If you think of Belle & Sebastian's career thus far as having two pretty distinct phases, one with Isobel Campbell in the band and one without, this BBC sessions compilation is a pretty comprehensive record of phase one and almost works as a 'best of' from that era.
Since 200, B&S have discovered that playing live is fun after all and that making cohesive albums rather than a disparate collections of songs is a good thing. Their last two albums have probably been their best but some of the finest songs came from the first era. This collection of sessions for Lamacq, Radcliffe and Peel gathers most of these up.
The arrangements are sparse and intimate, meaning that a song like 'The State That I'm In' works perfectly, as gentle and touching as it is on record. Elsewhere, Stevie Jackson's 'Seymour Stein' probably wouldn't have got him anywhere on the X Factor but is marvellous; funny, heartfelt and somehow, righteous.
The most interesting session though, is the Peel recording from 2001 (which I vividly remember listening to on my old radio at my Mum and Dad's). The last set of recordings to feature Isobel Campbell, none of these songs made it onto 'Dear Catastrophe Waitress' so are previously unreleased. It is the sound of a band at a crossroads. Stuart Murdoch's tribute to The Go Betweens, 'Shoot The Sexual Athlete', is fun, while Isobel Campbell's 'The Magic of a Kind Word' is perfect pop with a similar sound to their 'Legal Man' single. 'Miraculous Techinique' is the highlight though with Murdoch's shout out to 'JP at Maida Vale' particularly poignant. Hard to believe this was only seven years ago.
Since then B&S have undoubtably become a better band with professional gigs and consistently good records. This is a nice reminder of the old, ramshackle, innocent days. Plenty to love here.
8.6
[This was reviewed from a promo. 'BBC Sessions' is out on cd and 2cd (containing a live recording from Belfast) on November 17]
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