Belle and Sebastian
VA-A Century of Covers (Belle & Sebastian Tribute)
A Belle and Sebastian song is a trip back to innocence. It’s hard not to smile when you hear their soft wistful lyrics. Delicate, pretty, whimiscal..none of these adjectives quite express the uniqueness of this Scottish ensemble. This tribute gives us 20 different artists doing their own interpretions of Belle and Sebastian songs. B&S have such a different sound this could have been a disaster with bands not privy to their world. Fortunately all of these musicians appear to have a firm grasp of the music. They also know the biggest strength of B&S is in their lyrics. Songs like “Ease Your feet In The Sea” (Austin Lace) and “I’m A Snowman” (Billie The Vision and The Dancers) practically dance inside your head. Other nice tracks include “Fox in the Snow” (Lucid Evening Sky) and a surprisingly rocking “You’re Just a Baby” (Against Lupa feat. The Buzz). There may be no substitute for the original but these sincere and heartfelt covers will do just fine for now.
THIS IS JUST A MODERN INTRO by Carlo Bordone
Belle and Sebastian fans are basically divided in two main categories: who has the age to remember the homonymous telefilm and who's not. Actually its name was Belle et Sebastian, because it was french but this fits relatively. The important thing is that when in 1996 or 1997 appeared their record (A century of Fakers or if you are feeling sinister for us unlucky guys that heard Tigermilk just in its second edition...) it switched on a bulb in our loft's mind, where old memories that we don't use anymore (but we are too afraid to throw away...) were gathered: old girlfriend by now married with 2 or 3 children, Cluedo, Mastermind, etc etc... Things like that.
You are not meant to understand, specially if you don't remember the telefilm. Anyway. Reading that name meant sinking in a little funny own world. Dinner at 7.30, just after cartoons and if the school was good, an episode of A-team on tv. Continue... What I wanna say is that for B&S, because of the name or imaginary they proudly bring with them, it wasn't hard to breach our almost 30 years-old heart. In a blink, we totally found ourselves in a fantasyland made up of Nouvelle Vague, Simon & Garfunkel and "Hippys, Punks and Roxy Music in '72".
"Tribute album of the year."
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THIS IS JUST A MODERN INTRO by Carlo Bordone
Belle and Sebastian fans are basically divided in two main categories: who has the age to remember the homonymous telefilm and who's not. Actually its name was Belle et Sebastian, because it was french but this fits relatively. The important thing is that when in 1996 or 1997 appeared their record (A century of Fakers or if you are feeling sinister for us unlucky guys that heard Tigermilk just in its second edition...) it switched on a bulb in our loft's mind, where old memories that we don't use anymore (but we are too afraid to throw away...) were gathered: old girlfriend by now married with 2 or 3 children, Cluedo, Mastermind, etc etc... Things like that.
You are not meant to understand, specially if you don't remember the telefilm. Anyway. Reading that name meant sinking in a little funny own world. Dinner at 7.30, just after cartoons and if the school was good, an episode of A-team on tv. Continue... What I wanna say is that for B&S, because of the name or imaginary they proudly bring with them, it wasn't hard to breach our almost 30 years-old heart. In a blink, we totally found ourselves in a fantasyland made up of Nouvelle Vague, Simon & Garfunkel and "Hippys, Punks and Roxy Music in '72".
But we, that now are terrified of the 40-years-old finishing line, are just the wrong half of the B&S fans. The other half, the one the elected them as the indisputed Monarchs of the Indiepop Shire, is made up of girls and boys to whom all this diorama of '60\'70 references at most remind to hazy prenatal reminiscences. Nevertheless, they married that imaginary, linking it to the teenager in the '90 one, dreaming of Olympia (or Glasgow ) more than California. That's unique in the latest pop history!! That's happened because they are one of the few pop band able to evoke for real that thing called adolescence. Their album are the fav LP of the little child that still lives in us, the one that we hated so much when we were at school but from whom we can't separate at all. Ask Nick Hornby, if you want. But even today the guy that just bought the life pursuitwill go back to discover their discografy. Because it doesn't matter if you've been weaned by Lego or Playstation... Listening to B&S means just a thing: we don't wanna grow up. For ever kids, incurable lazy line-painter Jane. Even Stuart Murdoch never changes. No matter how many Trevor Horn he could allow to produce his album, no matter if he bartered Nick Drake with DiscoMusic and Glam. He will always be the White Collar Boy. In this sense, B&S are the indiepop-Ramones. With the fact that they don't write always the same song and didn't become a cartoon... Maybe a telefilm...
By the way. I bet my Tigermilk vinyl that almost the partecipants to this tribute have not the age to remember the telefilm. I know, it doesn't matter at all... What matters is to get into their mood, to be able to recognise themselves in that enchantment, feeling sinister or feeling the baoy with the arab strap, even if after years we still have't the whole idea about what that could mean... All the band partecipating to this tribute did it. So, fold your hand, children and enjoy them.
We still have time to grow up...
By the way. I bet my Tigermilk vinyl that almost the partecipants to this tribute have not the age to remember the telefilm. I know, it doesn't matter at all... What matters is to get into their mood, to be able to recognise themselves in that enchantment, feeling sinister or feeling the baoy with the arab strap, even if after years we still have't the whole idea about what that could mean... All the band partecipating to this tribute did it. So, fold your hand, children and enjoy them.
We still have time to grow up...
"Tribute album of the year."
more on
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