aaamusic | On 18, Mar 2012

Chapter no.27 for the acclaimed compilation, successor of Another Late Night, and episode no.2 for Scottish indie legend Belle & Sebastian. Two years after last albums Write About Love, Late Night Tales Vol.2 explores the inspirations of the Glaswegian band, from punk to bossanova.

Ironically, the compilation starts and ends with Broadcast, a band from Birmingham that owes much to B&S in terms of style and the angelic pitch of Isobel Campbell that made the British ensemble famous in the alternative world, before her departure in 2002.

It includes forgotten jewels such as Watch The Flowers Grow, a 1967 hit written by L. Russell Brown and popularised by Frankie Valli’s The Four Seasons, and Joe Pass’ guitar of A Time For Us.

The exploration touches different artistic traditions, from the Ethio-Jazz of Mulatu Astatke to the soft notes of escape in Milton Nascimento & Lô Borges’ Todo Que La Voce Podia Ser, through the falsetto of Girondeuxe singer Marie La Foret and the psychedelic years of Donnie Dobson, just to paraphrase Serge Gainsbourg.

After the lounge getaways to Dorothy Ashby and McDonald & Giles’ world there is even the time to celebrate the Peckham’s electronics of young star Gold Panda in one of his doubtless best tracks Quitters Raga.

Whatever your opinion about this kind of compilations, which often still immaculate crowd dusty shelves in hipsters’ bedrooms, Belle & Sebastian’s Late Night Tales Vol.2 stands out for originality and beauty.

Lorenzo Coretti