Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
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Free Music Notes for If You're Feeling Sinister
Free Music Review: Lewinsky, Spice Girls, Wiggers and Scottish Folk Pop
Hit: 5 Stars
While I was in Kenya between late 1996 and early 1998, a number of phenomena took place back in the U.S.A. that I missed out on. Bill Clinton endured the Monica Lewinsky scandal, the Spice Girls went from obscurity to superstardom and back to obscurity, astonishing numbers of white teenagers in southeastern Virginia began dressing like they came from the hood, and a small cadre of students on my New York City university campus began sporting T-shirts from the obscure Scottish folk pop band, Belle and Sebastian. Missing any one of these events alone would have been cause for concern, but I missed all four. By the time I was back on campus in NYC in the spring of 1998, Belle and Sebastian T-shirts had become the de rigeur fashion accessory for angsty male undergrads. As a grad student, I should have felt no compulsion to explore Belle and Sebastian, but something told me I should do so anyway. And I am ever so glad I did.My first purchase was If You're Feeling Sinister which is quite simply an acoustic pop masterpiece. That's high praise coming from this reviewer who, as you probably know, is a metal aficionado first and foremost. Band members gently strum their guitars like Johnny Marr on valium, while Stuart Murdoch purrs lyrics about girls and love that border on the poetic. The ten songs flow seamlessly together with the listener hardly noticing the transitions. There are really no highlights here since every song is an impressive achievement. Every song is catchy and many of the lyrics are slyly clever in a Steven Morrissey sort of way.
At this point, you're probably thinking, "J.F.C. is sure making a lot of Smiths references here. What's up with that?" Hey, it's not my fault if Belle and Sebastian sound like they've listened to some Smiths in their day. Who among us hasn't? Still, I shouldn't overstate the similarities between the two bands since they are really quite limited; Belle and Sebastian are their own band with their own unmistakable sound - and a great sound it is. My girlfriend and I have quite different musical tastes - she has a longstanding fondness for Vietnamese popular and traditional music and Madonna while I am a long-time metalhead, but we both agree on the greatness of If You're Feeling Sinister. When we were first going out, it was about all we could agree on to listen to. Don't worry - things have become a lot better musically between us since then. And in case you're wondering whether I was ever seen wearing a Belle and Sebastian T-shirt around my old campus, the answer is `no'. That's an outfit better left to the undergrads, though I did make a habit of naively walking around campus in a Slayer t-shirt my first year there before suddenly realizing one day while playing a computer game that the images the t-shirt portrayed might be offensive to many individuals on campus. But, that's a story for another day. For now, all you need to know is that I highly recommend If You're Feeling Sinister and my girlfriend does too.
Free Music Review: Risky business.
Hit: 5 Stars
Really, it's quite obvious: Belle and Sebastian's If You're Feeling Sinister contains some of the riskiest pop music made in the 1990s. Certain loquacious, "ironic" North American female artists have repeatedly shown us that artistic intent can poison even the best intentions. The stakes are high when one chooses the rocky path of self-acknowledgment - over celebrated arrogance and self-importance - upon becoming public property. If You're Feeling Sinister, the Scottish band's sophomore outing, is their wayward stab at making their music public property. Their first album, Tigermilk, was effortlessly smuggled into the so-called indie-rock ghetto as an infamously limited vinyl release. Although it was re-issued in 1999, an original printing of Tigermilk sells at the tune of a couple hundred dollars.
Many bands work with the safety net of studio magic, remedying weak lyrics and derivative songwriting with post-production tricks and compulsive dial-noodling. On If Your Feeling Sinister, Belle and Sebastian do not. It is the sheer dexterity, ingenuity, and surprising aplomb of their songwriting that makes the album such a compelling work. Its ten tracks showcase keen lyricism, symmetric melodies, and patient musicianship. The opening track, "The Stars of Track and Field," is a quiet, troubled ode to the beautiful that exits in the clamor of crashing cymbals and swelling brass. "Seeing Other People," a track set adrift by a piano arrangement stolen straight out of a Peanuts television special, languidly narrates the sadness and confusion of post-relationship exploits. "Me and the Major" is a sober generation's diatribe - it reaches hilarious heights, yet remains stubbornly relevant. However, the title track, "If You're Feeling Sinister," is the album's undisputed centerpiece. A testament to the moral hypocrisies raised by authority, religion, and the media, it races to a comic conclusion that "chances are you'll probably feel better/If you stayed and played with yourself." The intrigue of Belle and Sebastian's lies in their lead singer, Stuart Murdoch. Murdoch's plaintive, disarming voice (which curiously evokes 1960s folk singer Donovan) and his acutely humorous, literary lyrics reveal the immutable characteristics of a pop enigma.
While the dust settled around the overwhelming response to If You're Feeling Sinister, the idiosyncratic band launched a PR campaign that can be summed up by a flurry of idiosyncratic singles, idiosyncratic T-shirts, and idiosyncratic buttons. In addition, side projects (the bands Looper, the Gentles Waves, and the publishing of a novel) by various band members followed suit. The band also managed put their current record label (Jeepster) and their like-minded labelmates (Salako, Snow Patrol) on the map, and spearheaded a summer festival. What this all means: Belle and Sebastian are here to stay. Wear your heart on your sleeve and buy this album.
Free Music Review: B&S's least versatile but best album.
Hit: 5 Stars
As you can see, the reviews of this one run the whole gamut - from Awful, to great (but not on par w/ Tigermilk & Boy w/ the Arab Strap), to one of the best albums of all time.
Here's the straight dope -- This album does NOT go as many places as Tigermilk or BWTAS. "If you're feeling sinster" lacks any departure tracks like Expectations and Is it wicked not to care. But that's a good thing, because IYFS is the definitive Belle and Sebastian recording. Nearly every song is in the signature B&S style you can recognize before Stuart even starts singing. This is a great "full listen" album, so it's best to devote some time to listen to it all at one shot if possible. I guess I'll do a track by track.
The Stars of Track & Field: I can't say enough about this song. One of Stuart's best, most timeless melodies. Nice build, great lyrics. 5/5
Seeing other people: a truly signature B&S song, the swirling piano intro nabs you immediately, and the lyrics and melody keep you interested straight through. 5/5
Me & the Major: This is not one of the best songs on the album. The melody is a tad annoying to me -- at least for the verse. The chorus is good. 3/5
Like Dylan in the Movies: A nice softer one -- not a particularly compelling track, but still a great listen. 3.5/5
Fox in the snow: This is some of Stuart's better metaphorical lyrics. The song sort of plods at the start but it gains some ground throughout and ends up as a good one. 3.5/5
Get me away from here, I'm dying: A poppy take on the Pachelbel's Canon progression with a great lead into the title track. 4/5
If you're feeling sinister: What an amazing song. It builds from some ambient noise of children playing and some soft steady strumming. Great lyrics and a wonderful, simple melody. The chorus payoff doesn't come until well over halfway through the song, but it's certainly worth the wait. 5/5
Mayfly: I'm getting tired of writing these, but this one is great too. 4/5
The Boy done wrong again: This song doesn't do a whole lot for me. I think it's because Stevie Jackson sounds kind of silly crooning "the boyyy done wronnng againnnn....". 3/5
Judy and the Dream of Horses: B&S close out the album with another great tune. The train-whistle thinger is a great addition. This is a lot of people's favorite track on the album, though for me that is reserved for the title track or the Stars of Track and field. 4.5/5
I discovered B&S by running across "This is just a Modern Rock song". That track is very different from most of their work, so after hearing and loving that so much, it was hard for me to start getting into the other stuff I'd heard. But it's a worthwhile journey.
Free Music Review: I was a sailor before I was a pirate.
Hit: 5 Stars
This album is best listen to while alone, driving in a car, and really really loud. You wont appreciate it completely until you do this. Spend some time with it, get to be able to sing the songs before you go dissecting the lyrics. Oh, and make sure you have enough time to listen to the album in full, and in the correct order. This album will creep up on you, if you let it. I find it's healthy to examine one's self periodically for change and understanding. In due time, this album will guide you to think about your life a little bit differently than before - something that every good folk album/song should do.
Now, a bit on the content. I've read a few reviews that doc Stewart Murdoch's voice. Well, his sound is raw. Not in the gut wrenching, wild and willy nilly sense of the term, but in the sense that he sound like he hasn't ever taken voice lessons. You can tell that his voice is the product of a well attuned ear and a natural, and again raw, sense of music. In the end I think his voice is very unique and very very good. I've never heard anything like it at all; he very much has his own sound although it's very easy to see where he's pulled from; Nick Drake, Velvet Underground, and Donavon all come to mind. His rang is great, and the patterns, while very pleasant, are rather unusual. If your not paying attention, the music easily fades into the day.
The only song I'm going to comment on is "Fox in the Snow." It is a darling story of a dear troubled friend - as i believe many of their songs are. Fox refers to the girl (more commonly spoken as "she is a fox," or "foxy lady"). Snow refers to cocaine. The rest of the lyrics are similar metaphor. Once you know what the title means, the rest is deducible. There is something all too human about this song - I cherish it like one of my own dear friends.
Yes this album is very artsy - which is why I think many people bash it - but isn't music a form of art? If I didn't want my music to be artistic, i don't know why i would bother with music at all.
People say this is a good introduction to Belle and Sebastian. I'm not so sure. This album is a good example of the kind of music Belle and Sebastian play, but it's very loaded. I like to think an introduction should be simple. And in that sense, none of the music by this band is a good starting place. You sort of have to just dive in - much like love - a complicated mess that makes us happy to be alive, a melancholy masterpiece. I'm not saying don't start here, just that this entry is no better than any other. Again, be prepared to spend some time, a few listens, because nothing worth loving is every completely understood the first time you experience it.
Free Music Review: Last album with original members, last one recorded in the church hall, Stuart's favorite
Hit: 5 Stars
If I had to choose the best Belle & Sebastian album ... I couldn't.
But "If You're Feeling Sinister" is the album I'd recommend for anyone who is looking to listen to some of their older music because they like a newer release and want a good starting place to get into some of their older stuff.
Alternately, if you've heard "Tigermilk" and/or "Boy with the Arab Strap" and like them, then this album is a more melancholic, complex, sophisticated, and oddly arousing take on their older story-like songwriting style.
When this album was released, the band never did publicity and it was next to impossible to find a picture of any of them. They sent out press photos with them in a classroom with their heads down on a desk.
Stuart David, then-bass player for the band, was really into this ink polaroids concept, where words better captured a person in a moment of time than taking a photo would because they wouldn't know they're being photographed. This was Stuart David's last album recorded with the band, and when he left the band they started doing publicity, interviews, playing more shows, toured and Stuart Murdoch's face and comments started appearing in many fan zines. Stuart David made his side project, Looper, his full time gig.
"Fox in the Snow" is lead singer Stuart Murdoch's favorite song, at least that's what he said to my friend in 2001 after my friend told him that her 4-year-old's favorite song was "Fox in the Snow."
The title track, "If you're feeling sinister," goes on to say, "go off and see a minister. He'll take away the pain of being a hopeless unbeliever." So a lot of hipsters and critics wondered if the band was, heaven forbid, religious. I like the line in that song where he says, "She was into S&M and bible studies, not everyone's cup of tea she would admit to me ..."
The only thing I don't like about this album is occasional song endings with blaring horns that seem to go on forever.
The best thing about early Belle & Sebastian albums is you can listen to them over and over again and always find something new, or catch something you missed before, and it's smart, insightful, poetic somethings that often make you feel better.
"If you're feeling sinister" has several tracks with really dense, woven, pretty stories and characters in them.