Push Barman To Open Old Wounds (Deluxe Edition)

ojo - 4 stars out of 5 - "Debut single 'Dog On Wheels' is just beautiful, a softly-crooned, knock-kneed lament..." Uncut - 4 stars out of 5 - "[T]hey were composing the real bittersweet symphonies of the day....One of the strongest pop runs of the last 10 years." Spin - "The first disc folds the three from the LAZY LINE PAINTER JANE box into the band's finest single CD..." Magnet - "These are the quiet, beautiful songs that made Belle & Sebastian seem so monumental..." Spin (p.107) - "The first disc folds the three from the LAZY LINE PAINTER JANE box into the band's finest single CD..." Mojo (p.120) - 4 stars out of 5 - "Debut single 'Dog On Wheels' is just beautiful, a softly-crooned, knock-kneed lament..." Uncut (p.130) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[T]hey were composing the real bittersweet symphonies of the day....One of the strongest pop runs of the last 10 years." Magnet (p.88) - "These are the quiet, beautiful songs that made Belle & Sebastian seem so monumental..."

Push Barman To Open Old Wounds' is a compilation of Scottish alt-popsters Belle And Sebastian's seven EP's that they made whilst at Jeepster Records. With their own individual take on the music of The Smiths and The Go-Betweens, Belle And Sebastian have garnered an impressively large and very committed fanbase, and this compilation will appeal to both old and new fans alike. Includes the singles 'Legal Man' and 'I'm Waking Up To Us'.|

Belle & Sebastian never felt tied down to the album as the ultimate expression of a bands worth. Put simply, they didnt feel the need to hold back their best songs for albums; the fourth song on a four-song EP was just as likely to be among their finest as any other. For proof check out Push Barman to Open Old Wounds, a handy compilation of the groups EPs recorded between 1997 and 2001 for Jeepster and Matador. Beginning with Dog on Wheels all the way through, the band used their EPs as means of exploring new sounds and angles (check the groovy 60s spy song Legal Man, the epic-in-length-and-scope This Is Just a Modern Love Song, the bubbly sunshine pop of I Love My Car, or the silly instrumental Judy Is a Dick Slap) as well as an outlet for great songs that wouldnt fit on albums, like Slow Graffiti, A Century of Fakers, and Lazy Line Painter Jane. Some of the tracks here would be pillars on a B&S greatest-hits compilation too: fantastic songs like Dog on Wheels, The State I Am In, Im Waking Up to Us, and Put the Book Back on the Shelf. Push Barman to Open Old Wounds is essential listening, the third disc you should get by the band behind If Youre Feeling Sinister and Dear Catastrophe Waitress. Even if you already have all the EPs, youll want to get this disc. It is reasonably priced, housed in the usual attractive package, and hearing all the songs back to back reinforces what an amazing group Belle & Sebastian is, was, and will always be. ~ Tim Sendra