# Belle & Sebastian **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 26, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belle-sebastian/242003 "2004-04-26T02:37:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belle-sebastian/242003/1 "2004-04-26T02:37:38Z")
I’ve never been much of a fan of the group - but then I heard “Sleep the Clock Around”. As a huge fan of “emo-tronic”, I must say I found this be a kickass song. However, its still the only B&S song I’ve heard in that sort of style. Do they have any more songs in a similar style?? I really hope they do - its such a cool song. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belle-sebastian/242003/2 "2004-04-26T03:32:35Z")
[total hijack] Dammit - I thought you were talking about my favorite show from when I was four when I saw the thread title! Are they, by any chance, named for an animated series out in the early 80s involving a boy (Sebastian) who rode around the French countryside on his big white dog (Belle) looking for his mother? 😃 [/total hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Frostillicus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Frostillicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frostillicus)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belle-sebastian/242003/3 "2004-04-26T03:35:41Z")
The only Belle and Sebastian song with which I am familiar is their version of the Christmas classic “O Come, O Come Emmanuel”. It is breathtakingly beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belle-sebastian/242003/4 "2004-04-26T03:48:09Z")
I haven’t heard “Sleep the clock around,” but I can tell you that there’s nothing “emo” or “tronic” about the group. They make gorgeous, 60’s-esque acoustic “chamber pop,” borrowing from Nick Drake, Burt Bacharach, Donovan, and the Smiths. ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belle-sebastian/242003/5 "2004-04-26T03:53:52Z")
**Freejooky** Right. Its not their style at all. Which is precisely why I’m trying to find OTHER songs like it. ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belle-sebastian/242003/6 "2004-04-26T04:35:28Z")
Oh, I see. Sorry; I thought you were asking if all of their songs were like that. I honestly don’t hear any “tronica” in it, which I assume refers to electronic elements. But if you’re looking for something like that, Stuard David left Belle and Sebastian after “the boy with the arab strap” to form the band Looper, who do a sort of fey, twee electronic pop. They’ve released several albums now, and you might dig it. ---
**Author:** ![Ooner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c67d28/32.png) [@Ooner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ooner)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belle-sebastian/242003/7 "2004-04-26T04:45:31Z")
> [@Avarie537](#): > > [total hijack] > > Dammit - I thought you were talking about my favorite show from when I was four when I saw the thread title! Are they, by any chance, named for an animated series out in the early 80s involving a boy (Sebastian) who rode around the French countryside on his big white dog (Belle) looking for his mother? 😃 > > [/total hijack] That is indeed where the band name is taken from. The only even somewhat elecronic Belle and Sebastian song I know is Electronic Renaissance from the album Tigermilk. The rest of the album isn’t anything like that, however. ---
**Author:** ![TitoBenito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2acd7d/32.png) [@TitoBenito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TitoBenito)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belle-sebastian/242003/8 "2004-04-26T04:52:09Z")
> [@Trigonal Planar](#): > > I’ve never been much of a fan of the group - but then I heard “Sleep the Clock Around”. As a huge fan of “emo-tronic”, I must say I found this be a kickass song. However, its still the only B&S song I’ve heard in that sort of style. Do they have any more songs in a similar style?? I really hope they do - its such a cool song. 🆒 I’m not quite sure what your talking about. All the songs on “Boy with the Arab Strap” all sound pretty much the same to me including “Sleep the Clock Around.” And that whole album pretty much sounds just like “Are you Feeling Sinister” to me as well. That doesn’t mean that both aren’t great albums. ---
**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belle-sebastian/242003/9 "2004-04-26T05:09:10Z")
Arrggh! My seemingly simple question seems to be bringing about a great deal of controversy. Lets try this again. I’ve heard B&S on the radio a few times and found some of their songs interesting, so I went ahead and…“obtained”…some of their stuff. Overall I wasn’t particularly impressed. But then I got to “Sleep the Clock Around” and I loved it. However, it sounds nothing like the other stuff I’ve heard by them - its a distinctly different sound. ERGO, since I enjoyed it so much, I’m curious as to whether or not they have other songs along these lines (since it IS so different from their “normal” stuff). **TitoBenito** So you’re saying if I like the sound of “Sleep” I should look into Boy With the Arab Strap, as the style is similar? As for “Sleep” not being electronic, I disagree completely. Sure, its not techno, but its deffinitely synth-driven pop. ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belle-sebastian/242003/10 "2004-04-26T05:51:03Z")
Yeah, it’s got some neat little electronic noises in the background. But it’s just not all that different from their other stuff. Listen to “Dog on Wheels” or “Photo Jenny” or “Seeing Other People.” ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belle-sebastian/242003/11 "2004-04-26T06:56:22Z")
> [@Avarie537](#): > > [total hijack] > > Dammit - I thought you were talking about my favorite show from when I was four when I saw the thread title! Are they, by any chance, named for an animated series out in the early 80s involving a boy (Sebastian) who rode around the French countryside on his big white dog (Belle) looking for his mother? 😃 > > [/total hijack] There was an animated series? I always assumed they were named after the [live action series](http://www.televisionheaven.co.uk/belle.htm) from the sixties. Now I feel old. ---
**Author:** ![Freejooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ba8739/32.png) [@Freejooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freejooky)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belle-sebastian/242003/12 "2004-04-26T07:41:24Z")
> [@Trigonal Planar](#): > > However, it sounds nothing like the other stuff I’ve heard by them - its a distinctly different sound. You’re obviously confused. The song is actually very, very representative of _most_ of their stuff. Listen to more of their material. “The Boy with the arab strap” is their weakest album by far. I suggest the now-classic “if you’re feeling sinister,” or even “fold your hands, child…” or “tigermilk.” Also, the three EP’s are not to be missed. I really don’t think the song is “synth-driven pop,” though. Sure, it has a minor synth riff in the background, but the meat of the song is the acoustic guitar, electric piano, bass, and drums- all “real” instruments and not “rocktronic” or “techno” in any sense. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2004, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/belle-sebastian/242003/13 "2004-04-26T15:48:49Z")
Belle and Sebastian? Good grief. What’s next – Ariel and Lumiere?