This article's lead sectionmay be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article.(August 2024)
Belle and Sebastian
Members of Belle and Sebastian, pictured sometime between 2001 and 2006. Left to right: Mick Cooke, Richard Colburn, Bobby Kildea, Chris Geddes, Stevie Jackson, Sarah Martin, Stuart Murdoch)
Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released twelve studio albums.[5][6] They are often compared with acts such as the Smiths[7][8] and Nick Drake.[5][6] The name "Belle and Sebastian" comes from the 1965 television series Belle and Sebastian. Though consistently lauded by critics,[9][10] Belle and Sebastian's "wistful pop"[11] has enjoyed only limited commercial success.[9]
In 1994, Stuart Murdoch and Stuart David both enrolled at Stow College's Beatbox programme for unemployed musicians in Glasgow.[5] Together, with music professor Alan Rankine (formerly of the Associates), they recorded some demos, which in 1996 were picked up by the college's Music Business course that produces and releases one single each year on the college's label, Electric Honey. As Murdoch had a number of songs already and the label was extremely impressed with the demos, he was granted permission to record a full-length album, which was recorded mostly live over three days, entitled Tigermilk.
Murdoch and David recruited local musicians Stevie Jackson (guitar and vocals), Isobel Campbell (cello/vocals), Chris Geddes (keys) and Richard Colburn (drums), the latter of whom shared a flat with David and was a student on the Music Business course, to perform on the album, with Murdoch describing the process as a "product of botched capitalism".[5] The band chose the name Belle and Sebastian from a short story Murdoch had written inspired by the television series Belle and Sebastian, about a six-year-old boy and his dog, named Belle, a Great Pyrenees.[6][12] In June 1996, Electric Honey pressed up one thousand copies of Tigermilk on vinyl.[6]
If You're Feeling Sinister and early EPs (1996–1998)
The warm response Tigermilk received led to the band being signed to Jeepster Records in August 1996, who released their second album If You're Feeling Sinister on 18 November.[13] The album was named by Spin as one of the 100 greatest albums between 1985 and 2005,[14] and it is widely considered the band's masterpiece.[15] Just before the recording of Sinister, Sarah Martin (violin/vocals) joined the band.
Following this a series of EPs were released throughout 1997.[16] The first of these was Dog on Wheels, released in May and consisting of four demo tracks recorded prior to the real formation of the band. In fact, the only long-term band members to play on the songs were Murdoch, David, and Mick Cooke, who played trumpet on the EP but would not officially join the band until a few years later. It charted at No.59 in the UK singles chart.[13] The Lazy Line Painter Jane EP followed in July. The track was recorded in the church where Murdoch lived[17] and features vocals from Monica Queen. The EP narrowly missed out on the UK top 40, peaking at No.41.[13] The last of the EPs was October's 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light. The EP was made Single of the Week in both the NME and Melody Maker and reached No.32 in the charts, thus becoming the band's first top 40 single.[13]
Despite the band's growing popularity, during this period they kept a low profile at the insistence of Murdoch, who was still regaining his strength following years struggling with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). The band played gigs sporadically, rarely gave interviews, and refused to appear in publicity photographs, often getting friends and acquaintances to pose instead. The relative reclusiveness helped to create an aura of mystique around them.
The Boy with the Arab Strap, Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant and Line-up Changes (1998–2003)
The band released their third LP, The Boy with the Arab Strap in 1998, and it reached No.12 in the UK charts.[19]Arab Strap garnered an NPR interview[20] and positive reviews from Rolling Stone[21] and The Village Voice,[17] and others; however, the album has its detractors,[22] including Pitchfork, who gave the album a particularly poor review, calling it a "parody" of their earlier work (Pitchfork has since removed the review from their website and re-reviewed the album positively in 2018).[23][24] During the recording of the album, long-time studio trumpet-player Mick Cooke was asked to join the band as a full member.[25] The This Is Just a Modern Rock Song EP followed later that year.[26]
In 1999, the band was awarded with Best Newcomer (for their third album) at the BRIT Awards, upsetting better-known acts such as Steps and 5ive.[27] That same year, the band hosted their own festival, the Bowlie Weekender. Tigermilk was also given a full release by Jeepster before the band started work on their next LP. The result was Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant, which became the band's first top 10 album in the UK, though critics felt that the band were starting to stagnate.[13] A stand-alone single, "Legal Man", reached No.15 and gave them their first appearance on Top of the Pops.[28]
Belle and Sebastian performing at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., in 2006
As the band's popularity and recognition was growing worldwide, their music began appearing in films and on television. The 2000 film High Fidelity mentions the band (with Jack Black's character referring to them as "old sad bastard music" and disdaining their soft style) and features a clip from the song "Seymour Stein" from The Boy with the Arab Strap.[29] Two songs by the band ("Expectations" and "Piazza, New York Catcher") appeared on the soundtrack for the 2007 hit film Juno.[30] Also, the title track from Arab Strap was played over the end credits of the UK television series Teachers,[31] and the lyric "Colour my life with the chaos of trouble" from the song was quoted by one of the characters in the 2009 film (500) Days of Summer.
Stuart David soon left the band to concentrate on his side project, Looper, and his book writing, which included his The Idle Thoughts of a Daydreamer.[32] He was replaced by Bobby Kildea of V-Twin. The "Jonathan David" single, sung by Stevie Jackson, was released in June 2001 and was followed by "I'm Waking Up to Us" in November, which saw the band use an outside producer (Mike Hurst) for the first time.[33] Most of 2002 was spent touring and recording a soundtrack album, Storytelling (for Storytelling by Todd Solondz).[34] Campbell left the band in the spring of 2002, in the middle of the band's North American tour to pursue a solo career, first as The Gentle Waves, and later under her own name. She later collaborated with singer Mark Lanegan on three albums.[35][36]
Dear Catastrophe Waitress, The Life Pursuit and hiatus (2003–2010)
The band left Jeepster in 2002, signing a four-album deal with Rough Trade Records.[37] Their first album for Rough Trade, Dear Catastrophe Waitress, was released in 2003 and was produced by Trevor Horn.[38] The album showed a markedly more "produced" sound compared to their first four LPs,[39] as the band was making a concerted effort to produce more "radio-friendly" music.[38] At this point, the band began to engage more with the press and started appearing in publicity shots. The album was warmly received and is credited with restoring the band's "indie cred".[6] The album also marked the return of Murdoch as the group's primary songwriter, following the poorly received Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant and Storytelling, both of which were more collaborative than the band's early work.[40] A documentary DVD, Fans Only, was released by Jeepster in October 2003, featuring promotional videos, live clips and unreleased footage.[15] A single from the album, "Step into My Office, Baby" followed in November 2003; it would be their first single to be taken from an album,[37] and included a track recorded with Divine Comedy producer Darren Allison entitled Love on the March.
The Thin Lizzy-inspired "I'm a Cuckoo" was the second single from the album.[39][41] It achieved their highest chart position yet, reaching No.14 in the UK.[36] The Books EP followed, a double A-side single led by "Wrapped Up in Books" from Dear Catastrophe Waitress and the new "Your Cover's Blown". This EP became the band's third top 20 UK release, and the band was nominated for both the Mercury Music Prize and an Ivor Novello Award. In January 2005, B&S was voted Scotland's greatest band in a poll by The List, beating Simple Minds, Idlewild, Travis, Franz Ferdinand, and The Proclaimers, among others.[42]
In April 2005, members of the band visited Israel and the Palestinian territories with the UK charity War on Want;[43] the group subsequently recorded a song inspired by the trip titled "The Eighth Station of the Cross Kebab House", which would first appear on the digital-download version of the charity album Help!: A Day in the Life and would later have a physical release as a B-side on 2006's "Funny Little Frog" single. Push Barman to Open Old Wounds, a compilation of the Jeepster singles and EPs, was released in May 2005 while the band were recording their seventh album in California. The result of the sessions was The Life Pursuit, produced by Tony Hoffer.[43][44] The album, originally intended to be a double album,[45] became the band's highest-charting album upon its release in February 2006, peaking at No.8 in the UK and No.65 on the US Billboard 200.[46][47] "Funny Little Frog", which preceded it, also proved to be their highest-charting single, debuting at No.13.[15]
On 6 July 2006, the band played a historic[48] show with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl.[49] The opening act at the 18,000 seat sell-out concert was The Shins.[50] The members of the band see this as a landmark event, with Stevie Jackson saying, "This is the biggest thrill of my entire life".[51] In October 2006, members of the band helped put together a CD collection of new songs for children titled Colours Are Brighter, with the involvement of major bands such as Franz Ferdinand and The Flaming Lips.[52]
On 18 November 2008 the band released The BBC Sessions, which features songs from the period of 1996–2001 (including the last recordings featuring Isobel Campbell before she left the band), along with a second disc featuring a recording of a live performance in Belfast from Christmas 2001.[53]
Write About Love and Girls In Peacetime Want to Dance (2010–2016)
On 17 July 2010, the band performed their first UK gig in almost four years to a crowd of around 30,000 at Latitude Festival in Henham Park, Southwold.[54] They performed two new songs, "I Didn't See It Coming" and "I'm Not Living in the Real World".[55]
Onstage in Berlin, 2011
Their eighth studio album, released in the UK and internationally on 25 September 2010, was titled Write about Love.[56] The first single from the album, as well as the record's title track "Write about Love", was released in the US on 7 September 2010. Write about Love entered the UK albums chart in its first week of release, peaking at No.8 as of 19 October 2010.[57]Norah Jones is featured on the track "Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John",[58] and Carey Mulligan sings on the title track.[59]
In December 2010 Belle and Sebastian curated the sequel to the Bowlie Weekender in the form of Bowlie 2 presented by All Tomorrow's Parties.
In 2013, Pitchfork TV released an hour-long documentary in February, directed by RJ Bentler which focused on the band's 1996 album If You're Feeling Sinister, as well as the formation and early releases of the band. The documentary featured interviews with every member that was present on the album, as well as several archival photos and videos from the band's early days.[60] The band compiled a second compilation album The Third Eye Centre which included the B-sides and rarities released after Push Barman to Open Old Wounds, from the albums Dear Catastrophe Waitress, The Life Pursuit, and Write about Love. In an interview at the end of 2013,[61] Mick Cooke confirmed he had left the band on good terms.
The band received an 'Outstanding Contribution to Music Award' at the NME Awards 2014.[62]
In 2014, the band returned to the studio, recording in Atlanta, Georgia for their ninth studio album,[63] along with announcing tour dates for various festivals and concerts across the world during 2014.[64] Their ninth album Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance was released on 19 January 2015.[65] It was their first album with Dave McGowan, who had been their touring bassist since 2011.[66]
The Belle and Sebastian song "There's Too Much Love" forms much of the soundtrack for the Brazilian film The Way He Looks, about a blind, gay teenage boy and his friends, released in 2014.
Belle and Sebastian performed at the Glastonbury Festival on 28 June 2015, on 'The Other Stage' and at O2 Academy, Glasgow in March 2017 which was televised in the UK as part of the 'BBC 6 MUSIC Presents Festival'.
How to Solve Our Human Problems, A Bit of Previous and Late Developers (2017–present)
Performing "Piazza, New York Catcher" at the Orpheum Boston, 2024
In mid-2017, the band put out a new single, "We Were Beautiful".[67] During the same year, the band appeared in the news for a comical story that occurred during their US tour, in which they accidentally forgot Colburn in a North DakotaWalmart.[68] In December 2017 and January and February 2018, the band released a trio of EPs under the name How to Solve Our Human Problems.[69]
In August 2019, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the first Bowlie Weekender festival, Belle & Sebastian held a third festival, dubbed the Boaty Weekender.[71] Unlike the previous two festivals, the Boaty Weekender was held on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean Sea instead of UK holiday parks.[72][73]
In January 2023, the band announced the surprise release of their twelfth studio album, Late Developers. Lead single "I Don't Know What You See in Me" was released on 9 January 2023 with the album released on 13 January 2023.[75]
Collaborations and side projects
The Reindeer Section were a Scottish indie rock supergroup formed in 2001 by Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol, which released albums and gigged in 2001 and 2002. It featured Richard Colburn, Mick Cooke and Bobby Kildea from Belle and Sebastian.
The Vaselines are an alternative rock band formed in Glasgow in 1986. Between 2008 and 2014 their lineup featured Stevie Jackson and Bobby Kildea from Belle and Sebastian and they performed at Bowlie Weekender 2 curated by Belle and Sebastian in December 2010.
Tired Pony was a country / Americana supergroup formed by Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol in 2010. It features Richard Colburn from Belle and Sebastian.
God Help the Girl is a musical project by Stuart Murdoch, featuring a group of female vocalists, including Catherine Ireton, with Belle and Sebastian as the accompanying band.
Looper is an electronic music group fronted by Stuart David.
Band members
Current members
Stuart Murdoch – lead vocals, guitar, keyboards (1996–present)
Stevie Jackson – guitar, backing and occasional lead vocals, piano (1996–present)
Chris Geddes – keyboards, piano, percussion (1996–present)
Jeepster Records is an English, London-based independent record label, founded in 1995, and specializing in British indie and alternative bands, particularly Glasgow-based acts. It is most notable for its signing of Belle and Sebastian and Snow Patrol.
Tigermilk is the 1996 debut album from Scottish pop group Belle and Sebastian. Originally given a limited release by Electric Honey, the album was subsequently re-released in 1999 by Jeepster Records.
Arab Strap are a Scottish indie rock band whose core members are Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton. The band were signed to independent record label Chemikal Underground, split in 2006 and reformed in 2016. The band signed to Rock Action Records in 2020.
If You're Feeling Sinister is the second album by the Scottish indie pop band Belle and Sebastian. It was released in 1996 on Jeepster Records in the United Kingdom and in 1997 by Matador Records in the United States. It is often ranked among the best albums of the 1990s, including being ranked #14 in Pitchfork's list of Top 100 Albums of the 1990s.
Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant is the fourth album from the Scottish group Belle & Sebastian released in 2000.
Electric Honey was founded in 1992 and is Glasgow Kelvin College's in-house record label run by Ken McCluskey, Douglas MacIntyre and formerly Alan Rankine along with students from the HNC/D Music Business course. The label celebrated its 25th year in 2017 with many events including the release of the debut album "Any Joy" from Scottish six-piece indie rock band; "Pronto Mama."
The Boy with the Arab Strap is the third studio album by Scottish indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, released in 1998 through Jeepster Records.
Dog on Wheels is the debut EP by Belle & Sebastian, released in 1997 on Jeepster Records. The four recordings on the EP actually pre-date the band's début album Tigermilk, produced whilst bandmembers Stuart Murdoch and Stuart David were on the Beatbox music course at Stow College, Glasgow. Murdoch, David and Mick Cooke are the only long-term members to play on the songs, though Cooke only appears on the title track. The drums were supplied by David Campbell, whilst Brian Nugent played flute on "String Bean Jean", and Gerry Campbell, a tutor at Beatbox, provided keyboards on "The State I Am In" and "Belle & Sebastian" as well as lead guitar on "String Bean Jean". Other contributors to the E.P. include Mark McWhirter, Michael Angus and David Mackenzie, though their roles have not been confirmed.
3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light was Belle & Sebastian's third EP, released in 1997 on Jeepster Records. The lead track on the EP, "A Century of Fakers," uses the same backing track as "A Century of Elvis" from Lazy Line Painter Jane. Another song, "Songs for Children" plays directly after "Put the Book Back on the Shelf" on both the CD and 12" versions of this release. The front cover features band member Stuart Murdoch with Victoria Morton. The EP was later re-packaged as part of the Lazy Line Painter Jane box-set, and all four tracks were collected on the Push Barman to Open Old Wounds compilation. Both NME and Melody Maker made the release their Single of the Week, and the EP became the band's first to reach the UK top 40 singles chart, peaking at #32.
Camera Obscura are a Scottish indie pop band from Glasgow. The group formed in 1996, and have released six studio albums to date. Led by primary singer and songwriter Tracyanne Campbell, the band consists of guitarist/vocalist Kenny McKeeve, bassist Gavin Dunbar, and drummer Lee Thomson. Following the death of long-serving keyboardist Carey Lander, the band went on hiatus from 2015 to 2018. After reuniting in 2019 and adding Donna Maciocia as a permanent member, Camera Obscura released their first new album in 11 years, Look to the East, Look to the West, to critical acclaim.
Isobel Campbell is a Scottish singer, songwriter and cellist. She rose to prominence at age nineteen as a member of the indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, but left the group to pursue a solo career, first as The Gentle Waves, and later under her own name. She later collaborated with singer Mark Lanegan on three albums. Her latest studio album, Bow To Love, was released in 2024.
Storytelling is the fifth studio album by Scottish indie pop band Belle and Sebastian. It is the score to the Todd Solondz movie Storytelling. Belle and Sebastian experienced many problems in communication with Solondz while scoring the film, and as such only about six minutes of their music was actually used in the movie. The album contains five tracks that are recorded dialogues. The instrumental track "Fuck This Shit" uses the prosody of the title phrase in a number of different keys but never the words themselves. The album was the band's final release on Jeepster, as they went on to sign a deal with Rough Trade the following year.
The Life Pursuit is the seventh studio album by Scottish indie pop band Belle & Sebastian. It was released in Europe on 6 February 2006 by Rough Trade Records and in North America on 7 February 2006 by Matador Records.
Stephen Thomas Jackson is a Scottish musician and songwriter. He plays lead guitar and sings in the Glasgow-based indie band Belle and Sebastian.
The Week Never Starts Round Here is the debut studio album by Scottish indie rock band Arab Strap. It was released on 25 November 1996 on Chemikal Underground. The album was reissued in 2010, with a bonus CD which includes the band's first session for John Peel, from March 1997 with guest appearances from Belle and Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch and Chris Geddes, and their first ever live gig, at King Tut's in Glasgow in October 1996, as recorded live for Peel's show.
Stuart David is a Scottish musician, songwriter and novelist. He co-founded the band Belle and Sebastian and was a member from 1996 to 2000, and then went on to front Looper (1998–present). He has published seven novels – Nalda Said, The Peacock Manifesto, Peacock's Tale, Jackdaw & the Randoms, Peacock & The Poet (2016), Peacock's Alibi, and Dying For A Dram (2021)– and one volume of memoir, In The All-Night Cafe, chronicling the formation of Belle and Sebastian.
The discography of Belle and Sebastian, a Scottish indie pop band, features twelve studio albums, three compilation albums, four live albums, two box sets, nine extended plays (EPs), 21 singles and one DVD. It also includes a variety of demos and non-album singles, as well as two DJ mix compilations.
Introducing... Belle & Sebastian is an EP released by Belle & Sebastian in 2008 on Jeepster Records. The EP was compiled from the band's earlier material, ranging from their debut in 1996 to 2001.
Belle and Sebastian Write about Love is the eighth studio album by indie pop group Belle and Sebastian, released on 11 October 2010. It was the second collaboration between the band and Tony Hoffer, who had produced their previous album, The Life Pursuit (2006).
What to Look for in Summer is a double live album by Belle and Sebastian, released on 11 December 2020. The songs were culled from their 2019 world tour and Boaty Weekender tour.
1 2 3 4 5 Strong, Martin Charles (2004), The Great Rock Discography: Complete Discographies Listing Every Track Recorded By More Than 1200 Artists, Canongate U.S., p.122, ISBN1-84195-615-5
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
