‘If You’re Feeling Sinister – live at the Barbican’ by Belle and Sebastian

Nine years later, Belle and Sebastian returned to their second album for a one-off gig in which they played the record through in its entirety. The gig was recorded, then released via iTunes for charity. The setlist was chosen as the band themselves weren’t ever so happy with the final result of the original album. Personally, I’d rather listen to this version.

There are no radical departures here – every track is played more or less as it was originally, but with a greater confidence – almost a swagger. Almost a decade on, the difference in how the band sounds is striking. There’s a great sense of relaxation throughout this album, and this brings the album a real sense of joy. Tracks like ‘Like Dylan In The Movies’ and ‘Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying’ lose their slightly pained and restrained edge and become songs that are a sheer pleasure to listen to.

It’s rare, I imagine, for an exercise like this to be any more than an exercise in vanity, or at best, something which works well on stage but is unnecessary on record. But not this time – this is great.

‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’ by Belle and Sebastian

Second album by Belle and Sebastian, and released only five months after their debut, ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’ is a great album in many ways, though not without its issues. The songs on the record are superb – whereas ‘Tigermilk’ is a little patchy, ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’ is pretty much free of weak spots, which is remarkable given the short length of time between the two records. Having said that, the arrangements and production throughout the record struggle to match the quality of the material. Too many of the backing tracks sound a little feeble – like the band aren’t quite sure of what they should be doing. No-one seems quite comfortable with the material, as though they know it’s good, but they’re not sure how to represent this. So, a good album to hear, but given the choice, I’d always opt for the next on the list. Here goes…

‘I’m Waking Up To Us’ by Belle and Sebastian

‘I’m Waking Up To Us’ was the final single released by Belle & Sebastian before they settled into the more conventional approach of releasing singles taken from their albums. Their next release was the ‘Dear Catastrophe Waitress’ album – a big step forward in terms of their production values and arrangements. This single shows the signs of that – the title track is bold and ambitious in its scope, and the other tracks show a developing confidence and humour which would continue to grow through subsequent releases. Not their strongest set of songs, but it doesn’t outstay its welcome by any means.

‘Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant’ by Belle and Sebastian

By album number four, the early Belle and Sebastian formula feels a little strained. The songs on ‘Fold Your Hands’ are still good, and they’re being performed well enough, but somehow, it doesn’t quite feel enough.

So, the problem isn’t the quality of songs. Some of them – ‘I Fought In A War’, ‘The Model’, ‘The Wrong Girl’ – are excellent, but they need an extra sparkle. ‘Dear Catastrophe Waitress’, their next proper album would contain that sparkle, matching the ambition of this album to a producer who could handle it. It would have been great to know what Trevor Horn could have done with a track like the closing ‘There’s Too Much Love’ – a track which has a good song buried within it, but which sounds slightly messy all in all.

However, fans of Belle and Sebastian should find enough in this album to make it a worthwhile listen. Only ‘The Chalet Lines’ really doesn’t work. Perhaps it’s possible to place a song about rape onto a light hearted pop album without sounding horribly crass, but not on this evidence.

‘Dog On Wheels’ by Belle & Sebastian

Only a few days ago, I listened again to ‘Dear Catastrophe Waitress’, the most polished, and perhaps the most successful of Belle and Sebastian records. From there, I go to here, Belle and Sebastian’s first EP. In reality, this barely counts as a real record. Released after the first two albums had made a bit of stir, this EP contains four demo tracks recorded before Belle and Sebastian were even a band. It is, shall we say, considerably less polished than their later work.

It’s better than you might expect, though. ‘Dog On Wheels’, the first track, has some convincing energy, and a nice trumpet line. ‘The State I Am In’, familiar through it’s ‘Tigermilk’ version is also pretty well formed here. The slower pace gives Stuart Murdoch’s lyrics space to breathe – it’s pretty clear that at this early stage, they are the bands main selling point. ‘String Bean Jean’ ups the tempo and adds some wild-west style guitar work and a harmony which, although slightly ropey, shows the promise of things to come. The final track, ‘Belle And Sebastian’ has some lovely arrangements, but the budgetary restraints are hard to escape. It also suffers from a vocal performance that only a mother could love. In later years, Murdoch would become a fine delicate vocalist – at this point, it would charitable to say he was still finding his feet.

I heard nothing of this when it was released, but I remember it being around. I was an avid reader of the music pages on teletext, and I remember this record being named their single of the year. In a sense, this is an inexplicable choice, but there is something about it that appeals, even if it’s just the knowledge of what was to come.

'Dear Catastrophe Waitress' by Belle and Sebastian

Though they'd been around for a while, this was the first Belle and Sebastian album I heard all the way through, and then the first that I bought. Thanks to Matt for lending it to me first. I'd heard the name many times, and I'd read a lot about them. Through their early years, Belle and Sebastian were loved by a small number of dedicated fans, and spurned by a good number for being somewhat twee.

In fairness, having gone back through their discography, there's some validity to these claims. 'Dear Catastrophe Waitress', however, marked a turning point for the band. Perhaps in an attempt to prove their critics wrong, the band recruited producer Trevor Horn to make the album, and the result is their most solid album by far. It has a far more muscular and well-built style than all their previous albums, and happily, the quality of the songs themselves match this new-found confidence. The title track, 'I'm a Cuckoo', 'Roy Walker', 'If She Wants Me' - all are perfectly formed pieces of pop music.

The delicate nature of Belle and Sebastian still shines through, both in full tracks - 'Piazza, New York Catcher', 'Lord Anthony' - and in the flashes of other tracks: this may be a harder album than their others, but it still begins with a flute riff for 'Step Into My Office, Baby'.

The album as a whole is a joy - a pleasure to listen to, but complex and layered enough to stand up to repeated listening. It also manages the unusual feat of ending on a real high. 'Stay Loose', the albums closing track, is like nothing in the Belle and Sebastian catalogue up to that point (though something of an indicator towards the next album). It's a real treat.

'3, 6, 9 Seconds Of Light' by Belle and Sebastian

Not an album, but EP's are listed on the mp3 player as albums, so why not. Released in the very early days of Belle & Sebastian, this shows promise. It's lyrics are strong, and the music is ambitious, but perhaps a little too much. The first two tracks seem muddled, as if too many instruments are playing at once with little idea of how to complement each other. The final two are clearer, and better for it, though Stuart Murdoch's voice is still rather fragile, and the comparative lack of arrangement leaves it more exposed than it should be. They would get better.