Belle and Sebastian

Belle and Sebastian are a Scottish indie pop band formed in Glasgow in January 1996. Led by Stuart Murdoch, the band has released 9 albums to date. Though often praised by critics, Belle and Sebastian has enjoyed only limited commercial success.

After releasing a number of albums and EPs on Jeepster Records, they are now signed to Rough Trade Records in the United Kingdom and Matador Records in the United States.

History

Formation and early years (1996–1998)

Belle and Sebastian were formed in Glasgow, Scotland in 1996 by Stuart Murdoch and Stuart David. Together, with Stow College music professor Alan Rankine, they recorded some demos; these demos were picked up by the college's Music Business course that produces and releases one single each year on the college's label, Electric Honey. As the band had a number of songs already and the label was extremely impressed with the demos, Belle and Sebastian were allowed to record a full-length album, which was titled Tigermilk. Murdoch once described the band as a "product of botched capitalism". The band took their name from the television adaptation of the French novel Belle et Sébastien.

Belle and Sebastian (film)

Belle and Sebastian (French: Belle et Sébastien) is a 2013 French adventure film directed by Nicolas Vanier. It was based on the novel Belle et Sébastien by Cécile Aubry. A sequel to the film, Belle & Sebastian: The Adventure Continues, was released on 9 December 2015.

Plot

In the French Alps, during the year 1943, Sébastien is a seven year old orphan boy living with César, an adoptive "grandfather" and his daughter, Angélina. The unusual little family lives in the small village of Saint-Martin, whose inhabitants, despite the German occupation, secretly organize the passage of Jewish exiles into Switzerland. The village is also plagued by a mysterious "Beast" who preys on the flocks of the shepherds and the inhabitants, including César's animals. Sébastien is a very lonely child who is suffering from the absence of his mother. He believes that she migrated "to America, just over the mountains", and spends all his days in the mountains. One day, on the way home, he meets a huge dog, wild and completely discredited: it is the so-called "Beast". Sébastien is not slow to make friends with the animal, a female sheepdog, and names her "Belle" because he is struck by her beauty after she is cleaned up from the mud that she was coated with. Sébastien decides to keep his friendship with Belle secret to protect her.