October 1997 - Sinister - missprint.org

Sinister: What is this thing called, Pop?
by mctag＠mcmail.com 30 Oct '97

30 Oct '97

Why this is important...well, yes, of course it's important. None of us would be on the list if we didn't think it was important in some way. I dunno, I'm not a shallow man, but I don't know what pop is, and I don't really care. I know what it isn't (deconstructing it endlessly seems a pretty good place to start on that score), and I know what it does to me and to everyone I care about. It's a see of happy faces on a Saturday night with 'Me and the Major' perfectly at home between 'Give him a great big kiss' and 'Summer Babe', some mouthing the words, some just smiling, boys and girls meeting 'oh, do you like Belle and Sebastian too', it's hearing 'Modern Rock Song' properly for the first time in the car and not being able to drive cos it made me cry it made me so happy, it's being in Glasgow in March and squeezing the hand of someone I'd been worried about, and her squeezing mine back and just knowing everything was going to be OK because they were on stage playing our song, it's a bunch of gawky kids from Glasgow, just like you and me, who know they've stumbled on the recipe for love, but are scared to talk about it in case they lose it forever. No, I don't know what it is...what I do know is we're here and it's now.... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . 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 . We're all happy bunnies humming happy bunny tunes. Aren't we? -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Sinister: Rough Guides: Peter's first draft
by Paul Mitchell 29 Oct '97

29 Oct '97

This is designed to set the ball rolling.... The meek might not inherit the earth, but Belle and Sebastian will be sitting there quietly until the very last vote is counted. Their songs are snapshots of the twilight autumnal teatime of the soul, populated by perverted vicars, lovelorn school kids, Sid James and a brussel sprout called Elvis. Eight people make up Belle and Sebastian. They are Stuart "Stewpot" Murdoch, an ex-amateur boxer with lyrical hotline to the emotionally orphaned; Chris Geddes, the alarming result of an LSD drenched sexual union between Rick Wakeman and Worzel Gummidge; Sarah Martin, a roller-skating stylophone, xylophone and telephone whizz; Isobel Campbell, a one-woman string quartet and tambourine thumper; Stuart David, paving the way with his monolithic bass foundation shakers; Stevie Jackson, whose delicate guitar runs recall Mike Oldfield at his best; Mick Cooke; trumpet vounteer with the patience of a saint, and last but not least, Richard Colburn, extended drum solos made to measure. They met over butterfly cakes and tea at a church hall fund raising function. Only 1000 copies were pressed of their debut album, "Tigermilk". It namechecked Funkadelic and The Velvet Underground, but managed to avoid sounding like either. The lyrical pivot was "do something pretty while you can". The follow-up LP, "If You're Feeling Sinister" showed a wider public that the group had lost none of their charm or quirkiness, but were maturing into a tight group that packed a "get yer boots on" punch when necessary. Sporadic live appearances delighted the devoted and infuriated some non-believers. Oasis conquered Knebworth, Belle and Sebastian's Kelvingrove Park festival disappeared in the Glasgow drizzle. Poetic justice. Three EPs followed, increasing in competence and confidence. A trip to New York earned the band favourable reviews in staid publications such as The New York Times and the legendary New Yorker magazine. A triumphal concert in a medieval square in Barcelona was a fitting climax to a hazy summer for Belle and Sebastian. Record company interest is said to be at a high level, with rumours of a Terry Thomas vintage car chase across Europe in search of the near mythical "Tigermilk" mastertapes. Records. If You're Feeling Sinister LP (Jeepster) A treat for jaded ears. Vicars base sermons around it. 3, 6, 9 Seconds of Light EP (Jeepster) Gentle and rollicking in equal amounts. Good for the soul. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . 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 . We're all happy bunnies humming happy bunny tunes. Aren't we? -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Sinister: Re: [Fwd: Belle and Sebastian] (fwd)
by Paul Mitchell 29 Oct '97

29 Oct '97

OK - I got a reply from those nice people at "Rough Guides" and surprisingly they are gagging for an entry on B&S (well sort of). Peter Miller's submitted a first draft and no-one else sent any more boo hiss. I think it would be GREAT if this list sent a "combined" entry to Rough Guides, got it published under the list's name rather than an individual and sent the 25 quid to David's poor PC. But to do that we need more contributions, corrections and maybe a bit more band history. Can anyone help? Any old rubbish happily accepted as long as you're all prepared for some fascist editing in the long run. I'll send on Peter's first draft again in a minute - here's the reply from Mr Rough Guides to inspire you. Paul mailto:owner-sinister@majordomo.net ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Wed, 29 Oct 1997 17:35:27 +0100 From: Alan Spicer <aspicer(a)roughguides.co.uk> Reply-To: al(a)roughguides.co.uk To: psm(a)Majordomo.net Subject: Re: [Fwd: Belle and Sebastian] Hiya Paul, thanks for dropping by... > I'm mailing you to ask whether you would be interested in a submission > to > the Rough Guide about the band "Belle and Sebastian"? Yup! > I know this all > depends on the quality of the submission(!) but I would like to know > what > your criteria are for inclusion for the band themselves? Our criteria are sometimes rigid, though more often made up on the spot...I've been on the lookout for a B&S bio for sometime...so they've passed the first hurdle. > > > I am asking because I run the mailing list for the band (details at > > http://www.majordomo.net/sinister Oho! Any chance of a freebie CD then? [shameless scrounge I know, but the record companies are so tight fisted these days you have to be Paul Du Noyer to even get on the list] > > > ). There's a suggestion that members on the list submit an entry to > your > esteemed publication, which seems to support the best in music just > now. [preen preen] Ta! > We'd like to see an entry, and we'd like to see a collaborative effort > - > currently 260 people on the mailing list, many of whom know more than > the > band themselves and some wonderful writers - we are currently judging > a > writing competition. So we might also want the submission to be from > the > list itself rather than an individual - IF that's possible. Oh but that'd be marvellous...I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do with the 25-quid fee though...perhaps you and I should invest it in drink? > > > Anyway can you advise whether we should try? It's understood that > there's > no guarantee of acceptance but I suppose I'd just like to know if we'd > be > ruled out from the beginning... Try, old thing try...here's the blurb I send to all my wannabes, edit away as you wish but there's the rough idea... =================================================== ROUGH GUIDE TO ROCK II - THE AWFUL TRUTH Essentially, you'll be writing for nothing except the glory of seeing your name and writing on our site. If you can parlay that up into a full-time career, great, but you won't get rich writing for Rough Guides. So....what happens next? Well, you write up your piece - preferably in Word or something similar so you can email it to me - and let me have it at this email address or the snailmail address at the end of this message. Then I do a swift edit on the piece to polish it up and to justify my paycheck. The edited version is submitted to you for your approval and, once we're both happy, it goes online. At this stage, you go tell all your friends and everybody gets to see your name on the WWW (wow!). Eventually, assuming the entry makes it into the printed version of the book (which won't be published till '98 at the earliest) you get paid the princely sum of $40/�25 and we get all the rights. Here are a few guidelines If you go online to http://www.roughguides.com/rock/entries/BUZZCOCKS.html, I've been using that as a reference. You might want to do a bit of browsing around from http://www.roughguides.com/rock to get a feel for the style we like and check out a few of the other entries. First up, apart from the name of the band, we need born/died or formed/split up dates. Next up, if you can come up with a great quote about or by the band (except lyrics) that would be great, if not, no sweat. A 1000-word biography will generally be sufficient. The biog should be more than a simple history of who joined, who left, which album came out next etc: we're looking for writing that'll convey what the music sounds like to those of us who don't know, that makes the reader shiver with anticipation, that'll convince couch potatoes like me to get out and spend lots of money - if you can fit in a few interesting anecdotes and bits of gossip, even better. You have to keep the laws of libel in mind though. Next up; a selective discography, their best full-length recordings and reviews written to convince me to buy them. Finally, though this isn't in place yet for the Buzzcocks piece, a list of websites run by fans or the record companies - if there are hundreds of sites, recommend the best only. The whole guide was assembled on the assumption that each review would be generally favorable, though not afraid to criticise where necessary. And that's it. ================================================ > > > Of course, we think they'll be massive..! Despite not having heard anything BY them, only ABOUT them, I hope so too. > > > Paul Mitchell > mailto:psm@Majordomo.net -- _________________________________________ Al Spicer - Rock Editor - Rough Guides Ltd 1 Mercer Street - London WC2H 9QJ - UK aspicer(a)roughguides.co.uk - tel 00 44 171 379 3329 _________________________________________ ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . 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 . We're all happy bunnies humming happy bunny tunes. Aren't we? -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Sinister: selling out
by Kelso 29 Oct '97

29 Oct '97

<<Yummycats wrote>> >>>Don't you "sell out" the moment you sign a >>>recording contract? >>>>> Funny I thought it was more the first time you get paid for playing a gig or selling a self-manufactured 7" or demo tape....the moment your music make syou money of any kind. --kelso ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . 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 . We're all happy bunnies humming happy bunny tunes. Aren't we? -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Sinister: nothing B&S, just answering a question
by Kelso 29 Oct '97

29 Oct '97

<<tangent wrote>> >>>or Merle Haggard! Is Merle still of this earth? >>>> Merle Haggard is still very much alive and even touring....just played in New York this month. --kelso ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . 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 . We're all happy bunnies humming happy bunny tunes. Aren't we? -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Sinister: Gigs
by msrx7jg2＠stud.man.ac.uk 29 Oct '97

29 Oct '97

Does anyone know what? where? when? as regards the B&S gigs in Manchester? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . 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 . We're all happy bunnies humming happy bunny tunes. Aren't we? -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Sinister: The Meaning of Pop
by Peter Miller and/or Arantxa Ubieta 29 Oct '97

29 Oct '97

Indie Pop is like a game of Kerr-plunk!! - a cacophony of clattering noises and lots of bright colours. Mainstream Pop is like a game of Buckaroo!! - the rewards are greater, the excitement is multiplied, but the more records you sell, the more the pressure increases until one day the donkey bucks and all your hard work is scattered all over the living room, leaving you to pick up the pieces. I've just bought "Shleep" by smelly hippy Robert Wyatt. It is so nicely packaged (the cellophane annd everything) that I don't want to open it. Is this part of the pop experience, or am I going a bit loopy? Only one of Simon and Garfunkel had a dodgy haircut. And it wasn't Garfunkel. The song "Cecelia" reminds me of when I went on a school trip to Butlin's Barry Island. We did parachute jumps from training towers (just like Action Man) under the supervision of soldiers. "Cecilia" was on the radio as they yelled at me to get in position to jump off. The soldiers were singing, but instaed of the real words they sang, "Cecilia, you're breaking my fart" which was quite disconcerting at that age. I suggest breaking an egg into the back of the broken computer. It usually works for most things. Tell us more about this interview, anyone willing to soil themselves with a music paper. I won't be able to get it for at least two weeks and for double the price. Nevertheless, I do buy it sometimes, mainly to drool over the adverts at the back. Pop or wot? Peter PS: I'm quite enjoying all this philosophical stuff really. A bit beyond me, though. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . 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 . We're all happy bunnies humming happy bunny tunes. Aren't we? -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Sinister: New to the List
by Erika Namaka 29 Oct '97

29 Oct '97

Hello folks! I am new to the list. I "discovered" B&S for myself by reading something on the web which compared them to Donovan (I am a huge Donovan fan/friend). Wondering if any of you have made the connection already... I think there is something in their music that reminds me of Donovan but I can't figure out what it is... Their music is really fresh and I wish it would hit the States with more of an impact as it has out in the UK. There is so much crap out here....I've always liked British/Scottish/Irish music better.... If anyone else on this list is a Donovan fan and would like to join my e-mail list let me know..... Cheers! Erika ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . 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 . We're all happy bunnies humming happy bunny tunes. Aren't we? -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Sinister: I started something...
by Neil Hargreaves 29 Oct '97

29 Oct '97

Chris Worth said.... I wasn't really thinking when I said that Tigermilk should not be re - released. I think I just felt like saying something a bit controversial, especially after having felt a bit pissed off about the Manics / Smiths comment. [neil h] Oh, oh. As the person who made the Manics/Smiths comments in question and therefor inadvertently inspired such a domino sequence of people getting mad I think I owe you all an apology. But by way of explanation... Last year I was starting to use the internent properly and I left a message on a Smiths list that went saomething like... Hey boys and girls, this is my first message so I hope its OK.... and then went on to ask a question about Paint A Vulgure Picture. And then all these people just jumped on me for using the misogynist word girl... for not knowing that Paint a Vulgur Picture absolutlely is/ is not about the Smiths... So it was maybe a bit of a generalisation and I did not mean to imply that all Smiths Manics fans are like that (cos I probably fall into both catagories) and I fell really gulty and I'm reallly sorry... So apologies to you all and Chris especially and I'll think about what I'm saying more in future... Sorry again, neil -------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . 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 . We're all happy bunnies humming happy bunny tunes. Aren't we? -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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Sinister: Selling out?
by Yummycats＠aol.com 29 Oct '97

29 Oct '97

Don't you "sell out" the moment you sign a recording contract? ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . 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 . We're all happy bunnies humming happy bunny tunes. Aren't we? -----------------------------------------------------------------------

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