When I heard that there was going to be a collaborative album between the sweet sounding Campbell with the life lived baritone of Lanegan, I thought it was an April Fool’s. It just goes to show how wrong you can be. The duo produced three albums along with associated singles/EPs between 2006 and 2010. With Lanegan’s passing in 2022, the chance of the pair recording together again has now passed.
Campbell was the driving force behind this pair up, writing most of the songs as well as producing the records but did not want to continue touring. The grind of going out on the road was one of the reasons she had quit Belle and Sebastian back in 2002. The relationship with Lanegan had also become strained but what we got when they did work together, it was a modern version of Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood. Enjoy.
Dusty Wreath
We Die & See Beauty Again
You Won’t Let Me Down Again
Snake Song
Shotgun Blues
The False Husband
Deus Ibi Est
Ramblin’ Man
Time Of The Season
Something To Believe
Come On Over (Turn Me On)
Cool Water
Saturday’s Gone
Lately
Rambling Rose, Clinging Vine
No Place To Fall
Trouble
Revolver
Keep Me In Mind Sweetheart
The Circus Is Leaving Town
The cover is adapted from the duo’s third and final album, ‘Hawk’. This play list could not be reproduced with one or more songs not being available on Spotify.
I only started buying Isobel Campbell’s solo records once she had left Belle and Sebastian. This occurred after the release of the bands ‘Storytelling’ LPs and it as though her leaving was one of the reasons why some of the tweeness left the band. What I didn’t realise until much later is that she released two album whilst still a member of Belle and Sebastian under the name of The Gentle Waves. These Gentle Waves albums could even be considered lost Belle and Sebastian albums as members of the band provide backing to her songs. Campbell released a number of records until 2006, when she collaborated with Mark Lanegan on a number of albums, but more on them later in the month. After the release of he last Campbell/Lanegan collaboration, there was silence for ten years. That does not mean that Campbell wasn’t doing anything. She had moved to American with her husband and had recorded an album but when her label folded, she spent a long time trying to obtain the rights to her own recordings so she could release them herself. Luckily for us, she did this and when ‘There Is No Other’ came out in 2020, there was an option to buy the album with a different, acoustic mix. Any songs where I have used these acoustic versions have been listed as such. Enjoy.
Disc 1
Milkwhite Sheets
Bang Bang
Hold Back A Thousand Years*
Solace Of Pain*
Renew & Restore*
Time Is Just The Same
Evensong*
Weathershow*
Song For Baby
Argomenti
This Land Flows With Milk
Beggar, Wiseman or Thief?
Hori Horo
O Love Is Teasin’
Are You Going To Leave Me?
Monologue For An Old True Love
Loretta Young*
The Breeze Whispered Your Name (Part 2)
There is No Greater Gold*
Let The Good Times Begin*
There Was Magic, Then…*
Rose, I Love You*
Thursday’s Child (Coda)*
This play list could not be reproduced with one or more songs not being available on Spotify.
Disc 2
City Of Angels
Rainbow (Acoustic)
Ant Life (Acoustic)
Just For Today (Acoustic)
The National Bird Of India
Runnin’ Down A Dream
Love For Tomorrow
Johnny Come Home
Falling From Grace*
Pretty Things*
Flood*
Reynardine
Tree Lullaby*
Yearning
Vultures (Acoustic)
See Your Face Again
Loving Hannah
Willow’s Song
Hey World (Acoustic)
Emmanuelle, Skating On Thin Ice*
Enchanted Place*
The Heart of It All (Acoustic)
A Chapter In The Life Mathiew*
*The Gentle Waves
Some of these songs are from the acoustic version her last album. This play list could not be reproduced with one or more songs not being available on Spotify.
The cover is adapted from the EP, ‘Time Is Just the Same’.
Before I start talking about the band in this era, I will point out that a couple of the tracks on this compilation come from the bands tenure on the Jeepster label. I quite liked the tunes and couldn’t find a place for them on the Jeepster compilation, so I thought I would use them here. They don’t sound out of place which is a bonus.
The bands time on Rough Trade started with intent as they had Uber producer Trevor Horn to work on their ‘Dear Catastrophe Waitress’ LP. It not only signalled a period of time on a new label, but a newish sound. The songs were not as twee as they once were as the songs had a bit more production to them. The instrumentation more diverse and they also started to release singles that was already on an album, which was a change from what had gone before. With Trevor Horn on board, the fact that the band became louder and more mainstream should not have been a surprise.
This period also produced the ‘God Help the Girl’ project. This was initially an album of songs sung by women but written by Belle and Sebastian’s main songwriter, Stuart Murdoch. Though not classed as a Belle and Sebastian album, I have included songs from this project here because they fit in with the overall sound. These records also had a number of people from the band playing on them so that is close enough for me. The project would eventually lead to a film of the same name and because there was such a focus on this, there was only one Belle and Sebastian album released between 2007 and 2015.
Disc 1
Fiction
I Didn’t See It Coming
God Help The Girl*
Come On Sister
The Blues Are Still Blue
Last Trip
Funny Little Frog
I’ll Have To Dance With Cassie*
Pretty Eve in The Tub*
Your Cover’s Blown
You Don’t Send Me
Song For Sunshine
Calculating Bimbo
Dress Up In You
If You Could Speak*
The Psychiatrist Is In*
Baby’s Just Waiting*
Stay Loose
Perfection Is A Hipster*
Mornington Crescent
Fiction Reprise
Disc 2
Act Of The Apostle*
I’m In Love With The City*
Susie In The Graveyard
He’s A Loving Kind Of Boy*
Stop, Look & Listen
Blue Eyes Of A Millionaire
If She Wants Me
Suicide Girl
White Collar Boy
Dear Catastrophe Waitress
Come Monday Night*
Little Lou, Ugly Jack, Prophet John
Musician, Please Take Heed*
I Just Want Your Jeans*
Roy Walker
We Are The Sleepyheads
Another Sunny Day
I’m A Cuckoo (Single Version)
I’m Not Living In The Real World
Asleep On A Sunbeam
A Down & Dusky Blonde*
I Took A Long Hard Look
Night Walk
The cover of this compilation is adapted from the album, ‘The Life Pursuit’.
This month, I will be focusing on Belle and Sebastian, as well as the solo career of past member Isobel Campbell. I think the first time I heard of this band was when they won the British Breakthrough act at the Brit Awards in 1999. I did ask myself who they were especially as their victory annoyed Pete Waterman who felt that Steps, a group he produced should have won claiming Belle and Sebastian had rigged the online vote to win. The Brits checked the votes and found nothing wrong, but any band that can annoy Pete Waterman is alright with me. It was not long after this that I read that their first album from three years before was going to be re-released. I was also interested in this release because ‘Tigermilk’ which was the name of the first album had only originally been released in a limited edition of 1000. I went down to my local Our Price (remember them?) and ordered it.
‘Tigermilk’ was a lot more twee than the majority, if not all of the records I owned up to that point but I loved it. It is one of the few albums I can put on and play all the way through without wanting to skip over a single song. From the opening song, ‘The State I Am In’, I was hooked. Considering this album was made as a college project, it is better than a lot of more famous albums that had a lot more money thrown into its production. Just goes to show you that money doesn’t buy you everything. After the first play through, I knew had to find out what other records they had made.
At that point, it included three albums and four EPs which rather quickly made their way into the Squire Archive. The first two albums were both originally released in 1996 and the second was called ‘If You’re Feeling Sinister’. I found this album a bit hard to get into initially but with perseverance, it paid dividends. The band spent 1997 releasing a number of EPs instead of an LP. The first one was ‘Dog On Wheels’, which is essentially the demos that the college heard which lead to the recording of ‘Tigermilk’. Two more EPs followed, each with a number of classy songs but would show the way forward for the group as they contained songs not written by main writer, Stuart Murdoch. This democratic approach would continue into their third record, ‘The Boy With The Arab Strap’.
With all this great music blaring out of my stereo system, I began to look forward to the next album. I did not have to wait long for. “Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant” came out in 2000 and I remember being very disappointed with it but there were still a couple of good tunes on here for me to enjoy. The band ticked over between this and their last album on the Jeepster label by releasing some singles, none of which appeared on any of the LPs. You cannot accuse Belle and Sebastian of not giving their fans value for money. This view all came crashing down with their last album on the Jeepster label which was called ‘Storytelling’. The album was meant to be the soundtrack to a movie of the same name, but only six minutes of music was used. Without looking at it too much, I’m sure I did not use that much more on this compilation either. It was an album of musical cues and most probably a contract filler. The band would sign with the Rough Trade label for their next release.
Even though they could not maintain the quality of the songs (what band can?), there was so much great material during the years they were with the Jeepster label that I could produce a three disc compilation. I love this era of the band and I especially love the music contained on the first two disc. It brings back lots of memories of a time in my life and in their win at the 1999 Brit Awards, showed that manufactured groups did not always get their own way. All of these songs were available on Spotify so the playlists are available to listen to.
Disc 1
The State I Am In
Expectations
She’s Losing it
You’re Just A Baby
Get Me Away From Here, I’m Dying
If You’re Feeling Sinister
I Don’t Love Anyone
Photo Jenny
I Know Where The Summer Goes
Mayfly
I Could Be Dreaming
Lazy Line Painter Jane
My Wandering Days Are Over
Mary Jo
Ease Your Feet In The Sea
Like Dylan In The Movies
Beautiful
The Rollercoaster Ride
Disc 2
It Could Have Been A Brilliant Career
Is It Wicked Not To Care?
Seeing Other People
The Loneliness Of The Middle Distance Runner
The Model
Don’t Leave The Light On Baby
The Boy With The Arab Strap
Chickfactor
I Love My Car
Seymour Stein
Women’s Realm
Waiting For The Moon To Rise
A Summer Wasting
Marx & Engels
The Gate
Take Your Carriage Clock & Shove It
We Rule The School
The Chalet Lines
Judy & The Dream Of Horses
Electronic Renaissance
Songs For Children
Disc 3
I Fought In A War
Black & White Lines
Storytelling
Wandering Alone
La Pastie De La Bourgeoise
Me & The Major
Nothing In The Silence
Big John Shaft
The Wrong Girl
There’s Too Much Love
Put The Book Back On The Shelf
Simple Things
Dirty Dream Number 2
Winter Wooksie
A Century Of Fakers
Nice Day For A Sulk
Family Tree
The Boy Done Wrong Again
The Magic Of A Kind Word
The Fox In The Snow
You Made Me Forget My Dreams
This Is Just A Modern Rock Song
The front cover is the same as the cover to the ‘Dog On Wheels’ EP.
