There's a new Belle and Sebastian single available on iTunes - Funny Little Frog, it's called, and it's wonderful. Of course. I am not quite at the stage of saying that I don't trust people who don't love Belle and Sebastian; but I'd find it impossible to fall in love with them. What's the appeal I wonder?
All pop music's crap innit, so why does some of it gel so neatly with your life philosophy; how do some groups work out how to merge tunes with harmony with instrumentation to the extent that you can't imagine living without them? It's taken me decades of course to admit I'm like this, I had to climb over the wall of the western canon before I could admit to liking murder mysteries for god's sake and music weren't no different. Now my heart pierces every time I hear the trumpeter joining in a Belle and Sebastian song. And their lyrical work in Tigermilk is shockingly good: particularly if you're a gay boy from the west of Scotland, particularly if the part of the west of Scotland you come from is called Ardrossan and has a hill in it called "Castle Hill" which the band quite clearly refer to in one of the Tigermilk tracks. (They're not gay by the way, it's something more subtle than that sort of direct link).
[My favourite line at the moment in pop music is courtesy of Franz Ferdinand -- in that very good song "Walk Away" they sing that when the ex lover walks away "Radio 4 is static" - a line sung in such anger! It took my breath away. That's me that is.]
There's something to do with nostalgia I think. I also love "Michael Caine" by Madness, despite liking neither Madness nor Mr Caine's ouevre (particularly). But its minor key melody transports me back to innocent Graeme; Graeme who was still interested in learning about the world, Graeme whose hopes hadn't been crushed or optimism turned into dirty, necrophising sceptic cynicism. And there is a beauty in the timing of the "My name, is Michael Caine" mixed in with the tune that's just joy.
Belle and Sebastian though. Born to me in the misery of a broken heart - gifted to me by a colleague called Andrew - gosh how they speak to me. "I was feeling fine; I was happy for a day in 1975. I was troubled by a dream that stayed with me all day in 1979. My brother had confessed he was gay; it took the heat off me for a while. He stood up with a sailor friend, and made it known upon my sister's wedding day". Bliss.
Bliss of course that speaks to me. And I think that's the existential point (fnarr - no really). We're all alone and we'll all die alone - pretty shit universe at times innit? But if you come across a pop band that seem to be addressing your own personal drivers and demons, well then - you're no longer quite so alone. I'm not saying it's as good as falling in love (which clearly addresses the same existential angst) but it's along the same lines. And thanks to Belle and Sebastian, my universe is just a little more crowded with like-minded souls.
Here's my current embarrassing iMix: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPublishedPlaylist?id=656281
(Go on - buy "The Stars of Track and Field" - 79pence, and you will know everything you ever need to know about me. "You liberated a boy I never rated, now he's throwing discus for Liverpool and Widnes").
