Crackle and Pop 6: Strawberry Switchblade

This is one of thebaywindowgirls favourite bits of 12" vinyl. Its pop and its great, and surely you knew that?
All you would want to know about the band and more can be found at the excellent Strawberry Switchblade.net

Possibly one of the best resources on a single band I've come across, go spend some time there.
Also very good is the Deep Water fan site.

'Since Yesterday' was a slice of Pop confection custom baked for the most demanding of bitter-sweet teeth. Everything was in its place; it soared and swooned in just the right amounts, and fittingly it made Strawberry Switchblade stars in the public domain. It catapulted them from sharing photocopied pages with the Pastels and the Membranes to sharing the glossy colour pages of Smash Hits with Duran Duran and Boy George, and it sat them in peculiar juxtaposition with Mike Reid on Saturday morning TV.'
(From 'Strawberry Switchblade: A Personal History by Alistair Fitchett)

Since Yesterday (mp3 vinyl 12")
By the Sea (mp3 from Strawberry Switchblade.net)

These were the original 7" A and B sides, but the 12" had the following as an extra track, a dreamy cover of the Velvet Underground classic.
Sunday Morning (mp3 from Strawberry Switchblade.net)

Belle and Sebastian - Another Sunny Day

The new Belle and Sebastian CD "The Life Pursuit" is released in the new year,(Feb 7, 2006) but has already "leaked" onto the internet. Its not as heavily produced as the last Trevor Horn production, thank god!. I still feel that "Tigermilk" and "If your feeling sinister" were the bands best moments. Something more than a bass player was lost with the departure of Stuart David...
Yes they can all play their instruments now, but that was, to me, never the point of B & S.

The new CD has a interesting blend of influences, T-Rex , The Bay City Rollers, glam rock, and I swore "We are the sleepyheads" is based on a Haircut 100 track! Which is ok, mostly, but the better songs hark back to the fey innocence of the early years. Matador Records have made one track available from their website and "Funny Little Frog" will be the first single released prior to the album.

Another Sunny Day (mp3)

The live performance of the "If Your Feeling Sinister" CD is now also available via iTunes only, with proceeds going towards the Asian Quake appeal.