If Youre Feeling Sinister - Belle & Sebastian

Belle and Sebastian's startling second album arrived at the perfect time. Britpop had taken the charts by storm and indie music was beginning to infiltrate the mainstream. IYFS sounded so completely different, full of folk fuelled moments, insightful lyrics and sleevenotes that tickle the funny bone. Quite simply IYFS dwarfed most albums released in 1996 and offered a delightful alternative to the Oasis rock and roll beast. Add to this, an aura not too dissimilar to the one held by The Stone Roses a few years earlier and cult type things start happening. Scant interviews, dodgy half-lit photographs (it was next to impossible to find out what they looked ...

Belle-amissimo The second album from Belle and Sebastian, and I think their best and most accessible - you're more likely to end up singing along to this one than to their other albums. Much as I like their others, especially "The Boy with the Arab strap", this one is more immediately likeable. And yes, there is something sinister about it all, somehow - I don't know whether it's the odd mix of instruments, and the undeniably strange lyrics? but if it wasn't for this 'sinister' (call it what you will) element, the music of Belle and Sebastian would actually sound very close to easy listening, in a way. Because many of the ...

Then perhaps you could play this album....(;-) On the whole the album is filled with uplifting tunes and beats and a wide variety of musical instruments are used throughout, ranging from piano, harmonica and xylophone through to the more typical guitar and drum thing. For me, the real outstanding points of this album, are the lyrics and the easy listening style in which it is presented. It is not an album that I would play when getting ready for a night out but more one that you would play whilst washing the dishes as it does lift your spirits and put a spring in your step. The opening track 'Stars of Track and Field' starts off slowly and ...