Belle & Sebastian - I’m Waking Up To Us
On the off chance that you are the one person in the blogosphere that still has never heard of Belle & Sebastian, I’ll explain to you like I explain to my friends: I think they’re one of the three or four best bands making music in the world today. Their orchestral pop folk music is instantly classic and beautiful. Since a great many of you know their story, I will skip the particulars for this morning. However, if you would like to find out more about the band, there is a ton of information available here. These Glaswegian chamber pop geniuses have released a flurry of material since 1996, and this 3-song EP released in 2001 (and now available now only as an import) is a must-have gem. In the quest for simplicity, I have chosen the title track to their I’m Waking Up To Us EP because, well…I love it. I should mention, that it was produced by Mike Hurst, a beloved British producer with a storied career (having worked with Cat Stevens and producing Petula Clark’s song “Downtown” among many others). I always find that Belle & Sebastian’s clever approach to their lyrics and their dark sense of humor always makes me giggle just a little under my breath. The way they enmesh the lyrics with their arrangements is a touch of high comedy, and perhaps that is why I have always loved them so.
Belle & Sebastian need a home. 
Posted in Bitter:Sweet
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December 21st, 2004 at 6:46 pm
My fave Belle & Sebastian song? ‘Nice Day for a Sulk’
They are just too cool.
I’m just saying, is all.
December 22nd, 2004 at 12:49 am
The vocalist sounds like a cross between Ray Davies and Donovan — kind of an effeminate British heterosexual vibe. All in all, I’m having a hard time seeing the appeal in this. The arrangement points back to some of those overblown 60’s pop productions, and unless a band is doing that sort of thing tongue-in-cheek, like XTC’s alter ego the Dukes of Stratosphear a few years back, I’m not really amused. Belle and Sebastian seem so earnest, and yet when you get right down to it, it sounds more like whining than expresing some deep emotional secret. Orchestrated whining, no less.
Ah well, at least now I know what B&S are about. Really I’d only heard one of their songs before, and I don’t honestly remember it.
eric
December 22nd, 2004 at 1:38 am
It’s strange how you can get the point and miss the point all at the same time. I don’t think this song encapsulates all of what B&S are about at all. I rather like this song because out of their extensive catalog, I find this song to be among their most acid and tongue-in-cheek. Their earlier work demonstrates a much more earnest and heartfelt slant than this particular. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, try Tigermilk or If You’re Feeling Sinister before you judge their whole catalog.
December 29th, 2004 at 1:30 pm
Could not agree more on B&S. It´s one of my top three bands as well. Their backstory is great, their music is great and their personas just seems so great too. I have traveled twice from iceland to denmark just too see them it was totally worth it.