Pitchfork: Belle and Sebastian Delay U.S. DVD Release Until Winter, Play Shows in Japan

Belle and Sebastian Delay U.S. DVD Release Until Winter, Play Shows in Japan
Sorry, "Poupée De Cire, Poupée De Son" not a duet with Triumph The Insult Comic Dog

[Posted Wednesday, November 19th, 2003 04:15:00 Pitchfork Central Time]

Way back in May-- a simpler, more innocent time, when it seemed like Zwan would last forever and Guided by Voices had released a mere 638 records, Pitchfork reported that Belle and Sebastian were working on a comprehensive DVD laden with promotional videos, short films, interviews, TV spots, live material, and more. We, wide-eyed idealists that we are, believed Matador when they said it would be out in June. Nevertheless, come June, we could be found in record stores with moist eyes and quivering lips, a clutch of bills drifting to the floor from our slackened hands as the kindly record store proprietor shrugged helplessly, palms upturned, and shook his head "sorry friend."

In September, we learned that the DVD, now titled Fans Only, would be released all right, and in October-- but not in the U.S., where label shake-ups had robbed the DVD of distribution and a dollop of footage, since rights issues would only allow material from Belle and Sebastian's time on Jeepster to be included.

Well, we're back with a new round of information on Fans Only, and this time it seems pretty solid. Of course, so does ice, and we all know what happens when you leave that shit laying around for too long. According to Matador Records, they've inked a deal with Jeepster for Matador distribute the DVD stateside in winter of 2003, with an exact release date forthcoming.

As mentioned above, this is no longer a career retrospective, but will only represent the band's time on Jeepster (from If You're Feeling Sinister through the Storytelling soundtrack). The DVD was compiled by the band in cooperation with Glasgow-based filmmaker Blair Young, and features a hot naked woman on the cover (bosoms tastefully concealed by a book, to the eternal frustration of our pubescent readers-- sorry, kids, it's 2-D; you can't see under there no matter how you tilt it).

Note that Fans Only was originally planned as a VHS and DVD release, but will now only be on DVD, presumably to prevent these same randy youngsters from using the pause feature to freeze frames in which you can sort of see Isobel Campbell's ta-tas behind a cello. We obtained the following tracklist from a British distributor, so note that this is for the UK release, which may not be compatible with your tough-ass all-American DVD player. You'll have to wait for Matador to get it all together. Tracklist:

01 Dog On Wheels
02 I Could Be Dreaming
03 A Century of Fakers
04 Like Dylan in the Movies
05 Lazy Line Painter Jane
06 Dirty Dream #2
07 Is it Wicked Not to Care
08 The Boy With the Arab Strap
09 Poupée De Cire Poupée De Son [Serge Gainsbourg]
10 This is Just a Modern Love Song
11 Legal Man
12 The Wrong Girl
13 Wandering Alone
14 Jonathan David
15 I'm Waking Up To Us
16 The State I Am In

Finally, Belle and Sebastian have a few Japanese tour dates scheduled in January, so drop on by if you're in the neighborhood, and in the mood to sit quietly and nod:

01-25 Osaka, Japan - Zepp
01-26 Nagoya, Japan - Diamond Hall
01-28 Tokyo, Japan - Shibuya AX
01-29 Tokyo, Japan - Shibuya Public Hall