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Amazon.co.uk Review
This highly anticipated album from Belle and Sebastian arrives with every hope satisfied. Each song is a cunning short story that wraps itself around you like a cosy couch throw. The loose theme running through this 12-song reverie is seduction. It plays out in both the drowsy sexual hopes of principal songwriter Stuart Murdoch's idle protagonists and the giddiness of bandmate Stevie Jackson's "Seymour Stein" and "Chickfactor", which document his bewitchment by the city of New York, its beautiful girls and florid pitchmen. The complex arrangements favour a whimsical diversity best experienced in "Sleep the Clock Around", which features synthesiser bloops, trumpets and bagpipes! If you haven't figured out that this Scottish eight-piece deserves every iota of hype it's receiving, it's time to have your ears checked and your record collection gone over by a certified professional. --Lois Maffeo
From Amazon.com
Belle and Sebastian follow up the considerable promise of 1997's fantastic If You're Feeling Sinister with an album that is, unbelievably, even better. The Boy with the Arab Strap is an immediately infectious and delicious pastiche of fey, Nick Drake-ian vocals; lilting pop melodies; shimmery arrangements; croony wonder; and tortured, lit-smart lyrics. Belle and Sebastian are smarter than the Smiths, wittier than the Beach Boys, more fun than the Velvet Underground, and even more inscrutable than R.E.M. That's heavy company, but The Boy with the Arab Strap proves they deserve to be belles of the ball. --Tod Nelson
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
On first inspection the Amazon's favourable comparison to the Smiths and the Velvet Underground seems a little generous. And while the lyrical concerns bear resemblance to those of Morrissey and Stuart Murdoch's vocals make for a less smokey Nick Drake, Belle & Sebastian don't quite reach that songwriting bracket. Nevertheless, the Boy with the Arab Strap is a real grower, and after a few listens its melodic hooks start to catch. They excel at making music so seemingly light and effortless gradually leave its indelible mark on the heart and mind. Bleak stories of everyday failure and regret add a bitter taste to the unflinching prettiness of the music. Stuart Murdoch and Isobel Campbell aren't quite the odd couple of Lou Reed and Nico (or even Morrissey / Marr) but they make revisionist pop as dreamily saccharin as the Velvets.
'It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career' marries the Velvets' prototype dream-pop with Nick Drake's jazzier sensibilities, the folksy acoustic guitar slowly embellished with piano and alt-country tinges. 'Sleep the Clock Around' builds sweetly shimmering electronics and piano around a delicate melodic refrain. Swelling into a blissful synth and trumpet driven finale, this is where my Belle and Sebastian preconceptions went out of the window. 'Is It Wicked Not To Care' features Isobel Campbell on vocals and summery, breezy orchestrations. Despite the relative lushness of the musicianship on songs like this, it always feels loose and spontaneous, never top-heavy or over-produced. 'Seymour Stein' is like the Velvets' 'Pale Blue Eyes', with some lovely summery organs, piano and horns. 'Space Boy Dream' begins with a cryptic spoken-word sample and turns into a jazzy instrumental David Axelrod would be proud of. 'Dirty Dream Number Two' has a propulsive stomp and nice upbeat horn arrangements, reminiscent of Nick Drake's Bryter Layter.
While the invariability of the mood and the lack of vocal range can make the it a little samey, it is a gorgeous and uplifting record all the same. I was expecting something much more fey and brooding than this but it is really quite a revelation. If you like this you might like Feist's 'The Reminder' or Lambchop's 'Nixon' as well.
'It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career' marries the Velvets' prototype dream-pop with Nick Drake's jazzier sensibilities, the folksy acoustic guitar slowly embellished with piano and alt-country tinges. 'Sleep the Clock Around' builds sweetly shimmering electronics and piano around a delicate melodic refrain. Swelling into a blissful synth and trumpet driven finale, this is where my Belle and Sebastian preconceptions went out of the window. 'Is It Wicked Not To Care' features Isobel Campbell on vocals and summery, breezy orchestrations. Despite the relative lushness of the musicianship on songs like this, it always feels loose and spontaneous, never top-heavy or over-produced. 'Seymour Stein' is like the Velvets' 'Pale Blue Eyes', with some lovely summery organs, piano and horns. 'Space Boy Dream' begins with a cryptic spoken-word sample and turns into a jazzy instrumental David Axelrod would be proud of. 'Dirty Dream Number Two' has a propulsive stomp and nice upbeat horn arrangements, reminiscent of Nick Drake's Bryter Layter.
While the invariability of the mood and the lack of vocal range can make the it a little samey, it is a gorgeous and uplifting record all the same. I was expecting something much more fey and brooding than this but it is really quite a revelation. If you like this you might like Feist's 'The Reminder' or Lambchop's 'Nixon' as well.
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
First of all, it's quite difficult for me to review Belle & Sebastian, they're my favorite band, by far.
This album amongst everything they've ever produced is a gem. If you're into gentle and harmonious pop music... I find it quite difficult to find words but Stuart Murdoch and Isobel Campbell are wonderful singers... it's simple, honest, deep, considerate beauty altogether. It's very human; the sort of band which changes your life or at least how you look at it anyway - it did for me and for a few of my friends who are found of B&S. It's both refreshing, despairing, have some of the most beautiful and witty lyrics in pop music...
I would consider Boy with the Arab Strap as my favorite B&S album as a lot of my favorite tracks are there, Ease your feet is pure melancholy, Rollercoaster ride is amazing, fantastic lyrics. It just makes the difference in this shallow world we live in, very reassuring to hear that... well... it's not. It's prescription for your heart and soul, to meditate.
This album amongst everything they've ever produced is a gem. If you're into gentle and harmonious pop music... I find it quite difficult to find words but Stuart Murdoch and Isobel Campbell are wonderful singers... it's simple, honest, deep, considerate beauty altogether. It's very human; the sort of band which changes your life or at least how you look at it anyway - it did for me and for a few of my friends who are found of B&S. It's both refreshing, despairing, have some of the most beautiful and witty lyrics in pop music...
I would consider Boy with the Arab Strap as my favorite B&S album as a lot of my favorite tracks are there, Ease your feet is pure melancholy, Rollercoaster ride is amazing, fantastic lyrics. It just makes the difference in this shallow world we live in, very reassuring to hear that... well... it's not. It's prescription for your heart and soul, to meditate.
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Stuart Murdoch and co are what all other bands should aspire to be. They have never drastically changed their musical formula of beautiful, downbeat instrumental arangements, and yet all their songs sound wonderfully fresh. Added to this are witty lyrics that at times can only be described as sublime poetry. This record, arguably their best work, builds on their earlier albums, and also contains some more experimental material, combining an electric piano and bagpipes on "Sleep the clock around". It also contains the B&S songwriting debuts of Stevie Jackson ("Seymour Stein" and "Chickfactor") and Isobel Campbell ("Is it wicked not to care"). Other highlights include the lushious, beautiful ode to loneliness "Dirty dream number two", the short but sweet "Simple Things", the soothing "Rollercoaster Ride" and the Jazzy title track. I would reccomend it to anyone
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
great album
surprisingly good if you can sit and listen to this - it is a very good album not as well known as it should be
Published 6 months ago by malmac
the best summer music
No one should be without this album. It will lift you out of the deepest slough of despond. It's excellent and will put a skip in your step.
Published on 3 Aug 2009 by M. Putnam
A classic and by far their best
Full of poignant, hummable tunes. They have never bettered this.
If you like catchy music buy it.
I am listening to Sleep the Clock Around now. Absolutely glorious. Read more
If you like catchy music buy it.
I am listening to Sleep the Clock Around now. Absolutely glorious. Read more
Published on 6 April 2008 by Mr. J. P. Shields
Dappled Sunlight
Offering a gentle alternative to the rampant Oasis and Blur dominated lad culture of mid-90s Britpop, B&S's rather lovely The Boy with the Arab Strap contains a dozen catchy pop... Read more
Published on 31 Aug 2007 by jol legend
Musical Poetry
Some albums change your life; "Nevermind The Bollocks", "Appetite For Destruction" and "Maxinequaye" are some of those that have touched me deeply and made me a different person. Read more
Published on 2 Jan 2007 by Mike Cormack
This was given as a Christmas present. I love it.
This is a fantastic album. Some friends got it for me for Christmas and after listening to it a few times, totally fell in love with it. The lyrics are simply amazing. Read more
Published on 26 May 2006 by Mr. Richard Douglas
Quiet Beauty...
I bought this album at the recommendation of a friend, at upon first listening, wasn't overly impressed, being a usual fan of rock music. Read more
Published on 15 Jan 2004 by C. Gibson
Beautiful melodies once again....
Having watched High Fidelity for the first time i was intrigued about the musical references so went out and purchased Tigermilk. Read more
Published on 23 Oct 2003
A witty, chilled-out album. Some of B&S's best work.
Just a quick note about the title - it doesn't refer to a boy wearing an arab strap (ahem, look it up), but rather to one of the members of the indie group Arab Strap. Read more
Published on 20 Jan 2001 by acupples@bigfoot.com
Fantastic meaning behind it.. but.
I fully appreciate B&S, ive read their bibliog., i understand them, feel like i know them! Ive been listening to 'em from their beginning and every song has so much depth and... Read more
Published on 15 April 2000 by bobbie@madcows.co.uk
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