play yer tunes
proudly presents

Belle and Sebastian -  present 'Books'

Artist:  Belle and Sebastian
Album:    present 'Books'
Company: Rough Trade

Rel. Date   : 06/21/2004              Streetdate  : 06/21/2004
Ripper      : team pyt                Supplier    : NOYB
Genre       : Indie                   Style       : Indie
Quality     : VBRkbps / 44.1kHz       Mode        : Joint-Stereo
Grabber     : EAC                     Encoder     : lame
Songs       : 04                      Playtime    : 16:49 min
Size        : 25,4 MB
Url         : n/a
Type        : EP                      Source      : CDDA
Language    : English

Scottish pop-pickers Belle And Sebastian have been spending a
lot of time recently playing down their "twee" tag.
Unfortunately, they've not been doing a very good job - their
last album, the sublime 'Dear Catastrophe Waitress' was
chock-a-block with lovely pop melodies and unfailingly twee
hooks. To ram home the fact that "we're not twee, honest",
they’ve even gone and released the most saccharine track from
that album, 'Wrapped Up In Books', as its final single.
Ignoring the fact that they now owe Cliff Richard money for a
little steal, there's really little to write home about with
this track. It's as catchy as you'd expect, but it's nothing
new. It's not like they've written the indie Bohemian
Rhapsody or anything...

Well fuck me! Look what's cropped up as the second a-side!
'Your Cover's Blown', proclaimed by singer Stuart Murdoch as
The indie 'Bohemian Rhapsody', is the moment where B&S not
only loosen (but don't entirely free) themselves from the
shackles of tweedom, but the moment that Belle And Sebastian
embrace the funk. Yes, you heard me right - Belle And
Sebastian have embraced the funk. Kicking off as a
loose-limbed funky jam, 'Your Cover's Blown' doesn't exactly
live up to Murdoch's promise, but it certainly delivers the
goods. It somehow worms its way into a claustrophobic Spanish
march about disco-related loneliness ("The DJ's picking up
speed - that's something I just don't need, I should have
stayed home"), but soon funks it all back up again for the
grand finale.

It's a paradox really, isn't it? Belle And Sebastian have
coupled one their weaker songs with quite possibly their best
since 'The Boy With The Arab Strap'. Whether or not they're
now 100% twee-free remains to be seen, but 'Your Cover's
Blown' is a bloody good start. The indie 'Bohemian Rhapsody'?
For now, it's more like 'Twee Will Rock You' - and we
couldn't ask for anything more.

- Drowned in sound

Only 3 trackers at less than 15 munutes qualify for Singles
in the UK so this is def. an EP.

01. [06:02] your cover's blown
02. [03:35] wrapped up in books
03. [03:12] your secrets
04. [04:00] cover (version)

16:49 min
25,4 MB