« can't just pick him up in a black and white | Main | claps and jet planes speed by overhead »
November 21, 2005
someone's diamond eyes are tearing up
Belle & Sebastian - (My Girl's Got) Miraculous Technique
This pop jewel is from the same 2001 Peel session that spawned 'Shoot the Sexual Athlete' (a.k.a. Stuart raps about the Go-Betweens), 'The Magic of a Kind Word', and 'Nothing in the Silence', all of which remain unreleased (unfortunately). Also from the era when Isobel Campbell was still rocking the cello and harmonizing with Stuart and Sarah (I will say that I miss Isobel's voice, if not her songs).
Perhaps the most alluring element in this song is the percussion- one of the few times that B&S have utilized an electronic drum track (it sounds like it's a sample that the band recorded prior to the session) and augmented it with Richard's live drumming, this may be the only instance when the band has ever or will ever produce something that could be called a 'hot beat'. But there's no mistaking the sound, it definitely moves in a kind of lite hip-hop way, and it makes 'Miraculous Technique' something very special.
And in a lot of ways, I feel like this song is a classic B&S track (up there with 'The State I Am In', 'Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying', 'Your Cover's Blown', etc.): it's got all of Murdoch's usual lyrical tics (small town pleasures- check; seasonal references- check; sexual innuendoes of varying obliqueness- check), and the melody rivals any one of the effortlessly catchy Tigermilk/Sinister masterpieces. Weird thing about the lyrics- I was reminded of this song when listening to the new Liars single ('It Fit When I Was A Kid'), which features the words "used a diamond on the glass/slithered slowly through the dark/made my way up all your stairs", where 'Miraculous Technique' has "if I could be a song/I would be something that would snake into your room/and be with you the whole night long". Not sure which one sounds more sinister (extracontextually).
There was some talk, a little while ago, of B&S releasing a disc of all their Peel sessions (along with the famous Black Sessions that has the original, superior version of 'Loneliness of a Middle Distance Runner' and Isobel's cover of 'Poupee de Cire, Poupee de Son'), hopefully that's something that comes to fruition in the near future.
Posted by Kevin at November 21, 2005 12:32 AM