The tale of the curious boy

'So I gave myself to God. There was a pregnant pause before He said... OK'

Believe it or not, despite being the proprietor of such a wildly successful mp3 blog (!!!) I very rarely get sent anything in the post (or by email for that matter.... although I must apologise if you have sent me something recently & not been thanked - my inbox has got outta control. Something i'm attempting to sort out at the moment.)

Well a few of weeks ago I did get one delicious treat through my letterbox... a copy of the Belle and Sebastian biography 'Just a Modern Rock Story'. Now despite not being a particular fan of the band, i'm always interested in music biographies.. and the book, like any good bio, made me hungry to hear the material that author Paul Whitelaw so lovingly describes.



And, well, the more I hear of Belle and Sebastian the more i'm starting to wonder how I overlooked them for so long. Eight years to be precise! In fact I don't think I actually (properly) heard a song by them until last year's terrifyingly good Avalanches mix of 'I'm a Cuckoo'. And I kind of put that down to The Avalanches rather than B&S.

I then had a B&S epiphany earlier this year, when you may recall I was stunned to hear the track 'Your Cover's Blown', and to find that it was one of the best songs i'd ever heard!

And now, as a result of reading the book, I picked up debut album 'Tigermilk' at the weekend. And it's amazing! They don't just rule the school, but the playground and the chippy too! Obviously the lyrics are incredible, but they're a lot grittier and funnier than the band's rather wistful reputation would suggest. I also wouldn't have expected a song that starts off sounding like Orbital in the middle of the album ('Electronic Renaissance'), or in fact music that grabs your attention so much, rather than, as I was expecting, simply acts as an accompaniment to a dripping tap in a bedsit.

Damn, another band with an extensive back catalogue I need to catch up on! What album do I need to listen to next?

BELLE & SEBASTIAN - EXPECTATIONS

'And the rumour is you never go with boys and you are tight,
so they jab you with a fork.
You drop the tray and go berserk,
and while you're cleaning up the mess the teacher's looking up your skirt'



Do something pretty while you can.



I've not finished it yet, but so far the book's great as well.. did I mention that?