As is probably known to readers of this blog, I'm a fan of the Scottish indie band Belle & Sebastian. Band founder and leader, lead singer and song-writer Stuart Lee Murdoch of Belle & Sebastian has worked for several years on the soundtrack of a rock musical/movie which might be produced next year.
However, the soundtrack for the musical is ready and the album titled God help the Girl is available.
It consists of 14 pieces, a collection of new songs and old ones of Belle & Sebastian. There are lots of string and brass arrangements (actually a 45-piece orchestra).
Murdoch wanted to craft a set of songs sung by women framed in an orchestral context, and he found real good ones, Catherine Ireton of the Go Away Birds, Brittany Stallings, Anna Miles, and Asya of Smoosh. There's also Neil Hannon of the Divine Comedy.
The arrangements are all rather charming, and very Belle & Sebastian-ish, but a little modified and alienated (not in a bad sense) by those new voices, especially Catherine Ireton's very strong and warm one.
There's an interview with Stuart Lee Murdoch.
Rob Spence of Topsyturvydom alerted me to an interview Stuart had given on BBC, but unfortunately, that's no longer available online.
I only wonder what people, especially those who are not familiar with Belle & Sebastian will make of a soundtrack to a musical without the musical.
My favorites: a) Come Monday Night
and b) Pretty Eve in The Tub, as it's sung by Stuart Murdoch and I like his voice a lot. It has been said it sounds like Chamber Music and I think, that's true. But listen for yourself.
There's a review by Liam McIllvanney in the Guardian "A Story Set to Music".
More links1 (God help the girl - site)
More links2.
Showing posts with label Belle and Sebastian. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Belle and Sebastian. Show all posts
8/01/2009
1/24/2009
Three Bards
When asked about his greatest creative inspiration, Bob Dylan named the Scottish 18th-century poet Robert "Rabbie" Burns.
Tomorrow is the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns' birthday, and I'm sure, there'll be lots of the so-called
Burns Suppers (the Scottish way to commemorate their bard).
Want to hear Burns' Auld Lang Syne in real Scottish?
Here you find all the poems and songs.
And, who's the third bard? It's one of my favourite singers Stuart Lee Murdoch, leadsinger of the Scottish indie band Belle and Sebastian. He grew up in the same village as Robert Burns, in Ayr.
Here's Stuart and the band:
I think, it would be nice going to Scotland in summer...
Tomorrow is the 250th anniversary of Robert Burns' birthday, and I'm sure, there'll be lots of the so-called
Burns Suppers (the Scottish way to commemorate their bard).
Want to hear Burns' Auld Lang Syne in real Scottish?
Here you find all the poems and songs.
And, who's the third bard? It's one of my favourite singers Stuart Lee Murdoch, leadsinger of the Scottish indie band Belle and Sebastian. He grew up in the same village as Robert Burns, in Ayr.
Here's Stuart and the band:
I think, it would be nice going to Scotland in summer...
3/03/2007
Moon 3
Ok, here's to the moon! Songs and lyrics connected with the moon! It's incredible, there are thousands of Moon-Songs!
Older ones you can find on this special Moon-Songs-Website, e.g. Moondance (Van Morrison), Moonshadow (Cat Stevens), Song About the Moon (Paul Simon), Moonage Daydream (David Bowie), Yuri-G (PJ Harvey).
More recent ones: Pink Moon (Nick Drake), Shadows On The Moon (Vanilla Ninja),
Shadow of the Moon (Blackmore S Night), Moon Pix (Cat Power).
And even Bob Dylan sings in "Thunder On The Mountain" (Modern Times): ..There's fires on the moon ...! And of course, Belle and Sebastian are: Waiting for the Moon to Rise.
Now, will we see the eclipse or not? It's raining, it's cloudy, it's stormy, and the moon is veiled, but can still be seen. Hm.
Older ones you can find on this special Moon-Songs-Website, e.g. Moondance (Van Morrison), Moonshadow (Cat Stevens), Song About the Moon (Paul Simon), Moonage Daydream (David Bowie), Yuri-G (PJ Harvey).
More recent ones: Pink Moon (Nick Drake), Shadows On The Moon (Vanilla Ninja),
Shadow of the Moon (Blackmore S Night), Moon Pix (Cat Power).
And even Bob Dylan sings in "Thunder On The Mountain" (Modern Times): ..There's fires on the moon ...! And of course, Belle and Sebastian are: Waiting for the Moon to Rise.
Now, will we see the eclipse or not? It's raining, it's cloudy, it's stormy, and the moon is veiled, but can still be seen. Hm.
5/19/2006
Belle and Sebastian in Concert
Last week we went to see Belle & Sebastian in Koeln - the fourth time to experience them live, after Haldern, Hamburg, and London. Although there are some reservations as regards their latest album "The Life Pursuit" (with exceptions, though: I love "Another sunny day", "For the price of a cup of tea" and "To be myself completely") - and they did play several songs of this one as they are promoting the album on their tour - their performance was great! There were lots of the old songs - classics already - such as "The State I'm in", "Dog on Wheels", "The Loneliness of the Middle Distance Runner", and, of course, "The Boy with the Arab Strap", and more. The new album is certainly directed at a young audience with lots of "dancing-songs".
IMO, their success comes not only from making real good music and quite original lyrics, but from the fact that they are absolutely creative, inventive and very very prolific and, obviously one of the big exceptions in a "century of fakers" (also one of their songs, by the way from the album "Push barman to open old wounds). Additionally, they're still very much"indy" and anti-commerce. They have a small stall of t-shirts and artifacts, but everything is very relaxed, rather un-businesslike, and you can't get half of the things, such as the cool brown sweater I wanted to bargain ... sigh.
Stuart Murdoch, the band's leader is constantly improving his qualities as a showmaster and seems to have overcome his original shyness. The other band members are more in the background, as always.
IMO, their success comes not only from making real good music and quite original lyrics, but from the fact that they are absolutely creative, inventive and very very prolific and, obviously one of the big exceptions in a "century of fakers" (also one of their songs, by the way from the album "Push barman to open old wounds). Additionally, they're still very much"indy" and anti-commerce. They have a small stall of t-shirts and artifacts, but everything is very relaxed, rather un-businesslike, and you can't get half of the things, such as the cool brown sweater I wanted to bargain ... sigh.
Stuart Murdoch, the band's leader is constantly improving his qualities as a showmaster and seems to have overcome his original shyness. The other band members are more in the background, as always.
2/12/2006
London, February 09 – 11, 2006
I loved/liked/appreciated:
The sunrise during our early arrival; the concert/show of Belle & Sebastian in the Apollo/Hammersmith, especially that they played my favourite “Fox in the Snow”; Foyle’s and most of the many other bookshops we frequented; a nice glass of cider; seeing the Turners and Constables in the National Gallery again – after so many years; that we found the wallet again we had lost among thousands of people in a concert hall; meeting my niece Kathy who’s living in London; a surprisingly good and pleasant meal in a Pizza Hut;the weather; the Victoria embankment gardens;being able to listen to the English language all day long; a shop assistant with a connection to Austria;that I lost three kilos; sitting with my companion in the sunny Cake House in St. James’s park and sipping real hot tea; that we finally made it into the airplane one minute before rolling off ....., and much more.
I hated/didn’t relish:
the pricey cab to Stansted airport (£ 99.-) (which we had to take because the Standsted express didn’t work and some parts of the tube either); the shabby, tiny and not particularly clean hotel room; not being able to understand all the Englishes; the brazen fees for the luggage room in the same hotel; the barely discernible food and the saucy prices in some Deep Pan restaurant, and much more ...
The sunrise during our early arrival; the concert/show of Belle & Sebastian in the Apollo/Hammersmith, especially that they played my favourite “Fox in the Snow”; Foyle’s and most of the many other bookshops we frequented; a nice glass of cider; seeing the Turners and Constables in the National Gallery again – after so many years; that we found the wallet again we had lost among thousands of people in a concert hall; meeting my niece Kathy who’s living in London; a surprisingly good and pleasant meal in a Pizza Hut;the weather; the Victoria embankment gardens;being able to listen to the English language all day long; a shop assistant with a connection to Austria;that I lost three kilos; sitting with my companion in the sunny Cake House in St. James’s park and sipping real hot tea; that we finally made it into the airplane one minute before rolling off ....., and much more.
I hated/didn’t relish:
the pricey cab to Stansted airport (£ 99.-) (which we had to take because the Standsted express didn’t work and some parts of the tube either); the shabby, tiny and not particularly clean hotel room; not being able to understand all the Englishes; the brazen fees for the luggage room in the same hotel; the barely discernible food and the saucy prices in some Deep Pan restaurant, and much more ...
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