(500) Days of Summer - the film and the soundtrack

'Juno' seems to have sparked a trend. Kooky, introspective, happy/sad, indie-wannabe film with teenagers uses oh-so-tasteful indie soundtrack, creating a huge hit and a spike in sales for the associated bands. 'Juno' was the first, there have been lesser others, but '(500) Days of Summer' is the idealogical successor.

I saw the film yesterday and it is good. The story is a well known one. Boy meets girl, boy falls in love, girl doesn't. Well known in life but not, to be fair, in major-release films. There is no happy ending here, the girl, Summer (Zooey Deschanel....Ellen Page presumably, wasn't available) marries someone else and the boy, after something of a nervous breakdown (quits job, turns to archeology), eventually embarks on a new relationship. The film deals with the question of whether there is 'a one' for us all and whether fate plays a hand in us meeting that person. The boy meets his new girlfriend by chance and we are encouraged to think that this girl is his 'one', but many will leave the cinema thinking that this relationship is clearly doomed to failure as he will always love Summer. This stuff happens. So how much of a 'happy ending' it is really depends on your outlook. For me, it was pretty bleak stuff, but a well made, thoughtful film.

It won't be to everyone's taste, it is undoubtably very American and Zooey Deschanel is as kooky as the most kooky thing you could possibly imagine on Planet Kooky. She plays Summer as being very detached and slightly robotic, offering little hint of what is going on in her head, meaning that your sympathies are usually with Tom (played by Joseph-Gordon Levitt). Maybe this is how it was meant to be, it just felt a little odd to have such an undefined lead character.

One aspect of the film is that Tom and Summer have similar taste in music. "Sad English music" apparently, although I saw little evidence of this. The Beatles...sad? The Clash....sad? Does anyone still think of The Smiths as sad (ok they were listening to 'There is a light that never goes out' not 'Frankly Mr Shankly' but still). This is lazy and a bit cliched. The selection of songs used in the film is an exercise in making a mix tape of tasteful indie. It is more notable to look at what was missed off. I was surprised there was no Sufjan, Belle & Sebastian were mentioned but not used ('Another Sunny Day' would have fitted in well) and I was surprised not to hear 'Fade Into You' by Mazzy Star at some point).

This is all well and good but there will be none of this type of songs left to use soon. Its a positive thing if it encourages people to check out The Pixies or Regina Spektor for the first time though.

Oh and She and Him's version of 'Please Let Me Get What I Want' just reinforces what I have always thought...there is no point in covering The Smiths. You can't out-Morrissey Morrissey and a straight cover just sounds...boring.

Go and see the film though...

God Help The Girl 'God Help The Girl'

So I obtained a promo of God Help The Girl, the new project from Belle & Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch. It is a story set to music, with a film to follow, sung by Stuart and several guest vocalists. Murdoch has been working on this for some time, as evidenced by the fact that two of the songs here originally appeared on Belle & Sebastian's excellent 'The Life Pursuit' sung by Murdoch, although they were penned with this project and another singer in mind.

The trouble with concept pieces like this is that it can be difficult to devote attention equally to enjoying the music and following the story. This was a slight problem on the Decemberists' superb 'The Hazards of Love' and is more of an issue here, largely because the three female vocalists have relatively similar voices. The story centres around the main character, Eve, who is voiced by Catherine Ireton, sings "there is no way I'm looking for a boyfriend" and then proceeds to fall in and out of love as the record progresses.

Musically, the sound is lush. Lots of piano and lots and lots of strings, it was recorded with a 45 piece orchestra. All sounds fantasic, yet somehow I found it deeply....annoying and at times it reminded me of an episode of 'How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria?'. Much of it is fine, 'Pretty Eve In The Tub', sung by Murdoch over a plink-plonk piano is funny, sinister and then beautiful, 'Come Monday Night' is a torch song for those who feel overworked, underpaid and overstressed and is sung with much warmth by Ireton and 'I'll Have To Dance With Cassie' (which should really be the finale) is a joyous 'let's do the show right here' stomp.

But, what could be a great EP is fleshed out into an inconsistent and repetitive LP. There is a truly dismal karaoke re-working of B&S's 'Funny Little Frog, inconsequential instrumentals and fluff like 'I Just Want His Jeans'. One of the record's strongest aspects, the blend of Murdoch's and Ireton's voices, is underused with show-tune 'Hiding Neath My Umbrella' being the only real duet.

Its a shame, because this is a great concept, on paper it sounds great but on record doesn't quite cut it. The film on the other hand, may well be brilliant.

6.0

['God Help The Girl' is out in June on Rough Trade in UK and Matador in US. There is a pre-order deal with bonus tracks etc. check out www.godhelpthegirl.com ]

God Help The Girl / Twitter

I previously reported that a new Belle & Sebastian record was due this year, a concept album about a girl who falls in love with a swimming pool attendant.

Turns out I wasn't quite right. The record is a "story set to music" and it is created by Stuart Murdoch, as a solo project of sorts, albeit one with several guest vocalists. It is called 'God Help The Girl' and is out on Rough Trade in June.

You can hear a track from it, called 'Come Monday Night', at http://www.godhelpthegirl.com/

Its rather lovely and a nice taster for the LP.

In other news, TracksandGigs is now on Twitter, username: tinderplank. I may post first impressions of albums and gigs etc there, so should you be so inclined you could check that out.

A review of the new Bill Callahan album should appear here in the next couple of days.

4AD/ The Red Hot Organisation 'Dark Was The Night'

I remember buying 'No Alternative', a similar alt-charity record for the Red Hot foundation, on its release in 1993 and it was this album that led me to discover Pavement, so it will always hold a fond place in my memory. Sixteen years later it is interesting to see how different an 'alternative' compilation sounds. Back in '93 grunge was in vogue and most of the songs on 'No Alternative' were loud and guitar heavy. The most obvious difference between the two albums is that on 'Dark Was The Night' you probably hear twice as many acoustic guitars as you do electric, reflecting the current trend for alt.folk or whatever it is called these days.

4AD have certainly pulled out all the stops for this compilation, curated by The National. Containing 30 tracks and featuring some of the biggest names in US indie, this undoubtably serves as a excellent document of the times. The problem is, and it is a problem on all compilations of this type is that there is a reason that artists have left these songs off their own albums, or deamed them expendable enough to not keep them for insertion on a future album....they are often not that good.

This holds true for the contributions from Bon Iver (dull enough to be on 'Blood Bank'), Arcade Fire (ok, but nothing thrilling), Iron and Wine (very slight), Beirut (could have been a b side) and The Decemberists. Elsewhere, The National offer a decent new song about a girl lost in New York who is "praying for Pavement to get back together"), Spoon provide some welcome humour and a jaunty melody and My Morning Jacket contribute a light, charming waltz.

The most successful contributions are from artists who do something a little different. Belle & Sebastian's Stuart Murdoch reworks an old Scottish folk song into a pretty and touching song with a lyri he wrote to sing at his Church. It is lovely and the best thing here by some distance. Conor Oberst re-records 'Lua', his lonely tale of drug-addicted lovers, with Gillian Welch. As a duet it works perfectly, sounding fragile, broken and tired. Finally Blonde Redhead join with The Devastations on the hushed Bjork-esque 'When The Road Runs Out'.

The compilation would probably have been better had some of the less essential stuff been ommitted and the running order been cut from the pretty exhausting 30 tracks. There is something for pretty much everybody here though and it is such a worthy cause that if you are only interested in a couple of the songs, it is still well worth buying. Those artists who have made the effort to have provided something interesting rather than just providing something, should be applauded most loudly.

['Dark Was The Night' is out now on cd from 4AD]

Belle & Sebastian 'Life In Belfast 2001'

See last month's review of the 'BBC Sessions' cd. The 2cd has now arrived containing the live recording from Belfast in 2001...

..and what a good snapshot it is of how a Belle & Sebastian gig was in 2001. Before they decided to become more 'professional' and take playing live more seriously their gigs were often ramshackle and erratic. I remember seeing them play in London around the same time as this recording and they disappeared mid-set for what seemed like an age, while we were 'entertained' by a local steel-drum group that Stuart Murdoch was fond of. From many bands this would come over as arrogant, but from B&S it was just misguided.

This recording is similarly unfocused. A member of the audience joins the band to sing 'Waiting For The Man' and while the selection process and song choosing is edited down here, I can imagine that on the night it took some time. Isobel Campbell sounds completely dis-interested and her vocals are at times, almost inaudible. But still there are some triumphs here: 'The Model' and 'The Wrong Girl' remind you that 'Fold Your Hands Child..' was a decent album in places and 'The Boy With The Arab Strap' is always magical to hear.

This is a pretty good representation of how B&S were at the time and while it is fun and sometimes heartwarming, it also demonstrates why things had to change. Its well worth buying the 2CD to reminisce though.

Belle & Sebastian 'BBC Sessions'

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]

Belle and Sebastian- BBC Sessions

Just a quick update with the news that Belle & Sebastian, still to release a follow up to 2006's brilliant 'The Life Pursuit', issue a 2cd BBC Sessions/ live recording in November. The cd includes 2001's Peel session which featured the band's last recordings with Isobel Campbell. Track listing?

CD1 - Radio Sessions:
1. The State I Am In
2. Like Dylan In The Movies
3. Judy And The Dream Of Horses
4. The Stars Of Track And Field
5. I Could Be Dreaming
6. Seymour Stein
7. Lazy Line Painter Jane
8. Sleep The Clock Around
9. Slow Graffiti
10. Wrong Love
11. Shoot The Sexual Athlete - Previously Unreleased
12. The Magic Of A Kind Word - Previously Unreleased
13. Nothing In The Silence - Previously Unreleased
14. (My Girl's Got) Miraculous Technique - Previously Unreleased

CD 2 – Live In Belfast:
1. Here Comes The Sun
2. There's Too Much Love
3. The Magic Of A Kind Word
4. Me And The Major
5. Wandering Alone
6. The Model
7. I'm Waiting For The Man
8. The Boy With The Arab Strap
9. The Wrong Girl
10. Dirty Dream # 2
11. The Boys Are Back In Town
12. Legal Man

Thats all for now. Check back tomorrow for a review of Tindersticks in Brighton.