Belle and Sebastian - who on ILX will be right about Write About Love?

the new album

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/writeaboutlove542.jpg

I dunno, but I'll take any excuse I can to repost this image:

http://i39.tinypic.com/24g7rm0.jpg

never not funny

LOL!

First B&S thread I've ever clicked on and I hit the jackpot.

dying @ that cover, ilxor

Glad this thread is off to an entertaining start.

at least the start is entertaining if not the record.

Okay we just need BeeOK for the full set I think

"In an effort to promote the record in a fun, DIY style, Murdoch is urging fans to take pictures or video of themselves writing "Belle and Sebastian Write About Love" or just "Write About Love" around their own city or town. He set up a Flickr group and everything. And, because he's Stuart Murdoch, he added, "remember to use chalk or at least something non-permanent!" No B&S graffiti bombing plz."

ugh

totally

anyone have access to some film-quality gore effects so we can send in pictures of people spelling out "Belle and Sebastian Write About Love" in entrails

I second this emotion.

The B & S facebook page thread about this is as excruciating as you would expect. I could have gone to a recording of a promotional TV show about this today, but I went to work instead.

just want to say that despite all the surrounding gooeyness i don't think these guys are actually capable of making a bad record

i should get my wife some chalk and let her do some twee graffiti

Tweefiti?

gratweetiti

btw the fake b&s cover was done by ken c after i gave him the idea, he did a great job.
so kudos to ken c!

just want to say that despite all the surrounding gooeyness i don't think these guys are actually capable of making a bad record

Would agree with this. But by God do they need a slap for encouraging people to be so slappably mimsy.

Ailsa, I believe you're the one who first suggested that B&S, despite their obvious talent, have this habit of encouraging their fans' worst traits. Once (when I was a wee lad of, oh, OK, I was already 30), I disagreed vehemently. Now I see it as an impediment to my overall enjoyment of the band.

just be thankful none of their fans get their knitting out during a gig ;)

but... what do we write about when we write about love

i saw a pre-show knitter at the jackson browne show the other week. didn't seem like such a bad idea!

Writing about love is like dreaming about horses.

Ailsa, I believe you're the one who first suggested that B&S, despite their obvious talent, have this habit of encouraging their fans' worst traits. Once (when I was a wee lad of, oh, OK, I was already 30), I disagreed vehemently. Now I see it as an impediment to my overall enjoyment of the band.

― we wanted lime (mike a), Wednesday, August 11, 2010 7:06 PM (59 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

what the hell does this mean

it means he agrees with her now

ok i understand that but i don't think i understand anything about the rest of it

have you met any B&S fans?

have i met people who like one of the most popular indie bands of the last 15 years? sure have.

Have any of them been the ultra twee insufferably cutesie types?

no

i've never been *quite* sure why this type of fan elicits such negative responses, unless it has something to do with the alleged wimpiness factor?

so B&S thinks the things that might have worked back in 1996, will work again in 2010?
someone is naive - the band, the fans or both of them.

i don't know, is this just a problem in the uk or something? the twee stereotype is so fucking played and despite having met a million hipsters of various stripes i have found no one who actually fulfills it.

do b&s fans from '96 still like the '10 version of the band?

i thot they all listened to very truly yours and the motifs these days

Quite possibly? It certainly does exist in Glasgow.
xp

Writing about love is like dreaming about horses.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jzYzVMcgWhg

neil hannon's finest moment tbh.

I've nothing against them per se, but I can see how they would be annoying if you came across them a lot.

btw this write the album title and take a picture thing if done by any other band would be treated as a straightforward viral marketing thing--like, welcome to 2010 fellas

no and no
xpost to electricsound

i can't really think of a single popular band that doesn't end up encouraging the worst traits of their hardcore fans

in other words, annoying people are annoying

wtf is rong with people who knit - winter isn't that far away and the tories are making everything, presumably including heating, uber expensive

Oh man. This thread wins because someone posted the My Lovely Horse clip. <3 <3 <3.

Okay we just need BeeOK for the full set I think

haha, i got nothin'

excited about this, can't wait for new stuff

do b&s fans from '96 still like the '10 version of the band?

Well, I was a huge fan in '96 and will still stan for the first four albums hardcore. Wasn't as big a fan of the last two but saw them when they toured for both those albums and they were incredible live.

BTW, I have no idea who those two bands you mentioned are and I don't think I'm one of the annoying twee types people are talking about although I have met some and yes, they were British.

Oh and I've already bought tickets to see them in October so I guess I'll probably buy this album eventually so I'm not totally in the dark.

i liked the last few albums and i'm excited for this one. not like jumping out of my chair excited, but b&s don't really inspire much in me besides quiet muted happiness

i'm standing up out of my chair, going to the liquor cabinet and making myself a nice drink excited.

do b&s fans from '96 still like the '10 version of the band?

We'll see. There's a lot to like in both Dear Catastrophe Waitress and Life Pursuit and the new one will probably be similar, if also probably a few steps down the path to shinier/more compressed/more poppy. I don't need the angsty twee of the first few all the time but they will always be my favorites.

take away the lyrics and you can't really call the first 3 albums angsty twee. then you are just left with a lot of top notch music

lyrics mean close to nil with me (except poignantly awkward or bad lyrics which annoy me when they appear in otherwise great songs). I much prefer vocal lines (rhythm and harmony), tone of voice, and everything else about the vocals than the actual lyrics. (however I do strongly prefer to listen to singing in my native language)

don't disagree with any of that, which is probably a major reason this band is a favorite.

speaking of fans, are there still pop art retro art movie 60's girls like the one on the real cover? i never see any anymore. they might all work in vintage clothing stores though and i don't frequent those. the cover says: we are going back to our worshipping 80's people who worshipped people from the 60's roots, man! which is cool. someone needs to take a stand. i thought they had gotten more modern recently. i liked that waitress album! i'd never really listened to them before that. probably cuz i still listen to old school twee.

are there still pop art retro art movie 60's girls like the one on the real cover?

there are def some around my town

every couple of years i see a mod. on a scooter! warms my heart.

every few years when i lived in philadelphia i would see a roving band of skinheads! for real! they would be drunk and throw things at old ladies and kick dogs or whatever. so cool! i have no idea where they came from. just passing through.

have nostalgic feelings about getting into a hardman staredown/near fight with gross philly proles at a B&S show once upon a time. fuckers...

the famous philly thing is they cancelled their very first show there! it was a VERY big deal, i'll have you know. everyone was waiting for them to go on, but penelope or someone had the sniffles and they couldn't go on. they played like a year later or something for everyone who came that night. or something like that. many twee tears shed that night! many damp sweaters.

this must have been at their fifth philly show or something, like 2005. no big deal. was kinda itching for bloodshed tbh, cuz i busted my knuckles at a belle & sebastian show would have been a good story. but nothing came to pass.

LOL at "Penelope or someone had the sniffles"

are there still pop art retro art movie 60's girls like the one on the real cover?

The girl on the cover is in a Glasgow band called "Zoey von Goey" that S. Murdoch produced.

the boy with the arab strap is classic; the eps preceding it are mostly classic as well. it's just pop/rock music, guys, no need to wind yourselves into a tizzy. fold your hands is 2/3rds dogshit but dear catastrophe waitress truly surprised me w/its greatness so i am very much interested in hearing this new one.

"it's just pop/rock music, guys, no need to wind yourselves into a tizzy."

^^^^ totally. In fact when I heard them for the first time the thing that grabbed me was how Lazy Line Painter Jane channelled the Velvets Live 1969 sound.

That said, I reckon they peaked with Tigermilk and the first 3 eps. It's been steadily diminishing returns ever since.

Yeah, DCW is my favourite overall, though I just couldn't get into TLP and that God Help the Girl thing. So, I'm not exactly clamouring for the newie. Just hope it's a Return To Form yo.

I've only seen B&S live once, and some of the audience were the most obnoxious people.

I don't think I'm one of the annoying twee types people are talking about although I have met some and yes, they were British.

― o sh!t a ˁ˚ᴥ˚ˀ (ENBB), Thursday, August 12, 2010 3:48 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

LOL

I thought DCW and Life Pursuit were both great, so I'm stoked for this.

Hooray for B&W brunette hipster woman on the sleeve. Murdo's back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

stuart murdah

didn't like life pursuit at all but loved waitress. of course I'll listen to this, and I'm seeing them live as well (but only because they're playing the treasure island fest with other bands I want to see).

x-post Didn't Stuart Murdoch start the Philly show in boxing gloves and shorts, entering the stage to the "Rocky" theme? I'm not joking.

i thought everyone had to do that when they played a show in philly...?

That would explain his guitar playing anyway

i thot they all listened to very truly yours and the motifs these days

― kshighway61 revisited (electricsound), Wednesday, August 11, 2010 7:24 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

weird, people outside of Chicago know about Very Truly Yours? I assumed they were just a local deal.

x-post Didn't Stuart Murdoch start the Philly show in boxing gloves and shorts, entering the stage to the "Rocky" theme? I'm not joking.

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, August 12, 2010 1:44 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

Yes. Later in the show Stuart brought out a box of t-shirts and asked which audience members had been at the canceled performance. Those who had raised their hands, walked in an orderly fashion to the stage, waited patiently in line to be handed t-shirts, and returned to their seats without incident. Yes, there were many sweaters and eyeglasses. It was twee as fuck, and one of the most splendid moments in humanity I have witnessed on earth. The show then resumed and frankly I wish it were still going on right now.

weird, people outside of Chicago know about Very Truly Yours? I assumed they were just a local deal.

i came across them by accident on emusic, but i love their record. found out that a friend of mine also was into them.. so yeah they have a modest oz fanbase as well

Yeah, VTY has made its way around the internet/tweeverse (same thing?). A little too amateurish and sloppy for me but I guess some people find that charming.

just be thankful none of their fans get their knitting out during a gig ;)

― pfunkboy (Herman G. Neuname)

B&S fans are being encouraged to knit about love.

Anywho, I'm hoping for more TLS-type stuff from this. Wasn't maybe as consistent as some of their other albums but I return to the high points ("Another Sunny Day", "Sukie", "White Collar Boy", Dress Up In You" especially) again and again (thank you, Lord, for the iPod). Strangely, DCW never really clicked with me. If they're going back to their fey roots or whatever, I can probably do without that.

Super stoked for Vengeance Rising, too.

glad people are hearing VTY, it's not my favorite kind of music but they are nice people and opened at my former band's last show

actual album cover:

http://cdn.pitchfork.com/media/bs.jpg

Are you serious? They're lowercasing "about"?

nothing wrong with knitting, btw (I have never seen anyone knitting at a Belle and Sebastian gig, or at any other gig).

It really does look like the B&S equivalent of the fake Studio album covers in that thread.

we need a thread of sleeves made by band members who shouldn't be entrusted to design sleeves. it's a nice typeface though.

meanwhile you can hear a bit of one of the songs here:

http://www.belleandsebastian.com/newsstory.php?id=505

it joins the ranks of some other fine b & s kitchendancing classics

they have leaked their first song, title track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ7ZYSNrn-Y

God I really hoped that was fake. The cover at the start of the thread is a million times better.

Well, I'll go next then. The song is... slight. I like it. It has many of my favorite chords. As you know, the title track to 'The Life Pursuit' never made it to the actual album, despite being a good song. I'm looking forward to a US tour. I'm grasping at straws. No, it's fine.

Will be fine when buying coffee on cold, early mornings this winter.

not very thrilled

I like it. It has many of my favorite chords.

haha

man, descending (then briefly rising) progression at the start is lifted, like directly, from something, but i can't for the life of me say what. songs is the kind of thing they do now, note perfect 60s/70s pop pastiche, owes everything to squeeze but strikes me as lifeless.

i hate this?, but at least it is related to the officeplace

The cover at the start of the thread is a million times better.

Yes.

owes everything to squeeze but strikes me as lifeless.

well, duh!

(only kidding)

Maybe there's some magic missing in the youtube sound quality but this sounds rote, almost dreary.

"Lifeless" is probably a better description.

The intro - Tragedy by the Bee Gees? The verse is a thousand 60s soul-tinged pop records. Lame chorus though.

Intro made me think a little bit of a major key version of Reach Out I'll Be There...maybe there's something else that's closer.

That new song is really not that great at all. Over the last few albums it sounds like they are too busy trying to prove to everyone that they are a real pop band and not a twee indie one, the thing is they actually had much better tunes when they were doing twee indie. I know I will get a lot of stick for saying this but it's the same way I see Suede, three classic albums and an amazing compilation of B-Sides/Singles then just a handful of good songs spread out over the rest of their careers. Belle & Sebastian's dip in quality might not be as big but they are both bands who, to me seemed like they used up all their great material early on.

Belle & Sebastian do get the big pop sound right sometimes, Your Cover's Blown and Stay Loose are two of my favourite songs of theirs but I remember hearing Funny Little Frog for the first time and knowing that my love of them was well and truly over. I will probably still listen to the new album when it comes out but that new song is just more of the same to me.

Oddly, I liked the God Help The Girl thing for the most part. Definitely more than anything B&S has done in a while. Maybe it's time for Stuart to just write for other people for a while. I'd be especially interested to see him collaborate w/Neil Hannon some more...

i think this sounds like a god help the girl side project

Sounds to me like a God Help Us All project.

Heard this on Radio 2 last night. Sally Sparrow just about passes muster as a singer, but this song has a "Kick Me" sign sellotaped to its back.

.. whereas ... ?

who is the girl singing on this?

It's the actress Carey Mulligan (An Education).

Leakage. Magiska.

happy happy joy joy

really looking forward to this.

single's terrible but...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snailu0RnLg

that image ilxor posted upthread is still totally classic

http://i39.tinypic.com/24g7rm0.jpg

norah jones is on the album. haven't made it to her song yet. oh, it's started now, it is very norah jones so far even with stuart singing. eh, was monica queen not available? when will monica queen release another record? her last was marvelous. the belle and sebastian record for your mom and dad?

I can actually imagine Murdoch having a solo hit someday within Norah's adult-alternative market (or whatever it's called now). It'd be a one-off like with Edwyn Collins' one-hit wonder.

it's a pleasant record, i am sure everyone here will despise it but whatever. it fits them, for where they are now- hanging with hollywood starlets and norah jones. who sings on the first song? is it Sarah Martin?

I think it's Sarah Martin singing on the first track.

The whole thing feels really slight and understated. I can't remember one of Stuart's melodies, the title track feels like a God Help the Girl leftover, Stevie's one contribution doesn't play to his strengths. I have only played it once, so I could very well change my mind about all of this, but it sounds almost as if there's nothing to really dig into, like they consciously shied away from everything that made their last two records so good to make a record that would sound like a Belle and Sebastian tribute band (and one that didn't understand the appeal of anything the band did after Fold Your Hands Child, which is the only record that seems as weak as this one, and they at least took risks with that).

here is the tracklisting:

Belle & Sebastian Write About Love (also known informally as Write About Love) is the upcoming eighth studio album by Belle & Sebastian, slated to be released on October 11, 2010 on Rough Trade in the UK and on October 12, 2010 on Matador Records.

1. "I Didn't See It Coming"
2. "Come On Sister"
3. "Calculating Bimbo"
4. "I Want The World to Stop"
5. "Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John" (Featuring Norah Jones)
6. "Write About Love" (Featuring Carey Mulligan)
7. "I'm Not Living in the Real World"
8. "Ghost of Rockschool"
9. "Read the Blessed Pages"
10. "I Can See Your Future"
11. "Sunday's Pretty Icons"

invaluable information -- an absolute quality post

don't worry, i will be posting a lot less...soon.

i hope that isn't so. i like the individual album-threads you set up. anyway, up to you, obv., but i hope you stick around.

just in case anyone in this thread missed the tracklist

here is the tracklisting:

Belle & Sebastian Write About Love (also known informally as Write About Love) is the upcoming eighth studio album by Belle & Sebastian, slated to be released on October 11, 2010 on Rough Trade in the UK and on October 12, 2010 on Matador Records.

1. "I Didn't See It Coming"
2. "Come On Sister"
3. "Calculating Bimbo"
4. "I Want The World to Stop"
5. "Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John" (Featuring Norah Jones)
6. "Write About Love" (Featuring Carey Mulligan)
7. "I'm Not Living in the Real World"
8. "Ghost of Rockschool"
9. "Read the Blessed Pages"
10. "I Can See Your Future"
11. "Sunday's Pretty Icons"

if belle & sebastian do ever record a disc called vengence rising, i hope norah jones will sing on it.

norah jones is so cool.

on first listen i thought this record was really disappointing

norah jones one was kind of the best song, altho i don't really like her voice at all

my wife loves norah Jones; I think she's dull as dishwater.

so maybe i should explain to Jordan why i posted that info. the post right before that was talking about Sarah Martin singing on the first track. she might be but they only credited two outside singers. also when i looked up the info i thought it was interesting that the album was called Belle & Sebastian Write About Love and not simply Write About Love.

invaluable information -- an absolute quality post

― J0rdan S., Monday, September 20, 2010 8:21 PM (53 minutes ago)

^ invaluable information -- an absolute quality post

^ invaluable information -- an absolute quality post

Although it hurts my heart to say it, I have not been as shockingly disappointed with an album since 'The Hunter.' Disastrously, 'I'm Not Living In The Real World' is not a Blondie cover. This album is inexplicable.

I hope I am missing something and my opinion changes.

I was wrong. I forgot about 'Aerial.'

i should get my wife some chalk and let her do some twee graffiti

― ('_') (omar little), Wednesday, August 11, 2010 10:53 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Tweefiti?

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, August 11, 2010 10:55 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

gratweetiti

― ('_') (omar little), Wednesday, August 11, 2010 10:56 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark

ilx i <3 u

jeff tweedy

found this somewhere:

Belle & Sebastian Write About Love (also known informally as Write About Love) is the upcoming eighth studio album by Belle & Sebastian, slated to be released on October 11, 2010 on Rough Trade in the UK and on October 12, 2010 on Matador Records.

1. "I Didn't See It Coming"
2. "Come On Sister"
3. "Calculating Bimbo"
4. "I Want The World to Stop"
5. "Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John" (Featuring Norah Jones)
6. "Write About Love" (Featuring Carey Mulligan)
7. "I'm Not Living in the Real World"
8. "Ghost of Rockschool"
9. "Read the Blessed Pages"
10. "I Can See Your Future"
11. "Sunday's Pretty Icons"

^ invaluable information -- an absolute quality post

featuring norah jones, you say?

the singer

invaluable lite jazz

waiting for norah jones to be featured on a cee-lo green song. dynamite vocal combo imo.

f--k you (featuring norah jones)

What a non-event this album is on first listen; it should have been called Belle & Sebastian Write Innocuously About Love. Hookless, heartless and bland. I thought the last record was okay, and I loved Dear Catastrophe Waitress, but this is just there. It's not offensively bad - it's just nothing. Aural pap that fills up 40-odd minutes.

The first few tracks are quite decent and then it flatlines big time. "I'm Not Living in the Real World" is like some horrible combination of the worst tendencies of New Pornographers and Stephin Merritt. "The Ghost of Rockschool" is a spot-on '90s throwback sonically but the emotion just isn't there. Thumbs up for Side A though.

intro to title track was stolen from the refrain of "BAD GIRL" from hong kong cantopop sensation anita mui from 2:16

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nllfYE5jpDY

They were on Jimmy Fallon last night. With Questlove drumming!

they did "write about love". it didn't sound any better live

here it is:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6Cg2eOHPVk

"Write About Love"'s beginning nicks the Byrds' "The World Turns All Around Her."

I really like "I Want the World to Stop"

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2010/10/06/130382972/belle-and-sebastian-s-business-plan-a-taqueria-in-glasgow

rock stardom w/ murdoch- a road bike and a tacqueria.

He's been talking about opening up that taqueria for years. I think it's just a pipe dream.

The first few tracks are quite decent and then it flatlines big time.

― skip, Tuesday, September 21, 2010 9:29 AM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Yep. Only a couple memorable tracks, and they're both before the 15-minute mark. The guest spots add basically nothing.

The problem is the songwriting; it's in line with what Murdoch gave us on the God Help The Girl project, which is to say it's extremely bland. I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around the drop in quality, considering The Life Pursuit was the best thing he'd done in a decade.

belle and sebastian write about YOU.

times are gettin' tough out there in need-someone-to-actually-pay-for-music land.

Gotta be honest, I thought this would finally be the one where P4k turns on them, but I guess not.

I'm a dedicated fan, but this isn't deserving of an 8.2 at all....I fear they may have become one of Pitchfork's select infallible few, that will get strong reviews no matter what.

still apologising for The Boy with the Arab Strap

i really like that one that sounds like 'knives out' by radiohead.

I'm currently listening to the one that sounds like the overture from The Who's Tommy

kinda dig "I Didn't See It Coming" -- that's the only thing I've heard off of this so far.

on the first few listens, I actually really like this! Also, the songs from it they play live work really well.

I wonder whether I should never hear this and continue forever to imagine it's very good.

it's better than life pursuit which i hated. saw them live last night, new songs were all really good live. nice return to form. at this point Ijust expect b&s to play their instruments very well and in a very stylized fashion and not be awful, and this succeeds.

liked that the stevie song rips off lyrics from lady sov.

I like this record quite a bit; it's really by-the-numbers but at least it isn't bad like Life Pursuit.

Everett True Non-Review

Sundays Pretty Icons (the closing track) is a wonderful song

Richard X remix of "I Didn't See It Coming"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZZlcS50qzw&feature=youtu.be

Bob Stanley should sue.

Listening to this album for the first time in a long time and it’s not nearly as disappointing as I recall it being at the time. No, it’s not among their best work but the drop-off in quality is not as steep as I remember it being. Most of the first half is really great. The Norah Jones duet is still a bit of a low point (not because of her, it’s just a little sappier and on the nose than typical B&S). The second half of the album is not bad at all, it’s just a bit average for a band 15 years intro their career.

Don't really care for this album but 'I Didn't See It Coming' is a favourite, one brilliant track is more than you get on most albums.

"Come On Sister" is as good as any of the good songs on the first 3LP/4EP golden era.

This whole run is some of Stuart at his most melodically daring:

"Don't touch me
If you touch me you could never go back
Faith
Come on, sister have a drink
Have a seat at the bar
Tell me all about your men
And your hopes
And the hours of your life"

When I was on tw@tter ages ago, Stuart tweeted that he forgot how to play the song and he had to watch this youtube cover (the only cover of it on youtube) to relearn it and he was really impressed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJ7N69Iikoo

seconding that. easily the highlight of this album + one of their best.

my fav on this album is 'write about love'