Belle And Sebastian- If You’re Feeling Sinister (1996)
One of the 90’s original indie sensations, Belle and Sebastian have a great influence on many of todays indie pop bands. This album from the Scottish septet is considered one of their best and is my personal favorite.
Starting off with “The Stars of Track and Field”, the album has terrific melodies that continue through out. Great instrumentation is used, including a great trumpet solo. The tone of the trumpet is so appropriate for the sound as is almost everything else on the record. The textures and sounds the drummer gets still blow me away and I just cannot seem to figure out what he is doing.
Stuart Murdoch’s vocals are very light and bouncy. Sometimes it is hard to understand what he’s saying as he tends not to annunciate his words with his Scottish accent. But his tone and pitch are bar none and even with the lack of understanding it fits the mood perfectly.
One of my other favorite musicians on this record is Chris Geddes. His piano work is sensationally fitting and just creates the perfect atmosphere instead of just muddying up the mix with unnecessary chords.
Basically I feel like I am beating a dead horse when I say that this album is so great with what its trying to accomplish. Whenever I take a listen it just puts me in the perfect little content mood. You can definitely hear how it has influenced such bands as The Shins, Death Cab, The Decemberists, and many more. If you do not own it, I recommend it 1000%.