes — they are private but not insular, pretty but not wimpy; they make gorgeous, delicate melodies sound full-bodied. Led by guitarist/vocalist Stuart Murdoch, the seven-piece band has an intimate, majestic sound that is equal parts folk-rock and 60s pop, but Murdochs gift for not only whimsy and surrealism, but also for odd, unsettling lyrical detail keeps the songs grounded in a tangible reality.
Based in Glasgow, Scotland, Belle & Sebastian released their first two albums in 1996 at the peak of the chamber pop movement. At first, some critics in Britains music weeklies tied the band into the subgenre, yet the group was too pretty, too delicate, to bear that label. Through their first two years of public existence, the band shielded their personalities, submitting publicity photos featuring a girl that wasnt in the band and reluctantly posing for photo shoots. Furthermore, they performed in odd venues, playing not only the standard coffeehouses and cafes, but also homes, church halls, and libraries.
The idiosyncratic approach to building their career isnt surprising given Murdochs approach toward beginning a band. A longtime fan of Felt, Murdoch left Glasgow for London in the early 90s in hopes of finding the groups leader, Lawrence Hayward, but he never found his idol. Upon his return to Glasgow he enrolled in university and he began writing songs and short stories. While at school, he took a music business course where he decided to form a band and release a record for his final project (he had tried to form a band before to no success). For the project, he assembled the seven-piece Belle & Sebastian, featuring himself on guitar and vocals, choosing and recruiting members by instinct in a local all-night cafe in late 1995. He eventually found Sarah Martin (violin), Stevie Jackson (guitar), Chris Geddes (keyboards), Stuart David (bass), Richard Colburn (drums), and Isobel Campbell (cello). All seven members were college students, and all agreed that the idea behind the band was to stay on a small scale, to keep it as a project and not let the band run their lives; they even assumed they would release two albums and break up.
In May of 1996, Belle & Sebastian self-released their debut album, Tigermilk, on Electric Honey Records. Only 1,000 copies of the album, which was only pressed on vinyl, were released, but it unexpectedly became a sensation, earning terrific word of mouth throughout England. As a result, the band became slightly more than a school project — it became an actual band. If Youre Feeling Sinister, released on the independent Jeepster label, followed in November of 1996. By the time the album was released in America on the EMI subsidiary The Enclave, it had earned considerable critical acclaim in the U.K. — not only from music weeklies, but from newspapers like The Sunday Times and magazines like The Face — and a large cult following; by some accounts, Tigermilk was being sold for as much as 75 pounds. Over the course of 1997, word of mouth continued to grow in America, even as the band pulled out of an American tour because The Enclave went bankrupt and closed.
As the band cult continued to build in 1997, Belle & Sebastian released three EPs — Dog on Wheels (May), Lazy Line Painter Jane (July), and 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light (October). Each subsequent EP placed higher on the indie charts and received great critical acclaim. By the end of the year, the group finalized an American deal with Matador Records, issuing The Boy With the Arab Strap in September 1998. The following year saw the eagerly anticipated wide re-release of Tigermilk, the album that started it all. Following completion of 2000s Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant, Stuart David left Belle & Sebastian to focus full-time on his solo project, Looper. In 2001, the group released two EPs — Jonathan David and Im Waking Up to Us — and recorded the soundtrack for Todd Solondzs film Storytelling. Just before the soundtracks release in spring 2002, Belle & Sebastian embarked on a comprehensive tour of the United States and Canada before returning to Europe for the summer festival season. Midway through the tour, Isobel Campbell left the band, citing the usual differences.
Another major change that soon took place was the band leaving Jeepster and Matador to sign with Rough Trade, with their next record, late 2003s Dear Catastrophe Waitress, produced by the inimitable Trevor Horn (who also produced Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Yes, and scores of others). The record spawned the brilliant Step into My Office and Im a Cuckoo singles, the latter of which was the groups biggest U.K. hit, reaching number 14 in early 2004. After a long worldwide tour that found Belle & Sebastian reaching new levels of success, they retired to Scotland and began preparing for the recording of their fifth album, The Life Pursuit, released in 2006.
在Jeepster Records厂牌下发行了一些专辑和EP之后，他们现在签约于英国的Rough Trade Records厂牌和美国的Matador Records厂牌。
这个乐队取名于一个法国儿童电视系列剧，是说一个小男孩和他的狗是怎么互相珍爱的，可以说Belle & Sebastian也相当难能可贵，然而“难能可贵”可以是一个用来骂人的字眼，Belle & Sebastian却不具有这个字眼言外之意的那层贬义的意思——他们内向化却不孤立化，美丽却不懦弱，他们创作的旋律灿烂精致，听上去完整而统一。乐队在吉他手兼主唱Stuart Murdoch带领下，前后一共发行了7张唱片，并打造出一种类似于60年代流行乐以及民谣摇滚的亲密无间却又庄严宏伟的音乐，然而Murdoch的才华不仅仅体现在奇思怪想和超现实主义上，不安忧虑却充满情感的描绘更让歌曲无不反映出一种切实的现实感。
乐队成员
在队成员:
Stuart Murdoch: 1996–至今 (主唱，吉他和键盘)
Stevie Jackson: 1996–至今 (伴唱和吉他)
Chris Geddes: 1996–至今 (键盘)
Richard Colburn: 1996–至今 (鼓)
Sarah Martin: 1997–至今 (小提琴，键盘，吉他和伴唱)
Mick Cooke: 1998–至今 (小号和贝司)
Bobby Kildea: 2001–至今 (吉他和贝司)
前成员:
Isobel Campbell: 1996–2002 (伴唱和大提琴)
Stuart David: 1996–2000 (贝斯)
Kyle Burkett: 2000-2001 (伴唱和吉他)
Andrew Maxson: 2000-2001 (贝斯)
大事记
(1996-1997) 组队与成名
在 Stuart Murdoch 遇到男低音 Stuart David之后，Belle & Sebastian于1996年一月在格拉斯高成立了。 他们与Stow 大学的音乐教授Pilar Duplack一起录制了一些demo,这些demo被该大学的音乐商业厂牌收录在以Electric Honey为名义每年发行的一张唱片中。他们创作了一些单曲之后，加之这家厂牌对这些demo印象实在很深，Belle & Sebastian (名字来源于法国作家Cécile Aubry创作的一本儿童读物Belle et Sébastien)便录制了一张完整专辑：Tigermilk。传言说“Belle”是指Isobel (Campbell)，“Sebastian”指代Stuart (Murdoch)，因为在Isobel 2002年离队之前他们已结婚多年。然而，Stuart Murdoch 否认了这一点。
Tigermilk在三天之内就录好了，一开始只准备了1000张塑胶拷贝盘。这些最开始的拷贝现在已要价400英镑了。到那时，乐队又新增了一些成员，Stevie Jackson (吉他和伴唱), Isobel Campbell (大提琴和伴唱), Chris Geddes (键盘)， Richard Colburn (鼓)。
首张专辑成功之后，Belle & Sebastian 于1996年8月签约Jeepster Records。三月之后，第二张专辑If You’re Feeling Sinister发行。
在此张专辑录制之前，Sarah Martin (小提琴，伴唱)加入到乐队中。接下来，在1997年他们发行了一系列的EP。这些EP的第一张是Dog on Wheels，其中包含了正式组队前录制的四首小样。实际上，演奏这些歌曲的长期队员只包括Murdoch, David, and Mick Cooke ，后者在当时表演小号，而且几年之后才正式入队。此张EP在英国流行榜上排到了第59名。
接下来，EP Lazy Line Painter Jane 在七月发行.。这张EP在一个教堂里录制，并邀Monica Queen献声。可惜的是，这张EP差一点就进入了UK榜前40，排到了第41名。1997年的最后一张EP是发行于十月的3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light。此EP同时被NME和Melody Maker列为每周一歌，而且一度达到了第32名，因此也成为乐队的首个40大歌曲。
(1998-2002) 在Jeepster厂牌下继续取得成功
1998年专辑 The Boy with the Arab Strap 发行，排到了UK专辑榜的第12名。专辑录制过程中，小号手Mick Cooke被邀正式进队。发行这张专辑不久，乐队就在全音音乐奖（BRIT Awards）上获得最佳新晋乐队奖，打败了竞争对手Steps。接下来乐队又发行了EPThis Is Just a Modern Rock Song。
1999年，乐队主办了他们自己的音乐节，Bowlie Weekender。在乐队开始准备下一张唱片时，Tigermilk也由Jeepster发行了完整版本。新专辑叫做Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant，这也成为乐队的首张UK榜前10专辑。未收录的一只单曲Legal Man排到了15名，而且也使得他们首次在Top of the Pops中亮相。
随着乐队的知名度在世界范围内的提高，他们的音乐开始频频的出现在电影和电视中。2000 年的一部电影High Fidelity 提到了乐队的名字并且穿插了专辑The Boy with the Arab Strap 中的一首歌Seymour Stein 的片段。开始与2001年的英国剧集Teachers 在许多场景中都用到了他们的音乐，包括主题曲。
Stuart David 不久离开了乐队并开始专注于他的个人计划Looper和他的书籍，后者包括了The Idle Thoughts of a Daydreamer. Stuart David的位置由V-Twin的Bobby Kildea 替代。单曲Jonathan David（Stevie Jackson演唱）于2001年七月发行，紧接着乐队又在九月发行了I’m Waking Up to Us。这首曲子貌似描述了Murdoch和Campbell关系的破裂，但Murdoch 在2006年的专辑The Life Pursuit中的文案里否认了这一点。EP”I’m Waking Up to Us”中，乐队首次起用了海外制作人Mike Hurst。2002年的大部分时间里乐队都在巡演并且录制了一张原声带，Storytelling (由Todd Solondz执导的Storytelling原声). Isobel在2002年北美巡演中途宣布离队。
(2003-至今) Rough Trade厂牌下的发展
乐队在2002年离开Jeepster并签约了Rough Trade Records.。B&S在2003里完成了专辑Dear Catastrophe Waitress，由 Trevor Horn制作。这张专辑与前四张专辑相比，后期制作的成分加重了。一部记录性质的DVD, Fans Only在2003年十月由Jeepster发行，包括了增加的视频，现场片段和未发行的电影剪辑。取自专辑Catastrophe Waitress中的一首Step into My Office, Baby在2003年11月发行，而这将成为他们第一首取自专辑的单曲EP。
I’m a Cuckoo成为取自专辑的第二首单曲, 和以前的那些单曲EP相比，在电台的播放频率大大增加。而这也成为他们排名最高的一首单曲——排到了UK榜的第14名。EPBooks 随之发行, a double A-side single lead by “Wrapped Up in Books” From Dear Catastrophe Waitress and the new “Your Cover’s Blown”.这张EP成为乐队的第三首TOP20，与此同时，乐队同时被Mercury Music Prize 和Ivor Novello Award提名。2005年一月, B&S在由The List发起的一次投票中被选为苏格兰最伟大的乐队，打败了Simple Minds, Idlewild, Travis, Franz Ferdinand和 The Proclaimers。
2005年四月，乐队成员跟随英国慈善组织War on Want到访了以色列和巴勒斯坦。随后，乐队录制了由此次旅程所激发的一首歌曲The Eighth Station of the Cross Kebab House，而这后来成为2006年发行的一张B-side 专辑Funny Little Frog中的一首歌。.Push Barman to Open Old Wounds, 这是一张于2005年五月由Jeepster发行的单曲EP合辑，当时乐队正在加州录制他们的第七张专辑。The Life Pursuit成为他们的新专辑，由Tony Hoffer担当制作人。在2006年2月发行后，该张专辑成为他们排名最高的一张，UK榜排到第8，美国Billboard 200榜排到第65位。之前发行的Funny Little Frog也成为他们最高的单曲排名歌曲——第13名。
2006年6月，乐团与洛杉矶交响乐团合作，在好莱坞露天剧场进行了一次历史性的表演。18000张门票销售一空，开场暖场乐队是The Shins，该乐队的成员将之看作标志性的事件，用Stevie Jackson的话来讲就是“人生中最震撼的时刻。”
2006年10月，乐团成员参与了一张名为Colours Are Brighter的为孩子们准备的专辑的制作， Franz Ferdinand 和 The Kooks也参与其中。
乐团计划发表一张在1996至2001年表演的Radio One sessions的集结。
音乐作品
专辑
Tigermilk (1996)
If You’re Feeling Sinister (1996)
The Boy with the Arab Strap (1998)
Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant (2000)
Storytelling (2002)
Dear Catastrophe Waitress (2003)
The Life Pursuit (2006)
现场专辑
If You’re Feeling Sinister: Live at the Barbican (2005)
合集
Lazy Line Painter Jane (boxset) (2000)
Push Barman to Open Old Wounds (2005)
Late Night Tales: Belle & Sebastian (2006)
单曲和EP
Dog on Wheels (1997)
Lazy Line Painter Jane (1997)
3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light (1997)
This Is Just a Modern Rock Song (1998)
“Legal Man” (2000)
“Jonathan David” (2001)
“I’m Waking Up to Us” (2001)
“Step into My Office, Baby” (2003)
“I’m a Cuckoo” (2004) Books (2004)
“Cassaco Marron” (2006)
“Funny Little Frog” (2006)
“The Blues Are Still Blue” (2006)
“White Collar Boy” (2006)
“Are you coming over for Christmas?" (2007)
其他歌曲收集
“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” (trad. cover) on the Xfm charity compilation It’s A Cool, Cool Christmas, released November 20, 2000 on Jeepster Records
“Final Day” (Young Marble Giants cover) on the Rough Trade 25th-anniversary compilation Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before, released September 23, 2003 on Rough Trade Records
“Poupée de cire, poupée de son” (live Serge Gainsbourg cover) on the Fans Only DVD, released October 20, 2003 on Jeepster Records
“The Eighth Station of the Cross Kebab House” on the War Child charity album Help: A Day in the Life, released September 9, 2005 on Independiente Records
“Cassaco Marron” (Trio Esperança cover) on the Belle & Sebastian-compiled album Late Night Tales: Belle & Sebastian, released on February 27, 2006 on Azuli Records, and as a limited-edition 7-inch vinyl single (b/w David Shrigley’s spoken-word piece
“When I Was a Little Girl”) released February 13, 2006, also on Azuli
“The Monkeys Are Breaking Out the Zoo,” a children’s song on the Save the Children charity album Colours Are Brighter, released October 16, 2006 on Rough Trade Records
DVDs
Fans Only（2003）
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
A band that takes its name from a French childrens television series about a boy and his dog would almost have to be precious, and to be certain, Belle & Sebastian are precious. But precious can be a damning word, and Belle & Sebastian dont have the negative qualities that the word connotes — they are private but not insular, pretty but not wimpy; they make gorgeous, delicate melodies sound full-bodied. Led by guitarist/vocalist Stuart Murdoch, the seven-piece band has an intimate, majestic sound that is equal parts folk-rock and 60s pop, but Murdochs gift for not only whimsy and surrealism, but also for odd, unsettling lyrical detail keeps the songs grounded in a tangible reality.
Based in Glasgow, Scotland, Belle & Sebastian released their first two albums in 1996 at the peak of the chamber pop movement. At first, some critics in Britains music weeklies tied the band into the subgenre, yet the group was too pretty, too delicate, to bear that label. Through their first two years of public existence, the band shielded their personalities, submitting publicity photos featuring a girl that wasnt in the band and reluctantly posing for photo shoots. Furthermore, they performed in odd venues, playing not only the standard coffeehouses and cafes, but also homes, church halls, and libraries.
The idiosyncratic approach to building their career isnt surprising given Murdochs approach toward beginning a band. A longtime fan of Felt, Murdoch left Glasgow for London in the early 90s in hopes of finding the groups leader, Lawrence Hayward, but he never found his idol. Upon his return to Glasgow he enrolled in university and he began writing songs and short stories. While at school, he took a music business course where he decided to form a band and release a record for his final project (he had tried to form a band before to no success). For the project, he assembled the seven-piece Belle & Sebastian, featuring himself on guitar and vocals, choosing and recruiting members by instinct in a local all-night cafe in late 1995. He eventually found Sarah Martin (violin), Stevie Jackson (guitar), Chris Geddes (keyboards), Stuart David (bass), Richard Colburn (drums), and Isobel Campbell (cello). All seven members were college students, and all agreed that the idea behind the band was to stay on a small scale, to keep it as a project and not let the band run their lives; they even assumed they would release two albums and break up.
In May of 1996, Belle & Sebastian self-released their debut album, Tigermilk, on Electric Honey Records. Only 1,000 copies of the album, which was only pressed on vinyl, were released, but it unexpectedly became a sensation, earning terrific word of mouth throughout England. As a result, the band became slightly more than a school project — it became an actual band. If Youre Feeling Sinister, released on the independent Jeepster label, followed in November of 1996. By the time the album was released in America on the EMI subsidiary The Enclave, it had earned considerable critical acclaim in the U.K. — not only from music weeklies, but from newspapers like The Sunday Times and magazines like The Face — and a large cult following; by some accounts, Tigermilk was being sold for as much as 75 pounds. Over the course of 1997, word of mouth continued to grow in America, even as the band pulled out of an American tour because The Enclave went bankrupt and closed.
As the band cult continued to build in 1997, Belle & Sebastian released three EPs — Dog on Wheels (May), Lazy Line Painter Jane (July), and 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light (October). Each subsequent EP placed higher on the indie charts and received great critical acclaim. By the end of the year, the group finalized an American deal with Matador Records, issuing The Boy With the Arab Strap in September 1998. The following year saw the eagerly anticipated wide re-release of Tigermilk, the album that started it all. Following completion of 2000s Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant, Stuart David left Belle & Sebastian to focus full-time on his solo project, Looper. In 2001, the group released two EPs — Jonathan David and Im Waking Up to Us — and recorded the soundtrack for Todd Solondzs film Storytelling. Just before the soundtracks release in spring 2002, Belle & Sebastian embarked on a comprehensive tour of the United States and Canada before returning to Europe for the summer festival season. Midway through the tour, Isobel Campbell left the band, citing the usual differences.
Another major change that soon took place was the band leaving Jeepster and Matador to sign with Rough Trade, with their next record, late 2003s Dear Catastrophe Waitress, produced by the inimitable Trevor Horn (who also produced Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Yes, and scores of others). The record spawned the brilliant Step into My Office and Im a Cuckoo singles, the latter of which was the groups biggest U.K. hit, reaching number 14 in early 2004. After a long worldwide tour that found Belle & Sebastian reaching new levels of success, they retired to Scotland and began preparing for the recording of their fifth album, The Life Pursuit, released in 2006.
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