Belle and Sebastian - The BBC Sessions (2009)

By Nat Salvo

The Brits love a live song because almost every artist or group that is worth listening to has their own BBC Sessions compilation, not to mention the others who also have live albums and concert videos or DVDs.

Thus, it only makes sense that the latest offering is by one of Scotland's biggest (if not, best) bands in Belle & Sebastian.

Although it is clearly not a new studio album (and no doubt, many fans are dying to hear new material and a follow up to "The Life Pursuit") listening to alternate versions (even when occasionally there are only slight differences) does sate the appetite for fans of the group's trademark "wistful with a dash of quirk" pop.

On BBC Sessions, songwriter Stuart Murdoch, is the "charming man" leading his charges through fourteen songs recorded during the period 1996 to 2001.

Songs from albums, "Tigermilk" and "If You're Feeling Sinister" plus various EPs are given an airing before culminating in a golden tetraptych of material.

These are: Shoot The Sexual Athlete, The Magic Of A Kind Word, Nothing In The Silence and (My Girl’s Got) Miraculous Technique, and are otherwise known as four rarities recorded on the late DJ John Peel’s show.

Offered here for the first time, these are the last recordings to feature Isobel Campbell (cello/vocals) and the former track of the mix sounds like a love note between Murdoch and his heroes - Robert Forster and the departed Grant McLennan from The Go Betweens.

This collection is like a perfect remedy for a hole in a trainspotter's collection, but then again such staunch devotees would generally have many of these songs already bootlegged.

However, this is not to discount the inclusion of hits like Lazy The Painter Jane here abbreviated to Lazy Jane and one, Slow Graffiti.

Plus, there is no denying that the fancy guitars that punctuate the opening of Like Dylan In The Movies are guaranteed to make you feel very happy.

Indeed.

Messer Murdoch has a voice that is as pretty as Ray Davies or John Lennon and definitely shares the aforementioned legends' ability to convey a damn fine story.

But the essence of the band is in the even sweeter music that accompanies these vocals and which seem to be made up of one part The Shins, The Kinks, The Go-Betweens, and let us not forget The Smiths.

In all, The BBC Sessions does a great service to this group by cementing just how good they are at offering pleasant and engaging songs that sound as intricate as an ornate vase.

And keeping with this analogy, I am reminded of a quote by Tim Finn who likened the three and a half minute pop song to a Chinese vase where one can write literally pen hundreds over a period of time, yet make them all subtly different like handcrafted pieces.

And so here are fourteen of these very treasures, things to be admired and remarked upon for already standing the test of (albeit a short) time.

Moreover, unlike cloistered artefacts kept "preserved" these are here for the pickings and for the simple delight of enjoying.

Excellent.

RATING: 4 out of 5

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