For a band that means as much to me as this one, Belle and Sebastian hasn’t featured on the site as much as I’d expect. Sure, I’ve written 44 Song of the Day posts about their music, but I haven’t (yet) dived into each of their studio albums.
On the other hand, their songs and albums have consistently shown up on my personal best-of lists, often at the very top.
The Scottish septet has been releasing gorgeous, idiosyncratic music for three decades now, from the twee chamber pop of their early releases to their later embrace of electronica and dance beats.
Here is a collection of my writing about this unique band, and a promise to go even deeper in the future.
The albums
Tigermilk (1996)
If You’re Feeling Sinister (1996)
The Boy with the Arab Strap (1998)
Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant (2000)
Storytelling (2002)
Dear Catastrophe Waitress (2003)
The Life Pursuit (2006)
Write About Love (2010)
Girls in Peacetime Want to Dance (2015)
Days of the Bagnold Summer (2019)
A Bit of Previous (2022)
Late Developers (2023)
The superlatives
My #1 album of 2006: The Life Pursuit
My #1 album of 1996: If You’re Feeling Sinister
My #3 album of 2003: Dear Catastrophe Waitress
My #4 album of 2005-2010: The Life Pursuit
My #5 album of the 90s: If You’re Feeling Sinister
My #1 song of 2015: ‘Play For Today’
My #5 song of 2010: ‘The Ghost of Rockschool’
My 25 favorite songs: ‘Fox in the Snow’
Desert island entertainment: Honorable Mention in Music
Meet Me In Montauk 