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Avg: 4.5 (457 ratings)
- Date Released: November 18, 1996
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Pop, Indie Rock
- Label: Matador
The twee shall inherit the earth.
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We Say...
Belle and Sebastian's delicate pop-folk tunes and wry wordplay only work if you put some effort into unraveling their shy subtleties; that and the distribution problems that initially plagued the sprawling Scottish group ensured that their embryonic fan base would consist of no one but the keenly committed. Such humble and seemingly doomed beginnings actually helped this cult band/case study: Released first in late 1996, B&S's second album, If You're Feeling Sinister, is the sound of marginally skilled musicians struggling to manage the deceptively difficult feat of singing and playing soft yet fast, and it's just barely within their grasp. Years before he and the band perversely hooked up with mega-producer Trevor Horn, singer-songwriter Stuart Murdoch crooned in an unsteady cry that hit only a few more notes than it missed, and the sprightly tempos continuously fluctuate, but the effort of the performances and the beauty of the compositions will astound if you let them. "All I wanted was to sing the saddest songs, "Murdoch ruefully admits in "The Boy Done Wrong Again," but there's too much joy in the punkishly twee instrumentation and darkly humored lyrics for him to achieve this goal. True to the perversity of the cult hero, Murdoch's failure remains our gain.
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They Say...
Belle & Sebastian's second record, If You're Feeling Sinister, is, for all intents and purposes, really their first, since their debut in 1997 was not heard outside of privileged inner circles. And If You're Feeling Sinister really did have quite a bit of an impact upon its release in 1997, largely because during the first half of the '90s the whimsy and preciousness that had been an integral part of alternative music was suppressed by grunge. Whimsy and preciousness are an integral part of If You're Feeling Sinister, along with clever wit and gentle, intricate arrangements -- a wonderful blend of the Smiths and Simon & Garfunkel, to be reductive. Even if it's firmly within the college, bed-sit tradition, and is unabashedly retrogressive, that gives Sinister a special, timeless character that's enhanced by Stuart Murdoch's wonderful, lively songwriting. Blessed with an impish sense of humor, a sly turn of phrase, and an alluringly fey voice, he gives this record a real sense of backbone, in that its humor is far more biting than the music appears and the music is far more substantial that it initially seems. Sinister plays like a great forgotten album, couched in '80s indie, '90s attitude, and '60s folk-pop. It's beautifully out of time, and even if other Belle & Sebastian albums sound like it, this is where they achieved a sense of grace.
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
The Stars Of Track And Field |
4:48 |  |
| 02. | |
Seeing Other People |
3:48 | |
| 03. | |
Me And The Major |
3:51 | |
| 04. | |
Like Dylan In The Movies |
4:14 | |
| 05. | |
The Fox In The Snow |
4:11 | |
| 06. | |
Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying |
3:25 | |
| 07. | |
If You're Feeling Sinister |
5:21 | |
| 08. | |
Mayfly |
3:42 | |
| 09. | |
The Boy Done Wrong Again |
4:17 | |
| 10. | |
Judy And The Dream Of Horses |
3:40 | |
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