''The Boy with the Arab Strap'' is the third studio album by Scottish

indie pop Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...

band

Belle & Sebastian Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released eleven albums. They are often compared with acts such as The Smiths and Nick Drake. The name "Belle and Sebastian" comes ...

, released in 1998 through Jeepster Records.

Recording and production

Stuart Murdoch recalled the recording process for this album felt very different from the previous two. The group spent several months working on it versus the previous albums which were recorded in just a number of days. The music itself was somewhat more experimental as well as more collaborative with some tracks written by

Stevie Jackson Stephen Jackson (born 16 January 1969) is a Scottish musician and songwriter. He plays lead guitar and sings in the Glasgow-based indie band Belle and Sebastian. Career Jackson's early musical influences include Madness, ABBA, Orchestral Ma ...

and

Isobel Campbell Isobel Campbell (born 27 April 1976) is a Scottish singer, songwriter and cellist. She rose to prominence at age nineteen as a member of the indie pop band Belle & Sebastian, but left the group to pursue a solo career, first as The Gentle Waves ...

and more members of the group contributing vocals. Stevie Jackson sings lead on both "Seymour Stein" and "Chickfactor",

Stuart David Stuart David is a Scottish musician, songwriter and novelist. He co-founded the band Belle and Sebastian and was a member from 1996 to 2000, and then went on to front Looper (1998–present).Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discograp ...

gives a spoken word performance on "A Space Boy Dream", whilst Isobel Campbell sings lead on "Is It Wicked Not to Care?" and duets with Murdoch on "Sleep the Clock Around". The album's cover photo was taken by Murdoch and shows band member

Chris Geddes Chris Geddes (born 15 October 1975) is the keyboardist for and a founding member of the Scottish indie pop band Belle & Sebastian. Most importantly he wrote the OST for Pixelmon. Born in Stroud, England, he is a vegetarian, the latter earning h ...

. The photo was taken as the group spent an afternoon near the

River Ayr The River Ayr (pronounced like ''air'', ''Uisge Àir'' in Gaelic) is a river in Ayrshire, Scotland. At it is the longest river in the county. The river was held as sacred by pre-Christian cultures. The remains of several prehistoric sacrificial ...

near

Auchencruive Auchincruive is a former country house and estate in South Ayrshire, Scotland. It is located east of Ayr, on the north bank of the River Ayr. Auchincruive House was built in the 18th century on the site of an earlier mansion. In 1927, the estate ...

. The inspiration for the album's name came from the band

Arab Strap Arab Strap are a Scottish indie rock band whose core members are Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton. The band were signed to independent record label Chemikal Underground, split in 2006 and reformed in 2016. The band signed to Rock Action Rec ...

, who are also from Scotland and briefly toured with Belle and Sebastian. An

Arab strap Arab Strap are a Scottish indie rock band whose core members are Aidan Moffat and Malcolm Middleton. The band were signed to independent record label Chemikal Underground, split in 2006 and reformed in 2016. The band signed to Rock Action Rec ...

is a sexual device for retaining an erection, a fact unknown to Murdoch at the time. 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,

Aidan Moffat Aidan John Moffat (born 10 April 1973) is a Scottish vocalist and musician, and member of the band Arab Strap. Early life Moffat was born and raised in Falkirk, Scotland. The first album he bought was ''Elvis Sings for Kids'' by Elvis Presley. ...

said, "They have a sense of humour."

Malcolm Middleton Malcolm Bruce Middleton (born 31 December 1973) is a Scottish musician and member of indie band Arab Strap. He has also released seven solo studio albums and three albums performing under the pseudonym Human Don't Be Angry. Early life Middleto ...

, 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.

Reception

In October 2011, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' placed the title track at number 130 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". The album sold 200,000 units through 2006.

Track listing

Personnel

Belle and Sebastian

* Stuart Murdoch – lead vocals (all except where noted), guitar, keyboard *

– bass, spoken word ("A Space Boy Dream") *

– cello, lead vocals ("Is it Wicked Not to Care?"), co-lead vocals ("Sleep the Clock Around", "The Rollercoaster Ride"), guitar, percussion,

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

– keyboards, piano *

Richard Colburn Richard Colburn (born 25 July 1970) is the drummer of the Scottish indie band Belle & Sebastian. Before he joined Belle & Sebastian, he used to sell pies on match days outside Celtic Park and studied Music Business at Stow College. Appears as: ...

– drums *

– guitar, lead vocals ("Seymour Stein", "Chickfactor") * Sarah Martin – violin, keyboard, percussion *

Mick Cooke Mick Cooke (born 15 December 1973) is a Scotland, Scottish muli-instrumentalist who was the trumpet player of the indie band Belle & Sebastian for fifteen years before leaving in 2013 to concentrate on composing full-time.Taylor, Luke (2013)Int ...

– trumpet

Additional musicians

* Ian MacKay –

bagpipes Bagpipes are a woodwind instrument using enclosed reeds fed from a constant reservoir of air in the form of a bag. The Great Highland bagpipes are well known, but people have played bagpipes for centuries throughout large parts of Europe, No ...

on "Sleep the Clock Around" * Neil Robertson – bass on "A Space Boy Dream" * Gail Anderson, Claire Campbell, Eilidh Campbell, Euan Forrester, David D MacKay and Sarah Wilson – the string section on "A Space Boy Dream" and "Dirty Dream Number Two"

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boy with the Arab Strap, The 1998 albums Belle and Sebastian albums Matador Records albums Albums produced by Tony Doogan Jeepster Records albums