I Could Be Dreaming: the Belle and Sebastian song-by-song, album-by-album thread

I could listen to songs like Dog On Wheels all day.

4.5/5

I'm just a casual Belle and Sebastian fan, I probably only have 4 or 5 of their CDs. I know we'll be in good hands with @Lance LaSalle running the show. I became interested in the band when they were repeatedly mentioned in the same breath with some of my other favorites. Plus I have a weak spot for music from Scotland (Gerry Rafferty, Proclaimers, Del Amitri, Trash Can Sinatras, etc).

I won't be posting on every song, but I'll be listening to every link posted. (and this could become a very expensive thread!)

 

Dog on Wheels: 4/5

It's a fine song that has got a solid grove and a pleasing tune. I think musically it owes a bit too much to Forever Changes though. Lyrically, it is what you would expect from early Belle and Sebastian material, but Stuart will soon find his voice and start writing stuff much more evocative than that. Somehow, it's B&S in a chrysalis, the butterfly is about to come out

 

dog on wheels. all 4 tracks are perfection. especially tracks 2 & 3
it was my introduction. i've always preferred their eps over the lps. always seemed to be all musts and no fuss

5/5

----edit----
are we doing track by track or ep first? sorry lol

 

Thanks for starting this thread. One of my all time favorite bands since I discovered them in '98. Have seen them many times.

Among other bands they seem influenced by or reminiscent of, I'd add the Zombies to the mix.

 

Track by track then EP as a whole for the ratings but otherwise general thoughts on the EP or the group in general are nice to read anytime.

 

Had to fish out ‘Barman’ to listen to this. Been a long time. Lke the start up of ‘Dog’, the ghostly notes and reverb/echo whatever it is, and the trumpet that as you say lends that mariachi feel to it.

 

I came late to B&S fandom, only discovering them in 2014 when they were mentioned on a forum thread about something else, so I searched YouTube and the first song that came up was "Dog On Wheels" and I was instantly hooked by the repeating melody of the song and the general sound/style that sounded like a 60's throwback but not quite. Only after listening to the song a few times did I realise there is no chorus, and the instrumental break is the only change from the main melody - normally I might have been critical of that, but for some reason it just works really well here and I think having a chorus would break up the insistent mood building in the main melody.

My take on what the dog on wheels represents is a best friend to whom the shy narrator can tell all his innermost thoughts and secrets without fear of criticism.

5/5

 

A bit of "Alone Again More" ...or a lot, but still great! I assume they are LoVE fans...

 

Not any more. Sinister was an old-school mailing list from the turn of the century, and then that became the Bowlie messageboard (like this one but dedicated to B&S and later Camera Obscura) and had a really strong community. The band didn’t post (aside from Stuart David very rarely) but their manager did, and the guy who ran it was linked to Jeepster Records or something so it was easy to follow stuff in real time and have a good link to the band.

It shuttered in 2008, and they’ve become a bit more guarded now as a band, or people don’t care as much.

 

Our votes for "Dog ON Wheels"

1-0
2-0
3-0
4-2
5-6
Average: 4.6875

 

Today's song is "The State I'm In" credited as written and produced by "Belle and Sebastian" but actually written and produced by Stuart Murdoch.

Spotify: The State I Am In

Lyric HERE

This song was later re-recorded and released as the first track on Belle and Sebastian's debut album Tigermilk: however, I will hold that version of the song up seperately in a few days.

Another song recorded at the Beatbox session in 1995 (and not released until 1997) the line up seems to have been:

Stuart Murdoch: Vocals, acoustic guitar
Stuart David: bass
Gerry Campbell: keyboards
David Campbell: drums

Other musicians credited on the EP were Mark McWhirter, Michael Angus and David Mackenzie, but what they played and on what songs is uncertain.
---
Stuart Murdoch used the Dog on Wheels cassette, recorded at this session, to promote early songs and concerts. Songs, or a a song, was played at least twice on Glasgow Radio and thanks to Murdoch's seemingly single-handed and single-minded promotion of the group through posters and the like a buzz began to grow and an audience began to be created. At that point the band were calling themselves Rhode Island.

To the core of Stuart Murdoch and Stuart David, David's roommate, Richard Colburn, was eventually added on drums, where he remains to this day.

 

"The State I Am In" was also released on The BBC Sessions in 2008, recorded 7/96.

The clastrophobic, dry sound of this early demo contrasts with the slicker, more spacious and hushed version released later, on Tigermilk.

But the song is little changed: a humor-tinged, slightly absurd tale of sin and repentance (mostly sin), vaguely Dylan-esque lyrics of the verse giving way to the absolutely breathtaking melody of the chorus, a bittersweet melody so strong that the universe itself might be founded on it. I don't really prefer either version but this version, bolstered by some overdubbed acoustic guitars and Murdoch's slightly sloppy double-tracked vocal has an indie charm: you can hear the natural room echo from the tiny studio the song was recorded at Stow College.

5/5

 

I actually think The State I Am In is a very strong contender for the band's signature song. I knew it first from the EP, so for me, this always has a slight edge on the "Tigermilk" version.

5/5, without question.

 

Yes.

 

The State I Am In: 5/5

I don't have much to say about this one, it is an obvious classic and the kind of song you use to introduce someone to a band. The blend and balance of wit, dark humour and gentleness in these lyrics really is a tour-de-force.

 

Of course I meant "Alone Again Or"!

 

Absolutely! I miss Bowlie, and having a load of emails from Sinister was always great

 

Here is a link that plays, for me...

The State I Am In
Belle & Sebastian - The State I Am In

5/5

 

Also, great thread, but shouldn’t we have started with Tigermilk?

 

The Dog On Wheels EP was recorded before Tigermilk, but released about a year afterwards: is in fact more properly a Stuart Murdoch demo tape made at the Beatbox music course in 1995, eventually released under the name Belle and Sebastian.

 

Thanks for the link, although it is of the later version — I plan to discuss that on Wednesday.

I was not aware that the link didn’t play! Sorry! I included two links, I’ll include three tomorrow if possible.

 

the Sinister list and Bowlie ran in parallel. Prior to Bowlie, Jeepster ran some chat boards.

Bowlie was run by David Kitchen, never did understand why he just shut it down. I’d stopped posting a while previously but it definitely did have a great community to it.

 

I love "The State I Am In" and I don't think I've ever come across a B&S fan who does not rate it as one of their favourites. What's not to love: Stuart's vocal delivery suits the song so perfectly, the verse lyrics are humorous and meaningful at the same time, and when the beautiful chorus melody kicks in - what a rush.

Hard to say which version I prefer, but they are similar enough for it not to matter, so I don't deliberately choose to play one instead of the other.

5/5

 

Loved them since the late 90s. Can I give a recommendation for the DVD For Fans Only. It's essential IMO.

My history with B&S has been littered with coincidences. Firstly I was briefly at school with Alan Rankine (ex of the Associates) who was running the course at Stow College that Stuart Murdoch was doing.

Then I happened to meet Chris while out hillwalking on Arran one day, possibly 10 years ago. He's a lovely guy and was very surprised to be recognised. I still have a picture somewhere snapped of the 2 of us.

Then last year I happened to meet Stevie and Bob separately, and on the same day. I won't go into why, as the circumstances would be confidential to them. Anyway, I've got photos of those meetings too, and I got the sleeve of my 2LP Dear Catastrophe waitress signed....

 

Featuring their version of Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son, done at breakneck speed.