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’.
*God Help The Girl