Something happened around 2001 that split off a large portion of Scottish band Belle and Sebastian's estimable fan base, which is a shame, because they've done great work since. A lot of fans had latched on to the band's infectious, bookish pop soon after its 1996 debut, Tigermilk, and five years on had simply grown Read More
There was the black Preen bandage dress, which barely reached the top of her thighs; the Sonia Rykiel sequin number with the vague image of a face patterned into the glitter; and Read More
A musician who arranges the tracks of an album as if it were destined primarily for a double-faced plate of vinyl—complete with a 24-minute, side-two opus called “River of Transfiguration”—is obviously not embracing the earbud-wearing, shuffle-happy present. The Sun Awakens (Drag City), the latest offering from guitarist Ben Chasny, who goes by the Buddhist-inspired moniker Read More
Once, after listening to a plaintive cello line on one of Belle and Sebastian’s early albums, a friend imagined bandleader Stuart Murdoch hovering over the other players as they rehearsed, slapping each of them gently with a soft white glove, chastising them to “make it prettier! Make it prettier!” An unfair caricature, perhaps, but not Read More
