Good music doesn’t always come to you. Sometimes you have to find it yourself, without radio, MTV, major record chains and magazines. But somehow, in Manhattan, quality in pop and rock usually doesn’t go unheralded. Concerts by two new, promising … [cont…]

Going to the chapel and we’re gonna get… shafted. Belle And Sebastian are often mentioned in the same sentence as Tindersticks, so I’m keen to see them play in the house of God. This’ll be OK, I figure. The adjective … [cont…]

Friends, we are in the presence of a phenomenom. Eight people are ranged across the stage, mostly looking superbly unlike pop stars, spending a long, long time retuning, swapping instruments and grinning coyly at one another. The vagaries of fashion, … [cont…]

The septet of Belle and Sebastian perform fragile songs about the shy and the heartbroken, led by Stuart Murdoch’s waiving voice, which is like Nick Drake’s angel sigh but eschews suicidal poetry in favour of a mixture of wit and … [cont…]

You’ll either love them or hate them – if indeed you’ve heard of them. A cliche, but never truer than in the case of B&S. Though the oft-fey, folkish charms send many scurrying for the sick bucket, this eight strong … [cont…]