starcollector's Full Review: If You're Feeling Sinister by Belle & Sebastian
Disclaimer: Those looking for a brief description of the album will find what their looking for in the "Review Body" section. The section titled "Track Reviews" is meant only for those who want to read detailed descriptions of the songs, and they do not constitute the essence of this review. Lastly and most importantly, this review is probably not written by the point of view of a Belle and Sebastian fan.)
Overall Score: 5/5 Best song: “The Stars of Track and Field” Worst song: “If You're Feeling Sinister” ...but it's a good song.
Review Body:
This album consistently makes the upper portion of every critics' list of best albums of the '90s. While that's impressive I suppose, that doesn't automatically mean I'm going to like it. After all, music magazines are awfully prone to exhibiting a bandwagon mentality when it comes to ranking music. Since it's toward the top of every list, I automatically became suspicious of it. I listened to this casually over the years, and my initial impression was that it was mightily respectable and well-written, but a bit bland for my tastes.
Now, I've finally buckled down and gave it a half-dozen pretty intense listens, and I've learned that there is a pretty good reason for its acclaim: It's a pretty damn good album! The most important thing about it is it has melodies. They're not the sorts of instantly catchy melodies of an ABBA variety; they're more understated. They have the priceless quality of being melodies that weave their ways into your heart if you give them the proper chance. ...That said, some of these melodies are stronger than others, but even the least notable ones are well-written.
The instrumentation is brilliantly done throughout this album as well. These guys favor a low-tech, somewhat unkempt approach. Usually, you won't find anything more complicated than an acoustic guitar, a pure electric guitar, a simple bass, or a piano in these songs. Occasionally, you'll find woodwinds, electric organs, and string sections, but these also have a distinctly organic flavor to them. My favorite moments of the album are principally the ones where the orchestration gradually builds up through the course of the song. “The Stars of Track and Field,” for instance, begins with lead singer Stuart Murdoch singing an engaging melody to a folky acoustic guitar. It's interesting by itself, but the song seems to get even better when that bass guitar comes in, and then that jangly electric guitar. It all sounds quite delicate, but that build-up makes the song one of the more engaging ones I've ever heard. If that song is the only reason music magazines put this toward the top of their '90s lists, then I'm with them 100 percent.
Lead singer Stuart Murdoch is a capable vocalist, for sure. That might be an understatement, but how can you blame me? He's an understated singer! I like that quality about him. He comes off as somewhat lackluster at times, but that's an integral part of this band's sound. Every time I think of Belle and Sebastian, I think of Murdoch wearing ordinary street clothes, singing about things that happen to be important to him at the time. And just because I said he sometimes sounds lackluster, it doesn't mean he's emotionless. His folksy vocal performance in “The Boy Who Done Wrong Again,” for instance, leaves me with a tear in my eye. That's a bittersweet masterpiece right there. (I prefer Murdoch wildly over Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum who seemed to think screaming his butt off is equal to emotion.)
So, I've given If You're Feeling Sinister a pretty damn glowing review so far! But I do have one pretty major hang-up about it. It goes back to the initial reaction I had to the album that I mentioned at the beginning of the review: it's all a little bit samey to me. While I adore the way the homemade-flavor way they orchestrate these songs, there's not much they do to make them sound extremely different from each other. This isn't a deal-breaker, of course, but I continue to think they could have improved it. Compare this to Paul McCartney's Ram and see how many different wild flavors and ideas he somehow seemed to cram in there. Nothing on that album sounded alike, and yet nothing betrayed the homemade flavor that he was going after.
I also think some of these songs are better than others. The title track begins with a rather extended recording of kids playing in a playground, and that moment just seems dead to me. The rest of the song, while nice and sunshiney, also seems like it could have developed a bit faster. It also seems like they could have done more to develop “Like Dylan in the Movies,” since it doesn't seem to have as surprises in it as the other songs. ...But I'm really nitpicking there, since that's a very enjoyable song anyway!
All in all, If You're Feeling Sinister is an excellent album with more than its fair share of brilliant moments. I recommend this album highly with the stipulation that you might have to work pretty hard to get into it at first. I was on the border between a 4.5 and a 5 on this one. I opted for a weak 5 specifically because “The Boy Done Wrong Again” leaves me with a tear in my eye, and I figure any song that makes me feel like that deserves extra credit. ...Also, I love extra credit. If only my college professors felt the same way......
Track Reviews:
The Stars of Track and FieldA+ This album might be one of the most highly celebrated albums from the '90s by many music magazines, but that doesn't mean the songs on it aren't good! I'm listening to the opening song right now is undeniably great regardless of what they way. It starts out folky and bare. It could easily have been boring or (more commonly) uneventful, but Stuart Murdoch magically sings an interesting vocal melody. From that, instruments are layered on the mix to create a more dramatic experience. Electric guitars, pianos, woodwinds, electric organs and a few drum build-ups are intermittently brought into help this song flow beautifully. Quite a nice song!
Seeing Other PeopleA- This doesn't have nearly the amount of build-up and passion that I experienced in the previous song, but this piano-heavy pop rocker is based on an interesting chord progression and the melody is nice. Although the melody surely could have been more grabbing. At times the piano sounds a little like those Vince Guaraldi Charlie Brown pieces, which is a quality I like. As a whole, this makes an excellent listen, but it doesn't do anything in particular to surprise me.
Me and the MajorA- I have the same general complaint about this song as I did the previous song. (I can't believe I'm complaining about a song that earns an easy A-!) But the melody isn't that memorable, and after the first 20 seconds or so are up, it doesn't seem to surprise me in particular. So, I can pretty easily find myself spacing out as I'm listening to this. But even when I'm spaced out, I still like what I'm listening to! That wild, chugging riff creates an energetic backdrop to this, and that chugging harmonica solo that comes in occasionally is a lot of fun.
Like Dylan in the MoviesB+ This is a delightful song, of course, and I'm enjoying listening to it. But this doesn't really do much for me. The melody is even less memorable than the previous song, although it's nice to listen to (particularly that easygoing chorus). It's based on a pretty simple, bubbly riff, that isn't particularly original. The overall instrumentation is interesting... Much rougher than usual. A piano in the background seems only barely interested in that riff... it just twinkles along, almost as if it a mind of its own. The same thing with those somewhat disconnected string swells. ...It's intriguing and fun but not great.
The Fox in the SnowA They wrote an excellent melody for this one. It's a melody that I can very well remember after it's through playing, and I want to remember it. The orchestration continues to be a bit unkempt, which provides just the right texture to contain Murdoch's somewhat rough vocal style. But like “The Stars of Track and Field,” it has a nice build-up. It begins with a lonely piano playing before it is accompanied by an acoustic guitar, and then a simple drum pattern picks up followed by a sparse string section and back-up vocals. This is a rather nostalgic sounding song, too. Nicely done!!
Get Away From Here, I'm DyingA This is an upbeat song with a bubbly electric guitar strumming along while Murdoch sings some engagingly bittersweet lyrics. What gets me here is the strong melody, which I do remember long after it's done playing. (I had this stuck in my head for awhile! And I liked it there!) The instrumentation is quite unkempt and homemade sounding, just like everything else here. I like the textures they create. But what I appreciate the most is this is another song that very subtly builds up. So, it seems to get slightly better as it goes along.
If You're Feeling SinisterB+ The beginning of this is rather sound effects heavy... Somebody apparently brought a tape recorder to a playground or something. After that a light, trotting drum rhythm and a trotting bass-guitar plays for about five minutes with only a few breaks as Murdoch sings an OK vocal melody. The instrumentation builds up very subtly, which I like, but considering this is a five-minute song, the build-up might not be quick enough. The sound effects at the beginning don't seem all that useful, either... They just drag it down mostly. Other than that, this is good! (Sorry to be so nitpicky... This is overall a nicely written and nicely performed song.)
MayflyA- This is a melody that I could easily fall in love with. That combined with the upbeat, lighthearted instrumentation makes this one of my favorite bits of the album. The only thing it's missing is that incredible development these other songs have! Also, there's nothing extremely distinctive or unusual about this. An ordinary song... that happens to have an excellent melody. (Here I go nitpicking, again!) This is structured as a three-minute pop song, anyway.
The Boy Done Wrong AgainA+ Am I crazy, or do these guys do the slow, acoustic songs the best? Maybe I like Murdoch's vocal performance, who always gives his vocal performances a nice, folksy twinge. Or maybe I like how well they're able to put a longing, bittersweet flavor to their works. At any rate, I do really like this song! It takes me in from the very beginning, guides me through a small orchestral upwelling, and leaves me with a tear in my eye. Brilliant.
Judy and the Dream of HorsesA Another excellent song. This is one of the nice and likable upbeat variety. Not only is the melody catchy and memorable, but they do that build-up thing with the instrumentation that I like so much! ...I think now's the time to tell you about one of my big hang-ups about this album. I can't think of a whole lot to say about this song. Is it because I have writer's block? ...Er, I don't think I have writer's block. ...It's because this album has a bit of a saminess issue. That's not a huge deal, since I find listening to this album a very pleasurable experience. But that's probably the main reason I'd never put this near the top on top of one of my lists.
Concluding Remarks:
What an excellent album full of excellent songs! Some off them are better than others, and this album it a bit samey. But it definitely has its moments.
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