Artist: Belle & Sebastian
Album: The Life Pursuit
Label: Matador
Release Date: 2/7/06
Other albums I recommend: If You're Feeling Sinister; Tigermilk; Push Barman to Open Old Wounds; Dear Catastrophe Waitress; The Boy With the Arab Strap
Other albums I don't recommend: Storytelling; Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant
#1 - "Act of the Apostle (Part 1)" - Wimpy start. I'm already skipping over this one. Third person voice, religious imagery and a sad girl.
#2 - "Another Sunny Day" - Much better. A very good track. Vintage B&S. First person voice, English football and infatuation with a girl with dark mascara. Download by clicking on the song title.
#3 - "White Collar Boy" - Another very good track. Second person voice. You're the white collar boy who doesn't even know what to do with a Venus.
#4 - "The Blues Are Still Blue" - This is a good track. Belle & Sebastian filtered through T. Rex. Stuart establishes characters and then sings from the persona of a part-time punk.
#5 - "Dress Up In You" - Another vintage B&S track. Melancholy tone. The narrator is a singer who has a lot of spiteful words for an ex. Then it transforms into a conversation (?) between a pop star and girl doing her nails.
#6 - "Sukie in the Graveyard" - Another very good, upbeat song. Third person voice. The subject is a tough, art school girl who doesn't take shit from anybody.
#7 - "We Are the Sleepyheads" - A decent but slight song written in the first-person voice with an unappealing arrangement.
#8 - "Song For Sunshine" - A funky beat, too high chorus and slightly cheesy lyrics. Not my favorite track.
#9 - "Funny Little Frog" - Thumbs up. A first person song about unrequited love for an unobtainable image.
#10 - "To Be Myself Completely" - The quality goes down when Stuart Murdoch doesn't sing lead.
#11 - "Act of the Apostle (Part 2)" - Still a little boring. Same subject matter but first person voice.
#12 - "For the Price of a Cup of Tea" - This track's growing on me. Provocative imagery - seven inches, line of coke, etc.
#13 - "Mornington Crescent" - A song full of regret and melancholy. Unfortunately the arrangement only solidifies that feeling.
So that's six songs that I really like, two good songs, three ok songs and two song I skip everytime. Worth buying for any Belle & Sebastian fan.
So, based on this review you think $16.98 is worth 2 decent songs?
ReplyDelete2 I would like to add out of 13!!!!
Wow, you must be rich!
6 songs that i really like. that's about 5 songs more than 99% of the records that get released.
ReplyDeleteaw, c'mon. You dis Fold Your Hands? Waddaya mean you 'don't recommend?' You're just bias because Stuart shared the song writing duties with his band mates on that album. I rate this album higher than Boy With the Arab Strap. I think Fold Your Hands has some definite keepers, like the opening track "I Fought in a War," The Model," and "Nice Day for a Sulk" just to name a few.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, Storytelling is unique. ...Like an ugly or retarded little brother. You still love him, but you just wish he wasn't born.
i agree there are some keepers on Fold Your Hands but it's probably not worth $17. maybe you can pay to download the key tracks you mentioned.
ReplyDelete