Beautiful Belle

(Morning Star, 29 November 2008)

ALBUM: Belle and Sebastian - The BBC Sessions
(Jeepster)

THERE are those who fall upon every Belle and Sebastian record and hold it to their hearts as a thing of beauty.

These people will worship The BBC Sessions, which is packed full of the sort of magic that these Scottish indie swoonsters are known for from BBC radio sessions between 1996 and 2001.

From the alternative Lazy Line Painter Jane to four previously unreleased tracks featuring the since-departed Isobel Campbell, there's plenty to recommend this to completists.

As for those who have never seen the light, play The BBC Sessions softly and, all at once, you will know beauty. And if you don't, you don't deserve to.