Belle and Sebastian

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Glasgow, United Kingdom (1996 – present)

Belle and Sebastian is a band from Glasgow. Led by guitarist/vocalist Stuart Murdoch, the seven-piece band has an intimate, majestic sound that is equal parts folk-rock and ‘60s pop. Murdoch has a gift not only for whimsy and surrealism, but also for odd, unsettling lyrical detail which keeps the songs grounded in a tangible reality.

Based in Glasgow, Scotland, Belle and Sebastian released their first two albums in 1996: Tigermilk, recorded over three days, and If You’re Feeling Sinister, recorded in a week, at the peak of the chamber pop movement. At first, some critics in Britain’s music weeklies tied the band into the subgenre, yet the group was too pretty, too delicate, to bear that label. Through their first two years of public existence, the band shielded their personalities, submitting publicity photos featuring a girl, who was a friend of the band and reluctantly posing for photo shoots. Furthermore, they performed in odd venues, playing not only the standard coffeehouses and cafes, but also homes, church halls, and libraries.

Prior to the formation of Belle and Sebastian, Murdoch suffered from a protracted battle with chronic fatigue syndrome, which forced him to drop out of school and spend seven years living in his parents’ home crippled by his condition.Whilst in his parents home, Murdoch wrote a short story about a boy named Sebastian and a girl named Isabelle based on the names from Madame Cecile Aubery’s children’s book Belle et Sebastian.

Tagged as:

indie, indie pop, alternative, indie rock, twee
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6	The State I Am In	2,515
7	Like Dylan In The Movies	2,454
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9	Funny Little Frog	2,381
10	The Stars Of Track And Field	2,370
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LINK2K9 wrote:
2 hours ago

Anyone have a good recording of their Peel Christmas set? The one I have is kind of poor.

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Dennisjc wrote:
yesterday evening

belle & sebastian is, shortly put, the shit.

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koosvandenbos wrote:
yesterday afternoon

god, this Band is so epic!

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PlayThatTrack wrote:
Thursday evening

how many nights of talking in hotel rooms can you take? <3

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Delta_Orionis wrote:
Thursday afternoon

<3

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vakeragalaktica wrote:
Wednesday morning

música bonita para gente bonita ♥

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softshock wrote:
Tuesday morning

Did anyone else (sorry ladies) get a boner when they saw their recent splash page? I did. [2]

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damonkun wrote:
last week

Another Sunny Day, my 1000 play

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Snoo52 wrote:
last week

Did anyone else (sorry ladies) get a boner when they saw their recent splash page? I did.

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ungluemylips wrote:
last week

what a bunch of intelligent guys, specially murdoch. they're the bee's knees.

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DarHos wrote:
last week

I returned to 'Dear Catastrophe Waitress' for the first time in a while. Such an amazing album.

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barko1989 wrote:
last week

Good Jesus, thanks, itschinatown

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orixas wrote:
last week

good vibes

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itschinatown wrote:
last week

@barko1989 God Help the GIrl.

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Alberto383 wrote:
last week

:)

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barko1989 wrote:
last week

It may well be the best music as far as indie pop/rock is concerned - cheering, lively, very melodic,. Still it's just unsophisticated indie pop/rock. Don't get me wrong, this is probably my favourite new band, but It's a pitty they don't come up with some more ambitious projects, they certainly have the potential

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impronen wrote:
last week

My god. Why have I not listened to this before?

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neckermanncj wrote:
last week

FUCK YEAH!

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jasonllester wrote:
last week

To the new site frontpage: AWW HELL YES!!!!!

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DarHos wrote:
last week

Haha! Has anybody checked the site out recently? http://www.belleandsebastian.com/

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