I’m so indie it hurts
Would this be a good name for an indie bop? Or would it be taken un-ironically? Who knows. Well, anyway, this last week saw me seeing what have become one of my favourite bands: an indie stalwart that I overlooked for so long, only to form a dangerous addiction to. They’re a band you can coo at, but at the same time recoil in shock from (hold on—rewind—what was that line again? Oh. Oh!) and be forever in wonder at their brilliantness. I’m talking of Belle & Sebastian of course.

The Corn Exchange provided the venue, with proceeding kicked off by a support of The Brakes, who seemed not to be too concerned about their performance. I’ve seen them before, and quite liked the unlikely love-child of British Sea Power and Electric Soft Parade, but this show was shocking. They played, they were gone. No feeling at all.

Once B&S came on though, the atmosphere quickly changed. Gaggles of student friends and bunches of old-timers bustled about between the many couples; everyone almost glowing with glee. The set started off quite quietly, but soon built up momentum, launching at us songs like Electronic Renaissance, one of my favourites (and having the line whence the title of this ‘ere ‘blog was poached) and totally unexpected, The State I Am In (plenty of early Tigermilk action going on there), If You’re Feeling Sinister, I’m A Cuckoo and all the rest. The funked-up instrumental of something halfway through kept up the pace, and hearing songs I’d not listened too much before ignited some new passions, particularly for La Pastie de la Bourgeoisie (or Sunbeam I think it’s also known as). Argh! So many good tracks! I don’t think there was a second that I didn’t have a ridiculous grin on my face, other than to chuckle at the lyrics, or Stuart’s banter with the crowd (particularly some of his replies to some drunken goon lurking in the corner).

Enough talk of Belle and Sebastian, there’re some photos down below somewhere (or if you follow a link to my blog if you’re one of these techno-whizzes with a news reader) for your perusal.

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Tracktastic: Apart from, obviously, the back catalogue of Belle & Sebastian (I’ve ordered the new album! Will arrive—and, accordingly, be reviewed, along with José González—soonish soon as I’ve just ordered it on teh interweb) I’ve been in the area of remixes recently.

The UNKLE remix of Ian Brown’s Dolphins Were Monkeys on the Xfm Remix album (vol. 2) (cheers to Sanjay for lending that: it’s quite a trove of gems, some better than other it has to be send. Porno Badly Drawn Boy is, erm, interesting.) is rather gorgeous, along with the supremely eighties sound Braxe and Falke remix of the Test Icicles’ What’s Your Damage. The mixture of elements from the soundtrack of a bad eighties movie (imagine the scene of some pumped-up high-school jock pulling up outside his prom date’s house in a convertible, wearing a baseball team leather jacket or something…) and the grimy, post-punk coarse vocals of the Test Icicles scattered throughout is quite incredible. Listen / download.

Also listening to Man In A Garage by Coldcut. I’m not too keen on the rest of the album, but this track (the current single I believe) meets the auditory canals with a welcome reception.

The previously mentioned José González is also in my current playlist, or at least the singles Heartbeats is. Such a painfully beautiful song, nothing to get too excited about, but the emotional grip of those twanging guitar strings has me drawn in. Looking forward to listening to the rest of the album. Check him out on MySpace (why are so many musicians on there these days?).

(And why so much digression in this posting? I’ve written more in brackets than out!)

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Apparently this condition is a result of the Croydon Facelift. I didn’t realise the horror could get any worse. In ten years’ time, Croydon’s gonna be overrun with grown-up (I use the term loosely) chav girls that are going bald. The sight… ugh… my imagination is burning out as a safety mechanism.




Posted: 07-02-06 23:25 :: Permalink: http://ben.corale.co.uk/archive/v1/219.html

Comments Use the form at the bottom to post your comments. Here is the feedback:

Wolfie writes I understand there is also a university in Cambridge, offering lectures, tutorials, library facilities and so on. If you find the time, perhaps you could do an investigation and let us know what you think. Apparently it is quite well regarded.

On a less snide note, have you considered writing for Varsity, or whatever other student papers/magazines they have there nowadays?

And have you been to the Union? Your devoted public demand to know. Commented: 08-02-06 14:11

Richard writes I just can't seem to get into B&S. Just a little too twee for my punk upbringing.
I'm gonna be buying Dresden Dolls tickets for March if you're interested? Commented: 08-02-06 18:39

The blog author writes "I understand there is also a university in Cambridge"
Words from the man that ran a magazine rivalling NME while he was here... And anyway, I've been to all but one lecture this term, and I have at least 12 a week. So there, neerhh.

"have you considered writing for Varsity"
Hmm, maybe- but at the moment I may be starting a project with Kiwi, Selwyn's student mag, that's gonna be a parody of OK! and Heat and their ilk.

"Just a little too twee for my punk upbringing"
Yeah, I see what you mean, but it's good twee, like going for a picnic twee.

"I'm gonna be buying Dresden Dolls tickets"
For March? When abouts in March, and where're they playing? Commented: 09-02-06 12:33

Wolfie writes The benj wrote: "maybe- but"

This is why I hate young people. They never listen. What have I said about hyphens?

"maybe - but" is *just* about acceptable, but with your html skills, I'm sure you could do it properly. Commented: 09-02-06 12:39

Wolfie writes Oh, and the same goes for ellipses: "while he was here ... And anyway"

It's all about the spaces.

A copy of "Collier's Rules" (beautiful, sadly out of print and therefore second hand) is being despatched to you from Amazon. Commented: 09-02-06 12:46

The blog author writes Ok—dashes it is. But that was such an effort! ampersand-hash-8212-semicolon. This is the internet anyway, not a LaTeX-typeset document for my doctoral thesis!

Thank you for the book tho, I have a minor obsession with typefaces. Commented: 09-02-06 13:40

Wolfie writes Jamin' said: "But that was such an effort!"

You see, this is why I hate young people. They're so lazy.

Oh, wait a minute. I hate them because they never listen. AND they're so lazy. Wow. I really hate young people. I should probably see someone about that.

Jamin'. I like that. I think I might use it more often. Commented: 09-02-06 14:09