Customer Reviews

If You're Feeling Sinister

5 star:		(127)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(18)
2 star:		(12)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

experiment with "if you're feeling sinister". i read a review of this album and picked it up because i watched the nickelodeon cartoon "belle and sebastian" when i was little. i liked that TV show when i was little, i like this band even more. one of the great secrets of belle and sebastian's music is that because of the soft voices and gentle music, you don't realize that their lyrics have lines like: "she was into S&M and Bible studies/not everyone's cup of tea she would admit to me" (from the title track). the songs on "if you're feeling sinister album" flow together well-craftedly, this is a good album to listen to all the way through. although "tigermilk" preceeded this album, and several other albums have followed this one, "if you're feeling sinister" is the best first album to chose if you are even remotely considering experimenting with this band. if you like clever and memorable lyrics, quirky Scottish pop that has depth, and bands that have tried and true fans, this album is your ticket to a good music. after all, there's a kafka book on the cover....

The Scottish group Belle & Sebastian has delivered an impressive amount of high quality music in the decade or so that they've been around, and most people will argue that IF YOU'RE FEELING SINISTER is their best work to date. The album has all that you'd expect from a Belle & Sebastian CD. This means that you're in for slow paced rock tunes that basically sounds like Travis on novocain. On the surface Belle & Sebastian comes off as quite innocent, but listen closer and you'll hear that their lyrics are sad and depressing, yet at the same time pervaded by an uplifting (though quite black) sense of humour. My favourite songs on this CD are GET ME AWAY FROM HERE I'M DYING, THE FOX IN THE SNOW, ME AND THE MAJOR, and the title track, IF YOU'RE FEELING SINISTER. Great music! As long as your cup of tea isn't electronical bands or mainstream music like All Saint, but rather bands like Travis, Radiohead and Coldplay, then I'm sure you'll get a kick out of this CD.

This one definitely ranks among the best albums I've ever heard. Each song is perfect pop, each with its own story to tell. "The Stars of Track and Field" is an epic, shimmery opener, "Seeing Other People," propelled by its rollicking Guaraldi-esque piano riff, shows lead singer Stuart Murdoch's clever lyrical wordplay. The real winners on SINISTER, however, are its middle tracks, "Like Dylan in the Movies," "The Fox in the Snow," and "Get Me Away from Here, I'm Dying." These 3 songs are so beautiful, with great messages to boot. I guess the best advice I can give is to believe the hype and buy the album. Unless your idea of good music is Britney Spears or Limp Bizkit, SINISTER will easily rank among your favorites.

There was a ton of great music written in the 90's. This record is certainly falls into that category. PErsonally, the three best records of the 90's were Hollywood Town Hall by the Jayhawks, The Soft Bulletin by the Flaming Lips, and If You're Feeling Sinister by Belle and Sebastian.

This is a perfect record. Im also amused by folks who claim it's a "rainy day record". I find that to be rather untrue. In fact, I find the record to be more of a suunny road trip record. Why? Well there is alot of stuff going on in the background that when combined with the singers voice create grand moments that are musical versions of rolling landscapes - passing an old oak tree bathed in sunlight, catching the bend of a river underneath a bridge as you pass by, blue skies and fields as far as you can see..... This is all in the world of the stunning instrumentation of these songs.

This record has amazing songs about interesting characters, but it transfers to the larger stage of the world, not just the corner of some room. Grab yourself some coffee or hot chocolate and hit the road with this cd on a beautiful sunny day. You will surely enjoy it.

I had never heard too much about Belle & Sebastian other than a good word and the occasional rave review and didn't give them much thought. I heard 'Like Dylan In The Movies' at a friend's house and had to hear more. This album completely exceeded all of my expectations and made me a permanent fan of the group.

Musically, the album is very folkish, with most acoustic guitars, or clean electric guitars. On some songs ('Seeing Other People', 'The Fox In The Snow') the piano is the dominant instrument. Many of the tracks are also augmented with trumpet melodies ('The Stars Of Track And Field') and gentle string arrangements ('Like Dylan In The Movies', 'The Boy Done Wrong Again'). The lyrics are another high point to this album, they are absolutely fabulous. Sometimes dark, sometimes thoughtful or introspective, and always interesting.

Despite what a few reviews say, this album is not esoteric or difficult. It's actually quite catchy and melodic, even easy on the ears. It's very quirky and has that very Anglo European kinda feel to it. The music is very tonal and really quite simple and pleasing. It's not an album that "scenesters" have to pretend to like, because it easily gets by on its own merits. If you've heard good things about this group, please buy this album, it's well worth it.

This self-righteous, know-it-all, middle-aged, rock 'n' roll left over feels lucky to find one new band or artist every other year worth his time. I mean after the Beatles, Steely Dan, Allman Brothers, Hendrix, etc., etc., what's the point? Well, yes, there's Weezer, Spoon and Rooney, but that's about it.

Then after a three-year dry spell, last spring as I often do, I innocently borrowed two interesting looking CDs--Electric Blue Watermelon by the North Mississipi Allstars and Dear Catastrophe Waitress by B&S--from the town library. Suddenly, my cup ranneth over relevant to both.

"Step into My Office, Baby," the geeky jazz kick off to "Waitress," for example, told me I had found something special. And I fell in love with about half of that sporadically inspired LP.

Then after checking out here what was recommended, I ordered "Sinister," which took a while to appreciate after the slick production on DCW. But now, wow! "Fox in the Snow," "Like Dylan," "Mayfly," and "Judy and the Dream of Horses," are clasped to my bosom with hoops of steele!

Finally, people of taste and sensitivity, here's some great new stuff to explore. And I haven't felt so blissfully twee since Donovan!!

5.4 million people, more if you count Sean Connery, ( I don't, but that's a whole nuther story, mate ) and look what the Scots done to music. I'm not talking about the bagpipe thing, though "Amazing Grace" on pipes is pretty scary the first time, isn't it?

I'm talking about Cocteau Twins, The Beta Band, Jesus and Mary Chain, Del Amitri, and Belle and Sebastian. It's a heavy burden to be a sublimely clever soft rock band in the 20th Century. No flippin' market for it, for starters, but worse, you have to write songs. None of this three chord business, with crashing drums and tons of feedback. No. And then there are the rhymes. I'm thinking of 'Fox in the Snow'. If you're looking for songs that have those nice moon/June rhymes, you're plumb out of luck. All you've got here is a fresh melody, an ironic storyline, some fine guitar picking, rich string backing, and a vocal that lets you understand all the words. Rather than go thru all the songs -- you can do that yourselves -- I'll point out that there are no bad apples here. Just peaches, the kind you like, Brad and Daphne, if those are your names.

Belle and Sebastian has carved out a very small niche, but they know what they are doing better than any other band I can think of, and they are undetered from pursuing their ideal of artistic integrity. I give this release 4.5 stars.

IYFS, along with Boy With The Arab Strap, are B&S at their creative peak. Tigermilk is fantastic too but it wasn't until this one where they really hit their stride. To me, it strikes a perfect balance between production and songwriting, a balance that they have struggled with ever since. Just looking at the somber cover and the copy of Kafka's novel lying there should clue you in on what you're in for. A minor masterpiece.

Unless the thought of any music that isn't loud, fast and aggressive makes you want to kick some twee indie kid to death, Belle and Sebastian are certain to find a place somwhere in your heart. It seems a bit much to say that they're the best band of the nineties, but who else has been so consistently brilliant? And '...Sinister' is the biggest masterpiece of the lot, ten songs in which not one note or word is illjudged, and whose ability to make the listener feel sad, feel happy, laugh, nod seriously and just generally EMOTE is utterly unparalelled. From the incredible opening of 'Stars of Track and Field', a song which still manages to grow on you with the 500th listen, to the bit where the trumpet kicks in on closer 'Judy and The Dream of Horses', it's magic all the way. Add 'Me and the Major' (Dylan covering the Jam, anybody?) and the lyrical glory that is 'Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying', and, hey, all the rest of the songs, this album is perfect pop, perfect poetry, perfect everything.

Oh, and it's also a great hangover cure, by the way.

This is definitely rainy weather, introspective music, and I love every minute of it. I've been listening to it frequently as the weather is changing to rainy fall weather, and I live in Southern California, so this is kinda a rare feeling!

The songs are bittersweet intellectual musings on love and life. The whole album has kind of a fairy tale quality, in a kind of muted childish nursery rhyme sort of way, and singer Stuart Murdoch's vocals are heart melting.

The lyrics complement the sound quite nicely. They manage to be innocent, yet knowing and sometimes sarcastic at the same time. Every track is a standout track. Really they are all favorites. This is music of very high quality. Everytime I play it, people stop and say "What is this?" This is because even upon first hearing, the music is likable, and stands out from the mainstream.