ARAB STRAP
Moffatt and Middleton now (below), and captured on polaroid (bottom left) by Brian Donaldson in 1 996
1996—2006
Mark Robertson asked some of the duo’s friends and affiliates to name their favourite song from Arab Strap catalogue. He received a deluge of replies.- We reproduce abbreviated highlights here, and many more at wWw.list.co.uk
16 THE LIST 30 Nov—14 Dec 2006
Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai ‘Where We’ve Left Our Love’ from 10 Years of Tears
‘As with all great Arab Strap songs it is full of beauty, romance and a sense of longing. For a band that have a reputation for dwelling on the mundane they can be totally transcendental. Also, considering that this song was an out-take from their last studio album they were also quite daft!‘
Annemarie McGregor, cover star of the Girls of Summer EP
‘New Birds’ from Philophobia
‘I would recommend Arab Strap records to anyone. always suffixed with. “it’s not just because I know them", because they had an undeniable talent. Granted I would also be boasting that I regarded my friends
. as the funniest, cleverest and most
honest songsmiths around. It’s difficult and frustrating to see that a lot of their work wasn’t given the recognition and rewards it deserved. My favourite lyrics are from ‘New Birds’ and I remember getting very outraged in London when Aidan altered them in a live performance as I always loved the sentiment in it about fidelity. A few years later he confided to an audience in Australia that in fact he had gone for a fumble with the girl in the story and I think that made me love it even more to know we’re all human. My favourite memory of Arab Strap is of a Radio 1 show where Steve Lamacq did a Mr &
Mrs trivia quiz on the two of them and Aidan revealed on air that Malcolm’s most outrageous and successful chat . up line had been “can I cut your bra off with a knife?”’
Stewart Henderson, of the Strap’s label Chemikal Underground and formerly of The Delgados
‘Don’t Ask Me to Dance’ from The Last Romance
‘lt’s one of their best live songs and it will always remind me of driving them around Scandinavia on their final tour. Aidan always sat up the front of the van and rolled the window down even though he had a jumper and a parka jacket on — it was fucking freezing. . Selfish bastard.’
Johnny Lynch aka The Pictish Trail
‘Love Detective’ from The Red Thread ‘That song in particular, for me. encapsulates everything that is great about them — the lyrics are about Aidan reading through his girlfriend’s sex diary (“I had to stop reading it cause I started to feel sick”), and a rolling rhythm'that makes you dance like a pervert. I like dancing like a pervert.’ Jon, of Jon's indie Disco ‘Screaming in the Trees’ from The Red Thread
‘Played during a warm summer evening in France at the La Route De Rock festival a couple of years ago; it was a perfect Arab Strap moment.
Nojv friend. tour Dill and. utmosnht‘ru
PHOTO: NEALE SMlTi-l
co-ordinator to Arab Strap
‘Chat in Amsterdam, Winter 2003’ from The Last Romance.
‘Aidan and I travelled to Amsterdam for a holiday and it was around the time that he had just met his future girlfriend. We went out for a few(!) beers and he was unsure whether to phone her. Eventually he saw the romantic side to calling her from abroad and I am glad to say they are still a very happy couple to this day. I didn’t know Aidan would write a song about that day but he did let me hear it once it was recorded and I felt very flattered to have been part of that whole situation . . . especially as it is done in the style of Ivor Cutler.’ Stuart McHugh, editor of Is This Music? and www.jockrock.org ‘Hey! Fever' from Girls of Summer EP ‘Hey! Fever’ is early evidence that the Strap weren’t always dour — a decidedly chipper tune that even ropes in Stuart and Chris from Belle and
_ Sebastian for a big gospelly singalong.’
Tam Coyle. one—time Arab Strap manager
‘The First Big Weekend’ from The Weekend Never Starts Round Here ‘An obvious choice. but at the time. it simply blew me away every time I heard it — from the numerous radio plays to the Guinness advert. And we now have the bonus of great new music coming from Aidan [as Lucky Pierre] and Malcolm’s solo recordings . . . here’s to the next 10 years!’