October 1997 - Sinister - missprint.org

Sinister: the voice of pessimism...
by Andrew Dean 17 Oct '97

17 Oct '97

>the magic number is 25!!! >We get mid-weeks everyday now for some reason, and even >though 25 looks good, the position was 17 for Monday's >sales and 22 for Tuesday's. um, i think it's going to be very close. the numbers seem to be slipping daily and i think that's purely because of the low stock levels that the shops are ordering. come saturday, when i guess the bulk of a week's records are sold, you just won't be able to find '3, 6, 9...' on the shelves anywhere and people will have to resort to buying another copy of that elton john record (the one that i still haven't heard more than 20 seconds of but i guess i'm just lucky), or that one that goes on about tangoing the foxtrot or something. or that one which destroys 'life in a northern town'. oh, and on ceefax this morning i noticed a list of bands on this week's totp and b&s weren't there. can't remember who exactly were playing but jayne middlemarch (or whatever) was presenting. um, ceefax page 560 something for details (565 i think), it's a sub page of the chart rundown. um, sent both the single of the week reviews to the list yesterday but they haven't yet appeared. curious. i'll give it until this afternoon and re-send them. i was also about to start transcribing the tour diary and sending it here a bit at a time (to build up the tension or something, or because i can't be arsed to type it all in in one go). but i'll leave that for the time being too... oh, katrina, got laura's mail. ta. it was actually paul that was enquiring but i need the info too so... have given her his address. oh paul, i gave laura your address... andy dipsy: "wassat?" tinky winky: "guitar. run away!" ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister(a)majordomo.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Sinister: pastie reviews here:
by Andrew Dean 17 Oct '97

17 Oct '97

ok, i'm so bored i thought i'd do this. these are the two single of the week reviews in the music papers week ending october 4th. i've not seem them posted before, apologies (and curses) if they have been A musical box left playing in a long-abandoned nursery. "A Century Of Fakers"" is the Velvet Underground ("Pale Blue Eyes", say), and The Pastels, and Donovan, and The Seekers all in one delicious bundle. It's not fey, it's not twee: just simple, straightforwardly, beautiful. If you can write a tune this stunning, why smother it with overly-lush arrangements or loud guitars? In contrast, "Le Pastie De La Bourgeoisie" is a speedy but dark Western soundtrack. The disconcertingly truthful press release - courtesy of guitarist Stevie - reveals that he rates it but "Wee Chris on keyboards thinks it sucks." Sorry Chris; I'm with Stevie on this one. It's only when we get to "Beautiful" that i understand why Belle & Sebastian have left some people cold. It sounds aimless at first; but then it blossoms into something cherishable, if awkward, like a butterfly struggling out of its cocoon. (Besides, ever since Animals That Swim, I've been a sucker for poignant trumpet solos.) So heart-piercingly perfect, I can only prostrate myself in awe. Tania Branigan, Melody Maker, 4th October 1997 ------- Shall we curse them with the tag of the Best New Band In Britain? The B&S masterpiece has still to come, but right now this four-song EP towers above everything else, briefly restoring your faith in pop music. Two albums, a few EPs - it isn't a huge canon of work, but already Belle & Sebastian are quite obviously an important group. Why? Well, anyone who can write stuff at this stage in the game as good as "La Pastie De La Bourgeoisie" and the wistful "Put The Book Back On The Shelf" will one day do something so breathtakingly great that we'll all just drop down dead from the shock of pleasure. And songs like "Beautiful" are archetypal white adolescent bedroom blues, less obviously ripe for parody than the Tindersticks, fresher and untainted by the unremitting blackness of Nick Cave. Like all tragedy, it is faintly ridiculous. It's more than just the ability to write emotionally affecting songs, though they do get you with the hairs on the back of the neck. They have the same European coolness, the comforting depression of Francois Hardy, the arch wordplay of Morrissey (when he was good) and the pathos of Nick Drake. Most importantly, "Beautiful" could so easily have been some smarty waspish sneer, like Morrissey at his worst, but Stuart Murdoch's mellow Donovanish voice carries such emotional depth and sincerity it saves all their songs from this. Yeah, they are the best new band in Britain. But don't tell everyone. And, yeah, they really are wet and twee. Wanna step outside and make something of it? Tommy Udo, New Musical Express, 4th October 1997 my thoughts? i'd heard "fakers" and "book" before and these are my favourites from the ep. the others seem too wordy somehow, almost as if he's trying to be too clever with the words and didn't write the music to match. having heard most of the new lp played live it's going to be a corker but this isn't quite up to that standard somehow. um, well that filled up 20 minutes. only 90 left to go. worse still, i keep thinking it's friday today somehow. sigh. oh, and has anyone else noticed that if a mail has -- at the start of a line then the rest of that post appears in the archive in a fixed width font rather than a proportionally space font? god, i'm so sad. andy matt, it's in the post and mike(?) i'll finish it tonight, check it and post it tomorrow. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister(a)majordomo.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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RE: Sinister: Re: How are B&S doing ?
by Keith Watson 17 Oct '97

17 Oct '97

Since when was TOTP on Fridays instead of Thursdays? Bloody Tony Blair! Peter [Keith Watson] Tragedy, isn't it... Tomorrow's world isn't even on on a Thursday any more.... is nothing sacred. I guess Belle and Sebastian will be on the Chart Show again on Saturday, presuming it'll be number one in the independent charts - however this weeks number 1 in the indie chart is the "Backstreet Boys" so maybe that'll stay there. Nice Kraut Rock piece Peter, it's made me want to go out and find the Amon Duul record. I;ve only really got Can stuff (oh and all the Kraftwerk records - actually do David and Katrina work for Rough Trade, it was in that shop I bought a pile of Kraftwerk albums a few years ago when we were down for the NME Styoudent pop quiz), but a friend of mine played the first two Neu records once and they were dead good, naturally difficult to get though - one of these days perhaps. I've been thinking about a band like B+S being on TOTP for a while now and I don't think there'll have been anything quite as different since the Roses/Mondays double header 8 years ago - excellent. Keith. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister(a)majordomo.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Sinister: DIGEST USERS - VOTE!
by Paul Mitchell 16 Oct '97

16 Oct '97

Suggestion that I change the frequency of the digest version of this list - 'scuse the CAPS but I would like people reading the digests to notice... The digests currently come out once a day. I don't mind how often these come out, but I can only automatically generate these on one of the following two criteria: 1. Period: a single number of days, minimum(!) 1. or (that's an "or", folks): 2. Size: in fact in bytes but I can work this out So could digest users please tell me if they want a change: preferably by voting for a change via my WWW page, as always (pause to get this right, Andrew..) http://www.majordomo.net/sinister If you want to use a size criteria, give me a number of messages per digest on the "other comments" box unless I get round to changing the form. If you are happy with the current one-per-day tell me that too! Finally if you haven't got WWW access please send me a message - not to the list, but to me personally. But if you can get to the WWW use the form. Sorry it's SO dull isn't it? Oh, all the people who sent me Felt info and offers, I am overwhelmed by all your generosity! And I will mail back soon when I get breathing space! Even Pete the Denim King! Paul mailto:owner-sinister@majordomo.net ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister(a)majordomo.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Sinister: Judy and the Dream of Horses/Twin Peaks
by J Jackson 16 Oct '97

16 Oct '97

Oi! someone told me about Twin Peaks- Fire Walk With Me (the film) and that Laura Palmers mum keeps dreaming of horses and there is a monkey that keeps calling Laura Palmer 'Judy' weird eh that film was out , what in 1992? anyone else know anything about this? JJ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister(a)majordomo.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Sinister: Denim in the Dock
by Andrew O'Sullivan 16 Oct '97

16 Oct '97

> I can't see how that could be. Funny maybe - I always thought Denim > were a bit of a joke - come on, I believe they even used the two > drummers from the Glitter Band on 'Back in Denim' for that > 'authentic 70's feel'. Of course 'Middle of the Road' is a great > song, but has anyone listened to their more recent offerings - > 'Denim on Ice' etc. - utter bollocks. My defence against anyone who suggests Denim to be in any way and at any time rubbish is that it is simply an impossible notion, seeing as everything they do, you can be sure, sure as the Pope's Polish [Aaaah - clever manipulation!], that they know *exactly* what it's going to be like. OK, if they wanted to sound *sincere* they might run into problems, but just as long as they remain tacky and wacky, and are taking the piss out of the 80s, with such great titles as 'Synthesizers in the Rain', they're doing OK in my books. * * * * * Andrew O'Sullivan aeos(a)dial.pipex.com http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/osullivan "It's one for the money, two for the money, three for the money." * * * * * ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister(a)majordomo.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Sinister: denim, pastels, major labels
by Richard Edwards 16 Oct '97

16 Oct '97

lawrence from denim sent me a copy of their "summer smash" single... not only did it not come out in the end but the other week Denim were dropped altogether by EMI... the same happened to Stephen Duffy and RCA this year... lawrence's letter mentions how he thinks the Belle and Sebastian/Jeepster way is the only way what with all this "radio playlist or death" madness that the majors are obsessed with. I can speak for painful experience myself of course. Suffice it to say that I'm a lot wiser now, and I refuse to fuck things up with my own new band, Fosca: it's a decent, passionate indie label for me or nothing. looking forward to seeing B&S on TOTP. They will do it, won't they? bought the new (excellent) pastels album. nice to see the illustrious list of additional musicians includes Dean Wareham, Norman and Gerry out of Teenage Fanclub, and a certain Isobel Campbell on cello... i once got stephen and aggi to autograph my copy of "The Bell Jar" at a pastels gig in bristol years ago... still got it. well i'm off to flirt with librarians. dickon x ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister(a)majordomo.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Sinister: just got it
by Kelso 16 Oct '97

16 Oct '97

So, I finally got around to buying "3..6..9...." today on my lunch break (and due to my compulsive and rabid record purchasing ways, the excursion ended up costing me $86.76, thank you very much.) Anyway I got it at Other Music in NYC...they were very well-stocked on both 7"s and cd-singles. I bought it on both 7" and cd, because, well, because I'm compulsive and rabid. On the artwork: I like it. I like the ultra-simplicity of it...I like the wordlessness of it. I like the image. I'm glad they got a way from that reddish tone which was washed over the last few images. The white is nice and clean and bright, like the music. On the music: I've only spun the cd once so far, but I'm liking "La Pastie..." best...something about the full, hollow-bodied sound of the guitar, very western, I like that...something also about Richard's drum and cymbal work...very nice. Then, i think I like "Put the Book back on the Shelf" --kelso ============================================ "I don't want to come down on you-- I just miss the one I knew." --apples in stereo-- ============================================ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister(a)majordomo.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Sinister: 3...6...9...seconds of listening
by Charlotte.Hall＠smlawpub.co.uk 16 Oct '97

16 Oct '97

I bought the EP yesterday in Our Price in Swiss Cottage (the nearest record shop to where I work, which is usually unrivalled for the poverty of its range but good grief, there the CD single nestled, next to the ubiquitous Not Very Nice Girls. Heaven or hell for �1.99). On first listen ... I don't wish to stoke controversy but I feel it's patchy and not all of it was instantly resonant. Beautiful is coy and may grow on me. Fakers is great and funnier than Elvis. Pastie is a triumph. That's all I had time to listen to as I was making chocolate ice cream and had to go out for dinner. Snap judgements I'm sure I'll regret but I'd like to support whoever said (daringly) that the EPs are weaker than the albums! The Monochrome Set reference is a brilliant one. I'm glad someone mentioned the obvious humour that permeates B&S lyrics, despite the grossly unfair way they've been portrayed as the ultimate in fey whimsy. B&S share that with the Monochrome Set - and with Momus, and the Smiths. All misconstrued, but they'll have the last laugh. I'd just like to say that this is a brilliant list and it brings a bit of light to my grey work day. Charlotte ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister(a)majordomo.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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RE: Sinister: that sound...
by Nigel Turner 16 Oct '97

16 Oct '97

> And Simon Tyers from Leicester........for heaven's sake, > don't shop in HMV - buy your records from Rockaboom! I > bought the 7" for 99p and the cd for 1.98. It's a MUCH > BETTER SHOP all round (and I don't even work there!). >Which one's Rockaboom! then? I'm an Ultima Thule devotee. More freaks pass through there than a Psychic TV concert. At the risk of deepening Andy Dean's homesickness, and drifting further off-topic, 'cause.....err...... I reckon Utlima Thule is probably the last record shop on planet earth that'd stock Belle & Sebastian stuff (it's a great shop, but it specialises in "Krautrock" and prog stuff. Julian Cope name-checked it in his "Krautrocksampler" book, and can often be seen "hanging out" in said shop. But the guys that run it are, um....rather strange). >Has anybody ever seen Will Oldham in action? Playing here on Friday. Blimey, a concert! Peter, where is "here"? Not Leicester, presumably. (Spiritualized are playing "there" tomorrow, oops...sorry Andy!). But yes, I have seen Will Oldham playing with the Palace Brothers (great band...sort of warped, self-indulgent country music) in Norwich about 4 years ago. They were supporting Tindersticks, with whom Belle & Sebastian have often been compared (phew, got back on topic!) Nigel xx ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister(a)majordomo.net -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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