A Belle & Sebastian 101

[angelophile]

Belle & Sebastian are a Scottish band, formed in Glasgow in 1996 when their first album, Tigermilk, was produced and released as part of Stow College's Music Business course. The band (named after Belle et Sébastien, a children's book by French writer Cécile Aubry) have been classified as "chamber pop", using instruments not very common in pop such as flute, cello or trumpet.

Seeing them live is an experience, as the thirteen or so members of the band are clearly supremely versatile musicians – lead vocalist Stuart Murdoch singing and playing keyboards and guitar while the female lead vocalist Sarah Martin alternates between violin, keyboards and guitar. The other members of the band are as versatile, which makes the live experience a joy to watch as the band constantly swap instruments between songs.

Off the success of the debut album, acclaimed for the clever, sardic and Smiths-esque lyrics and pure pop song writing, Belle & Sebastian they have released seven studio albums. Their lyrics received widespread praise, telling tales of lesbian schoolgirls, childhood dreams, sexual encounters on night busses, wartime tragedies, laudromat romances, summer camp rape, novel writing priests, seduction by dominatrix bosses… On top of this they have been strong advocates of EPs, usually containing singles and tracks not included on any albums. In 1998 they won Best Newcomer at the Brit Awards.

Their songs have been used on a number of soundtracks including "The Boy With The Arab Strap" being the theme tune to the Channel 4 series "Teachers." Their song "Seymour Stein" appears in the film adaptation of High Fidelity and is described by the character Barry as "sad old bastard music".

Belle & Sebastian – The State That I Am In

Belle & Sebastian – Lazy Line Painter Jane

Belle & Sebastian – Chalet Lines

Belle & Sebastian – The Boy With The Arab Strap

Belle & Sebastian - Mayfly

Belle & Sebastian – I Fought In A War

Belle & Sebastian – The Blues Are Still Blue'