Much was made of Blur's foray into US alt slackerism. While many viewed it as a contrived attempt to become the British Pavement, it nonetheless pushed Colchester's finest into mainstream American consciousness. This was an achievement that 'Parklife', their biggest selling album, never quite managed. 13 continues on the same thread deployed by their eponymous album and offers an enjoyably eclectic listen. It's yank leanings are obvious with titles like 'Trailerpark' adding to the American feel. There are mountain top highs every few songs but the weaker tracks veer far too close to the murky waters of the canyon below. There is an off-kilter lounge music backdrop to a lot of the album, thanks in no small part to producer William Orbit.

‘13’ opens with the gospel tinged 'Tender'. It could have been so terrible but luckily there is an appreciation of the form that makes it sound like Blur are old hands at this type of thing. When 'Tender' was unleashed it sounded unlike anything Blur had ever released. It highlighted a maturing Albarn looking beyond the obvious and enabling Blur to expand on their repertoire. Of course as is customary on any Blur LP there are suitably gifted pop epics like 'Coffee and TV'. Graham Coxon takes over on vocal duties and carries the whole thing off with distinction. 'Coffee and TV' came complete with an adorable video and is a feel good trip that never seems to outlast its welcome. It's the sort of tune Blur (or Coxon on his own for that matter) could probably write in their sleep but often decide to take the scenic route instead. That’s why Blur give us the punk racket that is 'B.L.U.R.E.M.I.' and everyone squeals for track 3.

'Battle' is a little pretentious but that goes with the territory and anyway when something is this delightful it hardly seems to matter. 'Battle' swings gracefully on Albarn's murmurings and the neatest of keyboard shuffles. ' Trimm Tramm' is an understated gem that isn't that obvious at first but slides into your mind like an advert you can’t remember seeing. 'Bugman' is more straight laced, resembling a whacked out 'Song 2' played through an electric jigsaw. At regular intervals on Blur doodle about a bit too much and the results can sometimes resemble a spaghetti dish without the bolognese. Like on ‘1992’, which is too long and shatteringly boring. Elsewhere this unstructured approach is more successful like on 'Caramel' with its colourful montage of sounds where nothing is obvious except the crude guitar flashes. 'Mellow Song' is as near to quaint as you’re likely to get and includes a blissed out last minute that is intoxicating.

The album finishes up with the Blackpool pier carousel 'Optigan 1' that Damon is wont to trying from time to time. Check out the soundtrack to the 'Ravenous' movie for more of the same. On the whole ‘13’ is a more than satisfactory listen but unfortunately Albarn's experimentation falls flat on its face occasionally. So to wrap up, ‘13’ eclipses the lacklustre 'The Great Escape' but comes up way short of the majesty of 'Modern Life is Rubbish' or 'Parklife'. A sort of Blurry 'Kid A' then!

Rating: 6/10

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For many the Boo Radleys will be remembered for their candy caked hit 'Wake up Boo'. This song does not even come close to defining what an important band they were. Its success proved to be a double edged sword. Those looking for more of the same were disappointed, while those looking for something a bit more tangible would have been put off. Martin Carr, much admired drinker and now steering the Brave Captain ship was able to conjure melodies at will and provided the ammunition for Sice's magnetic choirboy vocals. Giant Steps released in 1993 represents the Boo's at their imperious zenith and is undoubtedly one of the albums of the nineties. Such a strong statement can only be rationalised by listening to its mammoth scope and innovative directions. Ideas are packed like sardines into each if its 17 tracks. At times it shuttles about with abandon scaring small creatures that are within listening distance. Many find it unkempt but a small amount of patience reveals a luxurious wealth of winning ideas. No wonder it got the album of the year in several magazines in 1993. No other album stood a chance. At first the eclectic wanderings on 'Giant Steps' are overbearing and indeed can be too much to take in. It is only after you've ingested the frentics and absorbed its scattered approach that you realise what an album you have on your hands. The opener 'I Hang Suspended' was a minor hit but is likely to blow you away on a tide of rushing guitars and the sharp vocal performance. Lyrics like 'You Know The Facts, But You Haven't Got A Clue' would burn ears if thrown in the right direction.

'Lazurus' is nothing less than epic. Brass noises as sweet as cane and as intoxicating as Jack Daniel's rise out from a dub intro to create a multi-coloured path to planet melody. Again Sice is a lone vocal amongst the cascading sound that builds around it. As the deluge of sound fills the room everything makes sense as those trumpets blaze a trail right through your heart. It is without doubt the Boo's defining moment. Other pop gems such as 'Wishin I Was Skinny' and 'Take The Time Around' are strewn around 'Giant Steps' like toys in a nursery. When the occasion takes them, the Boo Radley's search their very soul for extravagance. They pull it all off with aplomb and the grandiose approach on songs like 'Butterfly McQueen', while initially off-putting, makes total sense. As the ragged My Bloody Valentine glory of 'Rodney King' mops up the excess, it is left to the dulcet tones of Meriel Barham (of the heavenly Pale Saints) to restore the equilibrium. Elsewhere there are thoroughbred weirdo's in the shape of 'Run My Way Runway' and 'Upon 9th And Fairchild' that may frighten the naive but delight the most mature listener.

There are touching moments aplenty. Sice voice sounds so brittle and touching on 'Thinking Of Ways' you'll most likely hug the person beside you under it's emotional presence. The trumpets and guitar shrieks stream in and out of consciousness but those divine vocal chords will submerse you in the music. 'I've Lost The Reason' produces an adrenaline soaked bass buzz on 2 occasions but in between the silence is only interrupted by a bright flickering vocal. 'One Is For' may be only 90 seconds long but being a puppy like standard it loops in a curious direction that will snag your heart forever. 'Giant Steps' was an experiment where everything that was attempted came up trumps. So when the noises from outer space hijack what would otherwise have been normality they merely round the song off. The straighter laced tunes like 'Barney (...and me)' cower for cover like butterfly's amidst the frenzied soundscape around them.

At the end as the mayhem begins to die down and the dense experimental fog clears, up comes the sun in the shape of 'The White Noise Revisited'. An obvious homage to the Beatles it contains a wafting 'Yeah Yeah Yeah' that will send tingles down your spine. It proves to be the only option available to close an album that drifts off in so many distinct patterns while still maintaining a remarkable cohesiveness. It's like throwing 14 different coloured t-shirt's into a wash set to a temperature of 100 degrees, making a wish for a miracle and finding them appear at the other end in your favourite colour white. Yeah, it shouldn't have worked but it does. 'Giant Steps' is absolutely beyond reproach. I pray for the day, they get around to letting us in on any other half baked ideas the Boo's never got around to releasing. Never has music that makes so much sense taken so long to make itself known. If you have the 'Wake Up Boo' single, listen to the b-sides and you can realise the enormity of Martin Carr and his bands talent. Boo Forever!

Rating: 10/10

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At first you could be scratching your head wondering what on earth Londoners Bloc Party are at. On the surface they appear to be bashing out an incoherent racket that you’d normally not give a second chance. But if you persist the nuances become clearer as do the gilded shapes of sound. Silent Alarm reveals Bloc Party as a band with 2 distinct guises. Each is equally mesmerising, the periodic switch between the 2 ably refocusing the listener’s attention. On the one hand you’ll encounter a rush of primeval drumming, lightening quick chords and fizzy vocals. Then there’s the studied lush approach, where the melodies are intentional, lithe and downright heart wrenching.

Leading the charge for the frantic, sporadically focused yet alluring tact is the albums opener ‘Like Eating Glass’. It all starts so amiably until Matt Tong delivers his trademark armpit soaking beats. A bass line skulks in the shadows as Kele Okereke’s vocals swab the injuries inflicted by the spiky playing. The raw production continues on ‘Helicopter’, the unstoppable energy sustains the listener as Okereke pleads ‘Are You Hoping For A Miracle’. It’s not until 4 songs in that Silent Alarm takes on an instantly digestible form. ‘Banquet’ is a hot flush of a tune, brimming with attitude, swaggering along like Bez with a new set of maracas. The riffs may be as basic as a rich tea biscuit but the chorus has the attitude and appeal of a whiskey chaser. The words provide added edge, storylining a Friday night encounter.

Things get even more chaotic on ‘She’s Hearing Voices’ where the feisty beats and Ian Curtis like vocals bask in a Cathedral of zigzagging sounds. ‘Positive Tension’ has such a patchwork array of variances it’s easy to be put off. The heavy Cure influence stems from Okereke’s near perfect take on Robert Smith’s early morning drawl. Perhaps drawl is the wrong word as his lyric delivery is oft as nimble as Jack B. To counteract the shredded delivery of tracks like ‘Positive Tension’ and ‘Luno’ there are more measured efforts like ‘Plans’ and ‘Pioneers’ that still bring forth a sprinkling of interesting ideas but don’t hack off your ear in the process.

The other Bloc Party stands up on ‘Blue Light’, as refreshing and sweet as a sorbet. For the first time Tong’s drumming is restrained and Russell Lissack draws a shimmering display from his instrument. ‘This Modern Love’ is achingly beautiful right down to the clean guitars slivers that delicately wrap the phone line vocals. As it sits in a pretty puddle of sound its posture become more athletic colouring the imagination and unclogging stubborn arteries. ‘So Here We Are’ is Bloc Party’s first true classic and will devastate you every time. Suffice to say if all music sounded this powerful there would be no such thing as war.

Silent Alarm is a hugely impressive debut imbued with a fulsome energy and emotional depth. Bloc Party display a degree of flexibility, which bodes well for their future. They have several avenues of progression available to them, each rich in sonic possibilities. Even if they persist with their blend of acrobatic assaults of sound and occasional timid pop jewel they can attract a huge following. For the time being, however, Silent Alarm is a wake up call to other young bands in how to deliver individuality without losing attractive familiarity.

Rating: 8/10


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If you've never seen her, she is exactly how you would have imagined. Right down to those fake pearl tears on the cover of Debut, Bjork is an enigma in that special way that popstars can get away with. Back in 1993 when Debut was released she was voted babe of the year in NME and judging by the stunning shots on this and the single 'Big Time Sensuality' it's hard not to argue. Bjork made her first recording aged 13. She had been a member of the Sugarcubes before she went solo. The Sugarcubes spun off beat dramas that defined an alternative market in the mid-late eighties struggling to find its feet. Bjork's talent was their distinctive selling point though and they may have suffered without her powerful vigour.

Debut is infused with a huge dance sensibility. A lot of the tracks have appeared elsewhere in altogether different guises, suitable for packing dancefloors en masse. Most of the time, these reworkings are loyal to their inspiration and dutifully prove how powerful the original recordings are. The first sign of Bjork's solo output was 'Big Time Sensuality' that came complete with 5 remixes. It has a didgeridoo electronic beat that skips frothily for its duration. Bjork doesn't croon, she just adds suitable splices of cool vocals.

'Violently Happy' creeps up on you like a wayward iceberg and knocks you for six as the delicious white hot beat distils pure alcohol into your shaking torso. It is overwhelming stuff made all the more bearable by the perfect comedown of 'Venus As A Boy'. The song has the comfort of a candle in a dark cave but the warmth of the vocals wrap you in the fur of a fresh bear kill. Just when you think you have a handle on Bjork's vocal range she disappears beyond the horizon. Those put off by the notion of a beat fantastic album shouldn't worry because Debut is much more than this. For every 'Violently Happy' there are at least a couple of seamless vehicles for Bjork's astonishing voice. 'Play Dead' for example boasts a huge orchestral wall of sound and a chorus that wonderfully climbs to the summit of her vocal range. 'There's More To Life Than This' has more than a Moloko ring about it, but then this was released aeons before they had honed their sound.

Elsewhere 'Come To Me' contains all the trappings of a fairytale with the requisite plinking dew drops, distant wailing strings and little red riding hood pretensions. It sashes by with enormous clarity, charming is too underwhelming a word to describe it. 'Aeroplane' is beautifully uneven and hints at that 'It's Oh So Quiet' theme that her second album would so successfully adopt. Listen to 'The Anchor Song' and you can imagine village life. As the prayers for returning fisherman are answered the most serene of lives continue happily as the outside world scrambles for a few hundred more worthless shares, squashing the weaker in society underfoot in the process. There is a natural feel to the album despite all the technology employed. On occasions, like on the rather shallow 'One Day' Bjork drops her quality guard. To recompense the white label take of this song is close to perfection. 'Crying' is another notable disappointment with a vacuous centre, but hey there is a neat doodling session near the finish that almost saves the day.

Aside from these momentary lapses this is a fantastic debut that you should own for its individuality, inner self-belief and consistent wide-eyed arrangements. Where else could you find a disc that will have you dancing, sleeping and crying within the space of a half an hour? Why the next Bjork release of course!

Rating: 8/10


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For a while there this album was harder to track down than a Nepalese Yeti. Tigermilk was recorded while Belle and Sebastian were still in Art College and was submitted as part of their final year project. This meant that it originally had a limited pressing of a few thousand copies. Thankfully for those not able to afford the £400 per copy asking price it was re-released in 1999. It is hard to believe that 'Tigermilk' was recorded on a limited budget because there is such a lush feel to it. 'Expectations' for example is a complicated sounding beast with trumpets, flutes, strings and guitars flying in from every angle while the lyrics spout from Stuart Murdoch's mouth like water from a classy fountain in Barcelona.

'She's Losing It' is a classic example of Belle and Sebastian turning a good story into a fantastical musical show. Murdoch pours the lyrics like honey on a pancake while the sweetest of accompaniments surrounds his words. Despite this if you listen closely, the story has an unsettling abuse theme. Belle and Sebastian consistently display an intelligence to back up their undeniable musical acumen and you can quite easily browse their inlay cards like you would a clever magazine. 'Tigermilk' has a breakneck speed (by B&S's standards!), with tracks such as 'You're Just A Baby' steaming along under the guidance of some chugging guitars and shadowy organic shards. The album is the furthest Belle and Sebastian have ventured from their folk inclinations. They may have mellowed and honed their sound since this release but looking back 'Tigermilk' sounds hugely refreshing.

'Electronic Renaissance' is an interesting departure. Sounding all synth pop, aha, buggles and resembling thoroughly ill-fitting trousers in an otherwise classy suit, it is a wacky OMD homage that is easy to swoon to (well, after 5 pints of stout anyway) especially that 'Take On Me' drum machine sequence. A re-recorded version of 'The State I Am In' appears on the 'Dogs On Wheels' e.p. and is one of those Belle and Sebastian tunes that isn't immediately obvious. Repeated plays reveal the glitter hidden under those delicate vocals and simple musical arrangements. Some might regard it as twee, but it has a beating heart that is twice as aerobic as any muscle bound tracksuit.

'My Wandering Days Are Over' contains the most gorgeous trumpets at its heart as it swaggers with such effortless grace you'd wish all musicians would put in the same effort. 'I Don't Love Anyone' starts out like Counting Crows but soon swings with such melodious harmony you could be forgiven for thinking that you were shipwrecked on an island inhabited only by finely tuned instruments playing sweetly in unison. The album ends with 'Mary Jo' that begins with dreamy flutes and an acoustic guitar and then mushrooms into a string rich wallowing chorus that transcends time and musical style. It is a song that could have been written two hundred years ago with a resonance that remains so vital to this day.

Belle and Sebastian's debut set a high standard. Luckily for us they rarely let this standard slip on any of the subsequent releases. They remain a modern day pop phenomena, untarnished by media exposure, happy to release astoundingly touching records. If you haven't discovered them yet, imagine something so good it’ll make you feel a decade younger.

Rating: 8/10

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‘We’ve made some pretty messy records’, says Stuart Murdoch, ringleader of the cirque du soleil that is Belle and Sebastian, on 2003’s ‘Fans Only’ DVD. This comes a minute after a mission statement of sorts, as Murdoch grasps for the words to describe why he started the band: a desire to ‘make the most tuneful, lush sounding records imaginable’. For ten years now, while throwing out more tuneful, catchier songs than anyone else, the band has also been edging along the taut tightrope from messy to lush. Their early records are laden with lisping voices, faint strings, tinny brass and background fuzz. In short, they sound like precious lost recordings from the early seventies, with careworn dents and scratches that fall just to the charming side of shambolic: Murdoch’s voice breaking on the demo version of ‘The State I Am In’, or unzipping his cardigan during the intro to ‘Expectations’. Albums number three and four moved toward lush, layered pop, taking in new instruments and influences: the bagpipes on ‘Sleep The Clock Around’, the crisp harpsichord on ‘The Model’, and the Northern Soul vibe of ‘Dirty Dream #2’. The giant step came in 2000, with the single ‘Legal Man’. Advertised by the band as, ‘like Dirty Dream #2, but dirtier’, its congas, organ, sitar and dirty big kick-off riff matched against daft lyrical innuendo, a snappy chorus and, crucially, beefed up production, so that ‘Legal Man’ sounded more like a chart record than anything the band had ever done. It made the top twenty, and landed them on Top Of The Pops. It was no flash in the pan, either. Their next single, ‘Jonathan David’ followed in a similar vein, all high tempo and cheesy organ, and their last album, 2003’s ‘Dear Catastrophe Waitress’ showed a change from the chamber music of yore, with stuff like ‘Step Into My Office Baby’ (more innuendo) and ‘I’m a Cuckoo’ (more big riffs). Now we get ‘The Life Pursuit’, six fine albums in (not counting the collections of EP’s and singles or the half-baked soundtrack), and there may be no going back; the tightrope has been crossed.

We arrive at a classroom. There is a girl daydreaming her worries away. This is what you might call Belle and Sebastian playing on their home turf, with a biblical lesson and a wink to androgyny to boot. Despite the poppy songwriting style and delivery, there is a familiar ring to the line-up of props and characters throughout the album. There are, as you can expect on their records, kids with troubles at home. There are punks, tea and gin, religion, kinky s*x and a launderette. Again, there are a few songs stylised after other bands (‘Dear Catastrophe Waitress’ dropped a nod to Thin Lizzy and The Clash amongst others) with some very 80’s sounds on the excellent ‘We Are The Sleepyheads’ and on ‘Song For Sunshine’ with its Cocteau Twins pastiche of a chorus. And, as usual, they’ve lodged the odd swear word to keep you on your toes, especially where an expletive is buried in a benign, milky ditty, like a landmine in a meadow.

Another thing you can always count is for Belle and Sebastian (or more accurately, their songs’ protagonists) to be is refreshingly uncool - at times provincial or mawkish or just plain tripped up by puberty. On ‘The Blues Are Still Blue’, Murdoch is still acting the gauche schoolkid (‘I got a letter from my mamma which my stoopid dog has ate’) but the song is dressed up in funky threads, and moves with a swagger and confidence in a way it could gatecrash David Bowie’s ‘Hunky Dory’ and get away with it. You sense the band is having more fun and taking chances. It’s a marked change for Murdoch to sing ‘I left my lady at the launderette’ - he’d never have called his girl his ‘lady’ before, it would have been a hint at a liaison with a wallflower named Jean or Jane or Mary Jo. Now he’s Sly Stone, and somehow his girl is doing his washing.

‘The Blues Are Still Blue’ is released as a single this week, and it would be my first pick as a single from the album, with its clever, simple, singable chorus and ‘proper’ guitar solo. There are plenty of contenders, though; ‘The Life Pursuit’ plays like a singles collected and most of the songs wouldn’t sound out of place on morning radio. Even the chorus-less ‘Another Sunny Day’ could qualify by virtue of its relentless pep, as could ‘For The Price Of a Cup Of Tea’, which shows that as their song titles approach self-parody, they still play it for kicks with the ‘If She Wants Me’ style skank, and the quintessential Belle and Sebastian lyric, unhip but fun, ‘For the price of a cup of tea, you’d get a line of coke’.

‘Funny Little Frog’, the single which warmed us all for the winter, and the other similarly chirpy and danceable songs are accessible and immediate, but after a few spins, we will call for something more substantial past all the froth. The straight narratives of ‘Sukie in the Graveyard’ and ‘White Collar Boy’ lack the poetic fractured lyrics of, say, ‘Dress Up In You’, one of the more traditional Belle and Sebastian tunes here, with its trumpets and milquetoast ‘Nice Day For a Sulk’ bob. Despite the abundance of chipper chart material on this album, their forté remains bittersweet songs, like the achingly pretty ‘To Be Myself Completely’ and its expressive violin melody, or like ‘Mornington Crescent’ which brings the album to a stirring close, with a sweet guitar and piano break, around which Murdoch drops vignettes suffused with guilt over a laid-back Sunday morning beat, sketching a scene with effortless turn of phrase, alert to everyday details and moments of anticipation, drawing anxiety out of a pregnant pause.

On Belle and Sebastian’s 1999 EP ‘This Is Just a Modern Rock Song’ (notable for the stunning ‘Slow Graffiti’), Murdoch sung on the muddy lead track, ‘we’re not terrific but we’re competent’. It was an excellent joke, as the truth was, of course, the other way around. For better or worse though, it now looks as if cold competency has crept up on the band, and we’re lumped with it. We should have seen it coming, though. Murdoch gave us another clue on ‘Fans Only’, ‘‘You look at each other and you think, come on, let’s make a fabulous sounding record this time. Let’s make a record that’s as good as, y’know, ‘Make Me Smile’ by Cockney Rebel or ‘Marquee Moon’ by Television’. This is it.

Rating: 8/10

Tony Kelleher
03.04.2006


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Belle and Sebastian have released several memorable singles. Each comes complete with 3 or 4 tracks that individually have the quality to be an a-side on their own merit. Most are absent from their albums so the singles have achieved a special significance. Who could ever forget the majesty of 'Slow Graffiti' ('Modern Rock Is Rubbish' e.p.) or the wide-eyed energy of 'Belle and Sebastian' ('Dog On Wheels' e.p.). Jonathan David, the title track of this 2001 release is a little hard to pin down. It's got the Madness laced piano introduction and a heart that languishes in the distant past (oh that glorious 60's Wurlitzer). It speeds along at a frantic pace until at the end the vocals merge and deliver another piece of historic pop. The artwork on the cd has a religious theme (what?). Well to be more precise a Belle and Sebastian take on the David and Goliath story. Of course the inner sleeve clarifies in that familiar sly nudge and wink style that fans have become accustomed to.

'Take Your Carriage Clock And Shove It' is the closest thing you'll get to a cover of 'I've Never Being To Me' (by Charlene) without repeating the Verve/Rolling Stones hot potato of a couple years ago. In saying that it is a glorious piece of vitriol wrapped in a tender musical mould. It portrays the board room scene on retirement day with the loyal subject giving his farewell speech. The speech not only turns heads but continues until all and sundry are semi-decapitated. Take the lyrics out of the equation and the mix you're left with sounds as fragile and heartfelt as anything Burt Bacharach could dream up. Underneath though the disquiet is palpable, a warning perhaps to all slaves to the wage.

Belle and Sebastian deliver their message in a wry manner. This means that their musicianship often takes a backseat where it bleats beautifully under the cover of a torrent of words. 'The Loneliness Of A Middle Distance Runner' has been a live favourite for years and perhaps loses some of its impact in the transition to the studio. That said it saddles up and heads for the nearest sunset with the wind in its hair. The guitars have a Dire Straits feel about them but the groove is lazily addictive. Stuart Murdoch sounds tired and emotional but tuned in to his bands scattered playing. 'Jonathan David' is perhaps not one of Belle and Sebastian's most effective singles because it is misses the killer 4th track. Be warned, however, as the quality is still high enough to have you gasping for air as your heart skips several consecutive beats for its duration. Belle and Sebastian are a band deserving of every single plaudit that has ever being directed at them.



Rating: 6/10


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