Belle & Sebastian

Ooooh, how exciting is it when Belle & Sebastian are releasing new music? I don't think words can accurately articulate the feelings of those a little bit twee. Or a lot twee.

I love the world.

For now.

Although, what if the album isn't very good?!

Then I'd hate the world.

I think I hate the world now just through fear of it not being very good.

Belle & Sebastian - Write About Love [via YouSendIt for 7 days]

balanceisrestored

Socially awkward..

If I kid myself that isolation leads to objectivity might it make up for the fact that I am comparatively socially lonely? Not tonight. Most days, yes.

belle and sebastian_electronic renaissance from melissa harding on Vimeo.

I adore this song.

There have been two great polarisations at various points in my life that have very nearly been characterised and described perfectly by the lyrics:

"If you dance for much very longer, you'll be known as the boy whose always dancing...
If you work for much very longer you'll be known as the boy whose always working..."

I think I'm still a misanthropist, in part. And that is at the heart of it.

A very strange day...

I'm still poorly. Nervous and anxious. Desperate for anything to take my mind off what is happening. Listening to either Belle and Sebastian or Death From Above 1979. Immersing myself in the LCD Soundsystem album and attempting to formulate something exciting to say about it. I have a presentation next week. I'm not concerned, but I should be. My ears are ringing, my throat is sore, my eyes are puffy. I look bedraggled. I feel bedraggled.

At moments where I can no longer bare the world and the ongoings around me I have a deeply personal ritual.

I watch Yellow Submarine.

Yellow Submarine from alta2009 on Vimeo.

It isn't quite right..

Pictured is what I am not.

This might help.

Belle & Sebastian - Mary Jo [via YouSendIt for 7 days]

That sinking feeling..

I drink too much coffee. I don't exercise enough. I'm never nice to anyone. I don't do enough reading for my course, no matter how much I do. And I have neglected Pop Cultureddd. I apologise.

So yesterday I did the 'spend Sunday working as a retail slave in Teesside and then carry heavy bags of books back down to York' thing. And the journey always taking three times as long, as Sunday apparently means that the world goes into shutdown, I managed to fill my swirly brain with the glorious sounds of Alfie, Radiohead and Belle & Sebastian. All of which made me very happy indeed.

I woke up feeling obliged to share this.

Belle & Sebastian - The Stars of Track and Field [via YouSendIt for 7 days]

A little something combat that feeling a lot of us feel on a Monday morning.

Belle & Sebastian

Named as the Best Scottish Band of All Time Belle & Sebastian are still, in my opinion, massively underrated.

I only know a handful of people who have heard of them and even less than that are actual fans. But they have been making music for a lot longer than most would care to note and they truly have earned every ounce of respect and love that their fans genuinely feel for them.

Here is a track taken from their first record, Tigermilk, that I have been listening to a lot again recently. This track stood out to me last year when I was in my electro-dance-distorted-techno spiral. Brought me back to something more crafted and subtle.

Belle & Sebastian - Electronic Renaissance. (right click and save...)

For a band that always managed to avoid doing lots of promotion, interviews, messy entanglements with the nasty media, they slowly but surely built up a solid fanbase. Culminating in last year's release of The Life Pursuit featuring in any respectable music lover's album of the year list.

This is the single that was released for this record. I remember being very excited about this little track and was filled with glee when I got it on vinyl.

Belle & Sebastian - Funny Little Frog. (right click and save...)

So to find a person who is a fan of Belle & Sebastian is to find a person with a great sense of musical integrity and aptitude. And if they are also into the likes of Alfie and Rebelski too then try to close your gaping jaw and ask to borrow some of their CD's.