Belle & Sebastian
Storytelling
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Belle & Sebastian
Storytelling
Matador, 2002
RiYL: The Velvet Underground, Felt, The Magnetic Fields |
This collaboration finally came to fruition when the band was asked by the director personally to write a score for his film "Storytelling." Sadly, Solondz deemed much of the music to be inappropriate for the film, so only select bits actually made the final cut. This album fills in the gaps, though, revealing fully what the band intended for inclusion. It ends up a rather haphazard collection of dialogue snippets, instrumental vignettes, and the occasional proper Belle song.
The album features seven instrumental tracks, most of which become redundant quickly. They could have succeeded within the context of the film, but here they're sometimes just plain boring. Opener "Fiction" shimmers, while strangely enough bearing a resemblance to Big Star's "Take Care," with its lush string arrangements, acoustic guitar and piano. The melancholy "Fuck This Shit," the opening track on much of the band's recent U.S. tour, stands out with its addition of doleful harmonica prominently in the mix. The rest are largely unmemorable reprises of the aforementioned "Fiction" formula, bleeding together as a haze of piano and strings.
The songs featuring vocals are scarce, but manage to redeem the album. "Wandering Alone" is a Spanish-tinged number with sprightly handclaps and a spirited Stevie Jackson vocal delivery (perhaps his best contribution to the band's oeuvre yet). The track exhibits a noticeable maturity in songwriting, light years better than The Boy With The Arab Strap's "Chickfactor". "I Don't Want To Play Football" is a wistful, Stuart Murdoch-sung piano vignette, but with a running time of less than a minute, the tune never really develops. "Scooby Driver," one of the few tracks to actually appear in the film, is a propulsive pop song reminiscent of "Legal Man," but it suffers for its brevity, running for just over a minute.
The high points of the record are the title track and the closing "Big John Shaft." The latter cut is purportedly an ode to the actor who played the English professor in the first half of the film, and features an astute analysis of typecasting, as Murdoch laments, "I won't play another heavyweight / I won't play another Big John Shaft." "Storytelling," which ran in the closing credits of the film, is a classic Belle And Sebastian tune -- the only one of its ilk on the entire album. Sung by Isobel Campbell (apparently her final vocal turn, as she's since left the band), this tribute to the director Solondz recalls "The Model" from Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like A Peasant with its lithe melody and pretty harmonies. The song poignantly reiterates the film's theme of the line straddled by a writer between exploitative and expository depictions of characters (you're just a story teller / you're not trying to escape responsibility).
An interesting addition to the band's discography, Storytelling provides a sometimes compelling, but often rather perplexing amalgamation of dialogue, proper songs, and ambient instrumental interludes. Most successful when sticking to their standard pop song format, the group nonetheless explores new stylistic avenues on the record, and if you're already a fan, Storytelling will make for a worthwhile listen.
JOHN EVERHART |