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The Boy with the Arab Strap

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The Boy with the Arab Strap is the third album from the Scottish band Belle & Sebastian. As with the rest of the band's work, the album is labelled as twee pop, a term the band and many fans dislike. The instrumental of the title track 'The Boy with the Arab Strap' was previously the theme tune for the television show Teachers. Part of the song 'Seymour Stein' is briefly featured in the 2000 film High Fidelity. The inspiration for the album's name came from the band Arab Strap, who are also from Scotland and briefly toured with Belle & Sebastian. An Arab strap is a sexual device for retaining an erection.

Arab Strap were reportedly less than pleased with their inclusion in the title of the album. When questioned about it, Arab Strap's leader/singer, Aiden, said "They have a sense of humor." Malcolm, the band's instrumentalist, added, "Because Arab Strap is quite an interesting name. The words go well together. That's why we chose it as a band name. We're friends with them, but there's a limit to putting someone else's name on an album. They’re taking away something from us." He also mentioned that the album had been confused as a collaboration between the bands. [1]

This is the first Belle & Sebastian album on which a lead vocal is sung by someone other than Stuart Murdoch. Stevie Jackson sings lead on both "Seymour Stein" and "Chickfactor," and Isobel Campbell sings lead on "Is It Wicked Not To Care?".

Track listing

  1. "It Could Have Been a Brilliant Career" – 2:23
  2. "Sleep the Clock Around" – 4:57
  3. "Is It Wicked Not to Care?" – 3:22
  4. "Ease Your Feet in the Sea" – 3:35
  5. "A Summer Wasting" – 2:06
  6. "Seymour Stein" – 4:42
  7. "A Space Boy Dream" – 3:01
  8. "Dirty Dream Number Two" – 4:14
  9. "The Boy with the Arab Strap" – 5:14
  10. "Chickfactor" – 3:31
  11. "Simple Things" – 1:46
  12. "The Rollercoaster Ride" – 6:36

Personnel

  • Stuart Murdoch - Vocals, Guitar
  • Stuart David - Bass
  • Isobel Campbell - Cello, Vocals
  • Chris Geddes - Keyboards, piano
  • Richard Colburn - Drums
  • Stevie Jackson - Guitar, Vocals
  • Sarah Martin - Violins
  • Mick Cooke - Trumpet

References

  1. ^ Laurence, Alexander (2001-05). "An interview with Arab Strap" (HTML). Free Williamsburg. Retrieved 2006-07-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameters: |accessyear=, |accessmonthday=, and |coauthors= (help); More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)CS1 maint: date and year (link)
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