| The Boy with the Arab Strap | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 7 September 1998 | |||
| Studio | CaVa Studios, Glasgow | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 45:27 | |||
| Label | Jeepster / Matador (USA) | |||
| Producer | Tony Doogan | |||
| Belle & Sebastian chronology | ||||
| ||||
The Boy with the Arab Strap is the third studio album by Scottish indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, released in 1998 through Jeepster Records.
Belle and Sebastian released their second studio album If You're Feeling Sinister in November 1996, two months after signing to London-based label Jeepster Records. It was issued in the United States in early 1997; the choice to do this delayed the follow-up, with the band instead opting to release a trio of EPs – Dog on Wheels , Lazy Line Painter Jane and 3.. 6.. 9 Seconds of Light (all 1997). The EPs were successively climbing the UK chart while If You're Feeling Sinister was gaining traction at colleges in the US; the band performed in America for the first time at the CMJ Festival in late 1997. [3]
Stuart Murdoch recalled the recording process for this album felt very different from the previous two. The group spent several months working on it versus the previous albums which were recorded in just a number of days. The music itself was somewhat more experimental as well as more collaborative with some tracks written by Stevie Jackson and Isobel Campbell and more members of the group contributing vocals. Stevie Jackson sings lead on both "Seymour Stein" and "Chickfactor", Stuart David gives a spoken word performance on "A Space Boy Dream", whilst Isobel Campbell sings lead on "Is It Wicked Not to Care?" and duets with Murdoch on "Sleep the Clock Around". [4]
The inspiration for the album's name came from the band Arab Strap, who are also from Scotland and briefly toured with Belle and Sebastian. An Arab strap is a sexual device for retaining an erection, a fact unknown to Murdoch at the time. [5] Arab Strap were reportedly less than pleased with their inclusion in the title of the album. When questioned about it, Arab Strap's leader/singer, Aidan Moffat said, "They have a sense of humour." Malcolm Middleton, the band's instrumentalist, added, "Because Arab Strap is quite an interesting name. The words go well together. That's why we chose it as a band name. We're friends with them, but there's a limit to putting someone else's name on an album. They're taking away something from us." He also mentioned that the album had been confused as a collaboration between the bands. [6]
On 20 November 1999, the band made their TV debut, appearing on Apocalypse Tube. [7]
The album's cover photo was taken by Murdoch and shows band member Chris Geddes. The photo was taken as the group spent an afternoon near the River Ayr near Auchencruive. [4]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A− [8] |
| The Guardian |  [9] |
| Los Angeles Times | [10] |
| NME | 8/10 [11] |
| Pitchfork | 0.8/10 (1998) [12] 8.5/10 (2018) [13] |
| Rolling Stone | [14] |
| Spin | 8/10 [15] |
| Uncut | [16] |
| The Village Voice | A− [17] |
In a rave review for Uncut , Robert McTaggart declared that The Boy with the Arab Strap "marks Belle and Sebastian's arrival as a fully-fleshed group", finding that they "reveal a refreshing diversity" with the album's "increasingly rich and breathtaking arrangements". [16] Ben Ratliff of Rolling Stone welcomed "the greater richness and sophistication" of the music and said that while the band's previous records were "assiduously cloistered and rickety, best heard at private moments on headphones, this album's got brilliant Spector-sound sunsets." [14] Writing for Spin , Douglas Wolk believed that Belle and Sebastian's sense of "modesty" worked to the album's advantage: "Listen closely ... and you'll relish the tiny filigreed details, the unexpected instrumental accents they can pull off only by having half the group sit out half a song, Murdoch's wry turns of phrase and flip-flops between intertextual cleverness and heart-on-sleeve honesty." [15]
John Mulvey commented in NME that Belle and Sebastian "leaves almost all their contemporaries for dead" with a record that "locates an emotional chord largely neglected by the British mainstream since the demise of the Smiths, but is presented with an air of aloofness and/or shyness more suitable to a tiny side project of the Pastels." [11] Noting the album's "echoes of Ray Davies and Morrissey", Los Angeles Times critic Steve Hochman described Murdoch's lyrics as being steeped in "suspicions, fears, doubts and pointed barbs", yet also a "sympathy for his lyrical targets" that "tempers any nastiness." [10] The Village Voice 's Robert Christgau observed that as a songwriter, Murdoch "pins his themes down one scenario at a time" in structured songs rather than "music that wanders hill and dale", achieving a sound that "comes out beautiful and fragile." [17]
Retrospectively, AllMusic critic Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that The Boy with the Arab Strap, rather than exploring "new ground", "essentially consolidates the group's talents" and "offers another round of timeless, endlessly fascinating folk-pop treasures", showcasing Murdoch's "vicious wit" and "effortless gift for elegant melancholia". [2] Having panned it in 1998 as sounding like Belle and Sebastian "decided to parody themselves", [12] Pitchfork reappraised the album in 2018 as a "wholly beautiful and delicate" work featuring "some of their darkest and most detailed songs", with staff writer Scott Plagenhoef opining that the album's "precious" sound presaged the band's later move towards "more overt flourishes" and "happy-clappy, feel-good pop". [13]
In October 2011, NME placed the title track at number 130 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". [18] The album sold 200,000 units through 2006. [19]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career" | 2:24 |
| 2. | "Sleep the Clock Around" | 4:58 |
| 3. | "Is It Wicked Not to Care?" | 3:22 |
| 4. | "Ease Your Feet in the Sea" | 3:35 |
| 5. | "A Summer Wasting" | 2:06 |
| 6. | "Seymour Stein" | 4:42 |
| 7. | "A Space Boy Dream" | 3:00 |
| 8. | "Dirty Dream Number Two" | 4:14 |
| 9. | "The Boy with the Arab Strap" | 5:14 |
| 10. | "Chickfactor" | 3:30 |
| 11. | "Simple Things" | 1:46 |
| 12. | "The Rollercoaster Ride" | 6:36 |
| Total length: | 45:27 | |
| Chart (1998) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| French Albums (SNEP) [20] | 39 |
| Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) [21] | 7 |
| Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) [22] | 30 |
| UK Albums (OCC) [23] | 12 |
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. They are often compared with acts such as the Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" comes from the 1965 television series Belle and Sebastian. Though consistently lauded by critics, Belle and Sebastian's "wistful pop" has enjoyed only limited commercial success.
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.
Dear Catastrophe Waitress is the sixth studio album by the Scottish indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, released on 6 October 2003 on Rough Trade Records.
Push Barman to Open Old Wounds is a 2005 two-disc/triple-LP compilation released by Belle and Sebastian. Blender Magazine described the collection as "25 charming tales of shy girls dabbling in photography and bookish boys dabbling in shy girls."
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.
"Legal Man" is the debut single of Scottish indie pop band Belle and Sebastian. The track features Isobel Campbell, Sarah Martin, and Rozanne Suarez on vocals and Snow Patrol drummer Jonny Quinn on congas. The cover artwork—designed by Andrew Symington—features band members Stevie Jackson and Campbell along with Adrienne Payne and Suarez. Two B-sides were released with the single: "Judy Is a Dick Slap", an instrumental, and "Winter Wooskie", which was the last time bass player Stuart David sang lead vocals before departing the band in 2000.
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.
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.
Underachievers Please Try Harder is the second LP from the indie band Camera Obscura, released in 2003. The album was released in Australia by Popfrenzy.
Fans Only is a rockumentary following the development of Belle & Sebastian during their time with Jeepster, from 'If You're Feeling Sinister’ to ‘Storytelling’. It features videos, live performances, interviews, out-takes, TV appearances, early documentary footage, exclusive material and behind the scenes insights into the evolution of the band. The front cover features band member Stuart Murdoch's wife, Marisa Privitera.
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.
Citations
Sources
