Monday's Long Song

 

It was 1998 and Belle and Sebastian worked on their third album. I got aware of them by her second album If You're Feeling Sinister, an album that shows their ability to write songs far away from mainstream. 

Stuart Murdoch wrote the most of their songs and he said once that he needed their lyrics to communicate with the world, because he can't do it with spoken words. Consequently, Belle and Sebastian's first four albums are not only magnificent records featuring tender, melancholic pop songs in the spirit of songwriting genius Nick Drake.

During this time B&S released three EP's and today's track is one of them and a good example for Glaswegian songwriting at the end of the century.

Belle and Sebastian - This Is Just A Modern Rock Song

Red Hot And Blue IV

 

The majority of this week's songs take us back to the early eighties in England. We start with The Fixx, a new wave band from London. Not really new wave, as they had already integrated strange synthesisers into their sound for this time, with short guitar riffs and a pleasing rhythm section. This is the last song on their debut album from 1982.

The Fixx - Red Skies

In 1983 Paul Weller decided to disband The Jam, as he was leaning more towards soul and jazz at the time. Together with Mick Talbot they released an epic debut album that made the sound of this summer. Long Hot Summer was the leading track on their third single released as an EP. There are still less songs that sound better to summer than this.

The Style Council - Long Hot Summer

Let's go to the north. In 1996 Belle and Sebastian formed in Glasgow by Stuart Murdoch and Stuart David as part of a social project for the unemployed. With their jangle-pop and great melodies they got a lot of critical acclaim and they released one good album after another. This song from their seventh album The Life Pursuit shows once more why they are so great.

Belle and Sebastian - The Blues Is Still Blue

Back To The Office

 

Now that I have been retired for four months, I will be returning to my former workplace for the last time this afternoon. The reason for this is that every year the employer invites all employees celebrating an anniversary and those who have retired in the current year to an evening together.

Not that I didn't enjoy working and had many pleasant colleagues, but I broke off contact with many of them because it was clear to me that I could only start a new phase in my life if I had completely left the old one behind me. Nevertheless, I'm looking forward to seeing familiar old faces again for a few hours and hopefully having some good conversations.

Looking back, I can think of many conversations in which I tried to broaden the musical horizons of my colleagues. Often unsuccessfully. 

Zeltinger Band - Müngersdorfer Stadion

Belle & Sebastian - The State I'm In

Echo and the Bunnymen - Do It Clean (Live 1983)

New Song On Sunday

Scottish indie veterans Belle And Sebastian released their twelfth studio album Late Developers just last year. Shortly before the release, however, the band decided to remove one song from the tracklist because the album felt too long for the song: What Happened To You, Son?. Belle And Sebastian released this as a a few days instead. The driving track is reminiscent of jangle pop and features a playful bass line, a nostalgic guitar riff and concise keyboard sounds. Stuart Murdoch explained that the song is about his youth and the difficult phase he went through in his late teens. He had failures at university and in almost everything he tried at the time. During this time he was obsessed with certain bands from the 80s. Presumably, as for many self-doubters, this was Morrissey because many of the ingredients of this song are reminiscent of him. Anyway, another superb song from a band that seldom do it wrong.

2023 - This Year In Music Part II

 

Let's start this small review with a new band to me. Brown Spirits are from Melbourne, Australia and celebrate a fusion of krautrock and a d-i-y punk attitude with drums, bass and guitar/keyboard. They have learned by many but make a sound of their own. 

Bristol's Blue Aeroplanes also appeared with a sing of life and gave us with Culture Guns this year's trademark in jangly guitar sound. Seems like the songs work well live as well.

Belle and Sebastian, one of Glasgow's pop-bands released Late Developers, another album by them that is very good and full of great songs with hooks. Seems like they are very close to a perfect pop/rock song 

It seems like Julian Cope has too many ideas in his mind to release them all on vinyl. This year he surprised us with Robin Hood another album full of weird ideas. But after all he made another great record (if only the ones which are huge fans). 

HiFi Sean and David McAlmont finished their long time collaboration this year with their first album Happy Endings. And the title is programm: they collect a lot of influences and create their own space. An album full of great songs often added with strings but never overproduced. An album I came back from time to time with joy.

Summer

 

As of today, it is June, the meterological beginning of summer, and the weather is with us. For the first time in a row, it has been warm, sunny and pleasant to sit outside, meet with friends and spend wonderful evenings. For me, there is nothing better than enjoying this time of the year. I've been thinking about which songs make the start of the new season easy for me, but there are too many of them to rank. With this in mind, just a few songs that came to mind ad hoc and without completeness or ranking. A good start into the new season to all.

A Bit Of Previous

 

Belle and Sebastian are going to release a new album after a long time. I always had a huge fondness to them and not only they made timeless songs that you could hear at any time at any place. As far as I heard from this album I think the title is program. They didn't changed their sound and they are have still the abilities to write cheerful and weighty songs like we used to get from them. Nothing spectacular or groundbreaking - just more indie-pop songs high above the usual level. Good to have them back.

One More Forgotten Band

 

In 1986 New Zealand's Flying Nun was the record label that introduced me to many great and now forgotten bands with their label compilation Tuatara. A band that didn't managed to be featured on this compilation were Able Tasmans. They borrowed their name from Dutch explorer Abel Tasman and released also in 1986 their first and superb debut A Cuppa Tea And A Lie Down. I really loved their sophisticated and superb arrangements between loud guitar music and pop elements. Largely acoustic sound added with keyboards and corrosive guitars. For me it is a timeless album filled with sweet, crafty and intelligent guitar pop songs that stand in a row with The Woodentops, Belle & Sebastian or Yo La Tengo.

Able Tasmans - What Was That Thing

Able Tasmans - Evil Barbeque

Able Tasmans - Little Hearts

Able Tasmans - Rainbow

The Heart Of It All

A few months ago Isobel Campbell returned with a new album after a hiatus of a decade. The main reason she appeared only for a collaboration with Mark Lanegan was that her record company busted and she had to enforce the rights of her own songs. Campbell may have start with new songs but she decided to release her old songs on a new label. And it was a very good decision because otherwise we didn't got the chance to listen to some of the most beautiful songs that was released this year. On this songs the magic of the early Belle and Sebastian appears once again. Of course it is just folk music with a touch of Americana and sometimes with a touch of psychedelic sounds but I simply love her voice and this is enough.

Felt

It was back in the early 80's a band appeared on the scene that gave a lot of inspirations to bands like Belle and Sebastian or The Charlatans. Blessed with jangly guitars, great songs and a post-punk attitude added with superb songs made them a big place big place in history. They released a couple of outstanding records these days and sadly were forgotten now. Listening to albums like Crumbling the Anitseptic Beauty or Forever Breathing the Lonely is still a pleasure after all the decades and worth to feature them on this pages.

Felt - Cathedral
Felt - Down but not yet out

Unavoidable

are the three-wheelers most known as Tuc Tuc. On all main- and backstreets you can see them riding around. In no place you are save from the crackling noise of that litte mortorcycles dfriven by a two-stroke engine. Everyone takes them for short distances and you can them often overloadet (as europeans would like to think).

These vehicles are very well known in Thailand and also in India but established in Sri Lanka only 25 years ago. It's easy to take a ride because you don't need air conditioning because most of them are open on both sides. It's the cheapest way to take shorter distances. For longer distances I'll prefer a tax or a bus.

But anyway to travel on the road takes a lot of time. There is only one highway that connects the capitol to the south. And if you take the regular streets you have to be careful about the other things on the street: the busses, trucks, cars,tuc tucs, dogs, cows, bicycles, pedestrians and sometimes deep hole in the street.

Have a good time and enjoy the rest of the year.


Belle and Sebastian - The State I Am In