God Help the Girl [PA] (CD - 2009)

Personnel: Perry Mason, Pigott Smith, Tom, Mark Berrow, Pete Hanson, Thomas Bowes, Patrick Kiernan, Boguslaw Kostecki, Rita Manning, Everton Nelson, Johnathan Rees, Jackie Shave, Emlyn Singleton (violin); Charlie Cross, Nick Barr, Rachel Bolt, Peter Lale, Bruce White (viola); Anthony Pleeth, Sara Wilson, Dave Daniels (cello); Nina Robertson (flute, piccolo); Helen Keen (flute); Martin Robertson, Nick Bucknall (clarinet); Jane Marshall (oboe, English horn); David Theodore (oboe); Julie Andrews (bassoon); Jamie Talbot, Philip Todd (alto saxophone); Chris White, Stan Sulzmann (tenor saxophone); Dave Bishop (baritone saxophone); Derek Watkins, Simon Gardner (trumpet, cornet); John Barclay, Stuart Brooks (trumpet); Nigel Black, Richard Watkins (French horn); Mark Nightingale, Richard Edwards, Neil Sidwell (tenor trombone); Adrian Hallowell, Dave Stewart (bass trombone); Owen Slade (tuba); Chris Laurence (bass instrument).

Audio Mixer: Brian McNeill .

Arranger: Mick Cooke.

While touring with Belle & Sebastian, Stuart Murdoch began writing songs for a separate project. The songs revolved around the travails of a girl growing up in Scotland who ends up being hospitalized for what seems like a mental breakdown. He auditioned female vocalists and began putting the music on tape. The album sounds much like a B&S album, and as good as the female singers are, the record works best when Stuart takes the vocals himself, as on "Pretty Eve in the Tub" or "Hiding Neath My Umbrella." minimize