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.

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'