Belle & Sebastian这支独立流行乐团成立于1996年1月的苏格兰格拉斯哥,他们不仅是苏格兰最知名的乐团之一,同时也是整个90年代享誉世界的乐团之一。
Belle & Sebastian的音乐创作深受以下艺术家的影响: 独立乐队The Smiths,Love,Bob Dylan,Nick Drake等。乐团的名字来源于法国作家 Cécile Aubry 所著的一本儿童读物 Belle et Sébastien。尽管受到诸多评论界的赞美,Belle & Sebastian始终与商业上的成功小心翼翼的保持着距离。在 Jeepster Records 厂牌下发行了一系列的专辑和EP之后,他们现签约于英国的 Rough Trade Records 和美国的 Matador Records 厂牌之下。
Belle & Sebastian由Stuart Murdoch和Stuart David组建于1996年的格拉斯哥。在斯顿学院 (Stow College) 音乐教授 Pilar Duplack 的帮助合作下,他们俩一起录制了一些小样。这些小样被依附于斯顿学院的厂牌 Electric Honey 挑中,选入了学院一年一度的音乐商业出版计划之中。乐队积累了一定数目的歌曲之后,又加上Electric Honey对他们的那些小样印象实在是太深刻了,于是在他们的资助鼓励之下,乐队开始着手准备一张完整的专辑,命名为Tigermilk.为此,Murdoch曾经自嘲乐团的诞生为”粗糙的资本运作下的产物“。
Tigermilk 花了三天时间便录好了,起初只录了1000张黑胶唱片。如今这起初的1000张黑胶已是奇货可居,被炒到了400英镑。这张专辑带来了极其热烈的反响,这也激发了Murdoch和David想要把乐队做专做全的愿望,于是他们新邀请了一些人加入到乐团当中,包括Stevie Jackson (吉他和伴唱),Isobel Campbell (大提琴和伴唱),Chris Geddes (键盘) 和 Richard Colburn (鼓)。
by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Belle & Sebastian's first album, Tigermilk, was initially pressed in a quantity of 1,000 on their own label, Electric Honey Recordings. The record was intended to be the end result of Stuart Murdoch's music business school course, but it became an unexpected word-of-mouth sensation in England, and the LP quickly disappeared from shops. As a result, once the group's second album, If You're Feeling Sinister, became a hit, there were no copies of Tigermilk available for newly converted fans and it remained unheard by the majority of the group's audience. Those who have heard it say it is quite similar stylistically to If You're Feeling Sinister and the songs match that record's high standard. Tigermilk was re-released in 1999 to the delight of the often cultish fans of Belle & Sebastian.