Admittedly A Cocteau Fan

[mmmender]

Found this on the official Belle & Sebastian website (http://www.belleandsebastian.com/qa.php?about=other%20bands%20and%20influences&page=26) - thought I'd share it here............

From: anon
Q.Where you ever a fan of the Cocteau Twins or Saint Etienne??

A. Right up till today I am the biggest fan of the Cocteau Twins. "Victorialand" is one of my favourite records. "Lorelei" is the closest I came to sex when I was a student! They go up in my estimation everyday. I sent her some Edinburgh rock a few years ago, but never heard back. I wonder if she got it? I used to like Saint Etienne and I went to see them recently but was a little bored.
-Stuart

[ottonomy]

I read a scathing review once of Belle and Sebastian's Dear Catastrophe Waitress album. The writer used Cocteau Twins as his analogy, saying that everything since Blue Bell Knoll was over produced swill, and that B & S had gone down the same road, their revered first three albums a distant memory. I couldn't have disagreed more, on either count. I understand the arguments of the purists, who were there from the start, not liking what their beautiful bands have grown up to be. But where Cocteau Twins may have seemed to edge closer to commercial in their later releases, I saw it as a sign of their craftsmanship. When you hone something for sixteen years, it's going to get sharp.