CD Revue: Belle & Sebastian - I'm a Cuckoo and Books EPs

Nominally singles from last year's classic Dear Catastrophe Waitress, these EPs deserve special mention for their b-sides. I'm a Cuckoo features a really exciting remix of the title track, "Stop, Look, and Listen" which sounds like a lost Monkees track, and "(I Believe In) Travellin' Light" a lovely little Stevie Jackson ballad. Books in features a double A-side of "Wrapped Up in Books" and the new "Your Cover's Blown", which is an ornate spy saga that sounds like a collaboration between Chic and Squeeze. The lone b-side on Books is a adorable tune called "Your Secrets" which contains what may be the best single line in B&S history, "I just had somebody tell me I was introspective to a fault".