Lazy Line Painter Jane [Box set, EP]

Belle & Sebastian | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 7, 2000)
• Original Release Date: March 7, 2000
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Box set, EP
• Note on Boxed Sets: During shipping, discs in boxed sets occasionally become dislodged without damage. Please examine and play these discs. If you are not completely satisfied, we'll refund or replace your purchase.
• Label: Matador Records
• ASIN: B00004I9UT
• Also Available in: Audio CD
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #140,237 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #46 in Music > Indie Music > Alternative Rock > Alternative Folk
  • #64 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Twee Pop

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Dog On Wheels

2. State I Am In, The

3. String Bean Jean

4. Belle & Sebastian

Disc: 2

1. Lazy Line Painter Jane

2. You Made Me Forget My Dreams

3. Photo Jenny

4. Century Of Elvis, A

Disc: 3

1. Century Of Fakers, A

2. Le Pastie De La Bourgeoise

3. Beautiful

4. Put The Book Back On The Shelf

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The three four-song EPs that Belle and Sebastian released on their own Jeepster label in 1997 are regarded by many fans to be their most enjoyable artifacts, and it's hard to argue. Like a Peel session, there is a looser feel to these recordings; they're less perfectionist than the proper albums they bookend (Tigermilk and Sinister). And this is their charm: Stuart Murdoch and friends augment their preciously fey, orchestral pop with cross-genre elements and two great songs with spoken word on top that remind one of similar experiments conducted by the Mekons in the mid-'80s. The first EP includes an early, pre-Tigermilk demo of "Dog on Wheels," a delicious ditty that sounds like Nick Drake and Burt Bacharach working out a song in a practice space somewhere in Edinburgh. The choice to issue the music in facsimile editions--the only thing new is a piece of cardboard--rather than the single disc onto which they would easily fit seems a tad suspect. But these EPs do capture an unsteady group with great influences and good ideas in the act of transcending that to become one of the 1990s' smartest, most enjoyably decadent pop acts. --Mike McGonigal

Product Description

Single featuring guest vocalist Monica Queen. Contains fourtracks: 'Lazy Line Painter Jane', 'You Made Me Forget MyDreams', 'Photo Jenny' and 'A Century Of Elvis'. 1997Jeepster Recordings release. Standard jewelcase. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This box set made me a fan, October 28, 2003

By 

singmebackhome (Macon, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lazy Line Painter Jane (Audio CD)

I have always heard B+S spoken well of, but pretty much only in indie rock circles which can be kinda stuffy and closed-minded, so I didn't know to put much stock in it. I figured I'd give them a shot when the opportunity presented itself instead of going out of my way. That day came when I saw this box set at a retail store "going out of business sale" and I snapped it up for 4 bucks.

OK- a few things here: best 4 bucks I've spent in a LONG time. I would have gladly paid more than full price for this sucker had I know how great it was. Also, I'm SO angry at myself for waiting so long to get to know this great music! The EP set is only the tip of the iceberg, as they have four or five full-lengths, but I so admire their dedication to the EP format. Each of these (and Jonathan David, which I also got and strongly recommend!) have their own character and flavor.

Major highlight is "Lazy Line Painter Jane" which is the kind of song that could have ruled the airwaves back when Tina Turner's "River Deep, Mountain High" was a miserable failure. It reaches such orgasmic heights of Phil Specto-rama, with layer upon layer of sound building and building (AND BUILDING AND BUILDING) around the duet between Stewart and the soulful white girl Monica White. The lyrics are vague in a Stewart kind of way, with enough evocative references to "boys" and "girls" who's lives are potentially altered by the "last bus out of town" to make you buy into this grandiose drama of human feeling without knowing exactly what the hell is going on (Dylan-esque? Yes!) It's a total geek-out! And I just LOVE how that bass line recenters the focus after the first verse, breaks it all down and then builds it back up! You da man, Stewart!

He isn't afraid to bring alot to the party, either. There's a home in this indie-rock for slide guitar, pedal steel guitar, harmonica, violins and strings and synths that sound like violins and strings- and it's deadly sincere. There's no joking around here. The people in charge of making this light and airy music are serious craftsmen and super-talented arrangers. They give a damn about making the best song they can.

I can't wait to absorb more of their music. This is such a great band, and I'd urge people to buy this box set. I found it an incredible way to start in on Belle and Sebastian!

34 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Can You Say Bargain? What Are You Waiting For?, April 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Lazy Line Painter Jane (Audio CD)

I am from Manhattan and one day as I was in a chain record store, another person and I started chatting about music (these things happen all the time in Manhattan). It turned out that both of us were HUGE Belle & Sebastian fans (the lucky sod owned an ORIGINAL copy of "Tigermilk"--I almost mugged him there on the spot! These things happen all the time in Manhattan...LOL. Not really.). When he heard how much I love B&S, he literally dragged me over to the cd singles section and thrust the three original import singles at me and said, "Do yourself a favor." As I didn't even KNOW that B&S had issued the singles at the time (it had been a difficult year), I immediately ran, debit card in hand, to the register and then sat impatiently at work the rest of the day until I could get home and thrust these into the cd player. And then promptly hit the repeat button. My favorite of these three absolutely wonderful, tuneful, whimsical, perfect cd single bonbons is "3...6...9...Seconds of Light" (he preferred "Dog on Wheels" I remember), but all of them are ABSOLUTELY INDISPENSIBLE. And then I think how lucky all you people out there can be to get ALL THREE at one time without having to pay import prices and want to drag you--or your mouse--to the "Put this in my shopping cart" button so you can bliss out yourselves. Now if you will pardon me, I need to hit that repeat button again...

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Want the most for your money? Check this out, May 31, 2005

By 

Alex "ibanez962" (Downers Grove, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lazy Line Painter Jane (Audio CD)

Belle and Sebastian have been making great pop music for nearly a decade now, and some of their best work isn't on any studio album. You'll find great gems like "Lazy Line Painter Jane" and "The State I Am In" on this set, but why stop there? You could pay $18 for this box set. But there's a better option now.

A new 2 disc set has surfaced, thanks to Matador. It's called PUSH BARMAN TO OPEN OLD WOUNDS, and it contains all these songs and more for a cheaper price. If you're looking for non-album tracks from Scotland's best band, I'd say the decision is a no-brainer. Buy PUSH BARMAN instead - it's the price of a single disc album, and you get 25 tracks from all EP's 1997-2001. What a deal.