September 1998 - Sinister

Sinister: the femmes
by Jessica Murphy 28 Sep '98

28 Sep '98

Reid says, "You'd have a tough time finding a white American between the ages of 18 and 30 who doesn't know the mid section of "Kiss Off" by heart." Very true. It's definitely on my own memory-soundtrack of senior year in high school. The Violent Femmes and the Beastie Boys' "License to Ill" were in constant rotation at parties. One of the best moments from the whole short-lived series "My So-Called Life" was Claire Danes' character dancing and singing along with the Femmes' "Blister in the Sun" in front of her bedroom mirror. Reid: "... where Belle & Sebastian are cozied up with Metallica and Shania Twain." Ooh, I shudder to think... jessica m +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" +---+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: following my own star...
by Julien Boeldieu 27 Sep '98

27 Sep '98

Saturday september 26, I was walking quietly in the Clignancourt flea-market, following my own star, when suddenly my eyes were caught by a book. And almost for free, the day of my twenty-five, with bright and wet eyes I became the child I used to be... The book is called "Belle et S�bastien". Incredibly, it contains C�cile Aubry's dedication... "Happiness is a warm gun". (**John Lennon**) Love you all, Julien, the happy child who has nothing but his love to give. PS. Do you know that C�cile Aubry wrote many novels with S�bastien ? Well, the band could have choosen : Sebastian among men A summer for Sebastian Sebastian and the wild horse Sebastian and the white eagle Sebastian and the big lost dog Hmmmmmm... not so great, isn't it ? == "Je ne remets jamais � demain ce que je peux faire le surlendemain" ** Alphonse Allais ** _________________________________________________________ DO YOU YAHOO!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" +---+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: never mind the buzzcocks
by ciaran＠theclinic.clara.net 27 Sep '98

27 Sep '98

hi did anyone happen to see this weeks "Never MTB"? It was a real pile of crap. I mean I do like Neil Hannon, but this show you seems to make people devoid of any charm. Crap scripts and crap c-list comic's. I must get a social life, and stop watching these program's. must go Maxium bob is on. C. ps Rebecka popgal nice site. +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" +---+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: then I get refreshed by her cold cold stare
by Corpora Arenacea 27 Sep '98

27 Sep '98

That's Jonathan Richman in that movie? Wow. I thought it was the directors or something casting themselves into their own movie. I had a suspicion, but it looked too goofy, and I really wanted to get out of the theater quickly when it was over, I think. I was the one who started the race war.... though it's been fun watching the clumsy ebonization of ordinarily-twee B+S posts, I don't know, I think the point was a little flubbed.... I guess the fact that that barrier, or whatever you want to call it, still exists to a large extent irks me at least as much as the lack of really loud bands on the list. I don't know. I listened to Prolapse this morning and it was good but I find it rare that I want to listen to bonecrushingly loud music anymore. Could be school, or age, or culture tide. I wonder when that will be back in style again. I heard Bob Mould perform a rap/jungle song yesterday and it literally broke my heart. It was at one of those silly listening posts and I suddenly felt very ashamed to be listening to it. Stiffen up, tender souls, for the Belle and Sebastian speedgarage album is on the way. On the other hand last week, 1500 cd's into my collection, I bought my first Beastie Boys album and it's the best album I've heard this year, pretty much. So there goes my race theory. I still feel like a Long Island whiteboy frat-ape driving around listening to the BeeBee's at top volume, but really, I have no choice. Oh, and big up (ha ha) to whoever gave props to Lauryn Hill... her new album is phenomenal, really, don't cheat yourselves everyone. The new record finally made sense to me today. Hurray. All I really had to do is turn it up. I think it is, however, unhealthy that all the band thinks about these days is the biz and I don't mean markie if you know what I mean. -MF "I go to bakeries all day long,there's a lack of sweetness in my life" -JoJo ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" +---+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: spies!!!!
by mkl206＠is8.nyu.edu 27 Sep '98

27 Sep '98

At 2:46 PM 9/27/98, Koen wrote: >A gig by a band of which you don't know the faces (like the Residents) can >be a disappointment. But Belle & Sebastian keep the mystery that shrouds >them intact, even on stage. Fans get enough material tonight to bother >each other with on the Internet: why did they start that late, why no >encore, and what was the meaning of tonight's closer, a cover of France >Gall's "Poupee De Cire, Poupee De Son"? > so now i'm a bit nervous. who are you???? speak to us!!!! obvdiously, there's a dutch journalist hiding around here, taking notes on our every word. so don't say anything you don't want everyone in the netherlands to know. and now that we're on the subject... apparently there are a hell of a lot of people who read the archives and aren't on th elist. whihc means that any one of our charming posts are being read by potentially over a thousand people. which is scary, but also very fun as i like to command everyone's attention. look at me!!!! i never posted ink polaroids of the picnic did i? well, you'll get a better idea of how it was anyway if you go to http://www.dissemination.com/megan/magneticfields/picnicpics.html there you will see us frolic and fall over bicycles (or the aftermath of that) though i'm afraid that we still have no photos of any of the chinese yoyo wars. damn. xox megan mkl206(a)is8.nyu.edu visit the magnetic fields web page at: http://www.dissemination.com/megan/magneticfields/ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" +---+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Recently updated UK guitar pop page
by Giuseppe Gregorini 27 Sep '98

27 Sep '98

Hi, just today I updated my site. Anyone interested in Sarah records, early creation records, el records and others click on: http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Mezzanine/8926/index.htm Bye Giuseppe

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Sinister: record shop in glasgow..
by Rebecka popgal 27 Sep '98

27 Sep '98

hello all my friend and myabe myslef soon are going to scotland..now we are curious..does anybody know what the record shop is called where a member of belle works?? were kinda curios..and we'd also like to go to the cemetary, catherdral where one of the members works.. my friend has his grannie in glasgow..we thought perhaps these places are nearby where she lives.. well take care all.. and please help someone.. becka*huggles* # go and have a peek at my page it's constantly developing, http://www.angelfire.com/me/Mizzy # ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" +---+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: sthlm gig!!
by Rebecka popgal 27 Sep '98

27 Sep '98

oh my oh my, I must say last nights gig was the most wonderful thing I've ever experienced. The meeting before the show was alos great, thanx you loevely sinister people who came, it brightened my day:) but as for the show... I've never seen such silent, alomost hiding joy in my life, The band seemed so happy to play fo us. Bu hey what can they feel we were the best clappers weren't we?? I wish it could have been going on longer but..sadly not, well I had the time of my life..and yes I cried.. I just cried of you..when they played space boys dream I though of englad and uk..god I have to go back..it's been two years and I miss all my family and friends...have to start saving I guess... so...I am without words today..still in a wobbly state of mind..joy to all you people who came and brightened my day..thanx.. hugs becka # go and have a peek at my page it's constantly developing, http://www.angelfire.com/me/Mizzy # ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" +---+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Everithing is different from normal
by Koen 27 Sep '98

27 Sep '98

As promised my translation of a piece on B&S in a big Dutch newspaper. Dutchisms and spelling mistakes are my responsibility. The last paragraph is missing, by request of Jeepster. It's news on a local problem which could cause unneccessary panic and on the solution of which is being worked on. Koen The answer to the slump in the British music industry is called Belle & Sebastian. A group of eight, led by the timid frontman Stuart Murdoch, who has a sidejob working as a verger an who sings in a churchchoir on Sundays. Belle & Sebastian offer comfort with softly sung songs and quiet orchestrations with cello and recorder. "Promises of fame, promises of fortune..." The British record industry is in despair. When things were finally looking up thanks to millionsellers by Oasis, Blur, Radiohead and the Prodigy, it's all starting to collapse again. The big companies are all dropping their hastily contracted guitar bands, and Creation, which was set to become a major player thanks to Oasis, is laying off personnel in droves. The cause, according to several British papers and magazines: no-one is spending money on records and cd's anymore. The public has lost its interest in homegrown popmusic as quickly as it was gained, a few years ago. There are no new mayor talents, and Pulp for instance sold only a quarter of the amount the marketing department had predicted of "This Is Hardcore". It's all very sad, especially for the countless bands which were lured to the record companies with big promises and are already dropped again. Who do we turn to - when Oasis' hedonistic boys' music doesn't suffice, when the endless decrypting of Radioheads "Ok Computer" leads to nothing and the cartoon figures of the Prodigy annoyingly pop up everywhere. Who do we turn to? Belle & Sebastian. The eight of them have named themselves after the novel "Belle et Sebastie" by Madame Cecile Aubrey, which was turned into a television series in the late sixties. They're from Scotland and do everything different than usual. They don't do interviews - well, the drummer and trumpet player are known to have done some, but the creative brains, singer/composer Stuart Murdoch, maintains a steadfast silence. He prefers his job as a verger and singing in a church choir on Sunday mornings. Photographic sessions are another of Belle & Sebastian's don'ts. There's only one publicity shot, about eight people are on it, but whoever they may be, Stuart Murdoch isn't on it. Their first record "Tigermilk" was released in 1995 in a pressing of a thousand copies and sold out immediately. Without any form of publicity the group had already created a buzz in Glasgow. Big record companies were ignored, the group signed a deal with newly formed label "Jeepster Records" from London, which released the album "If You're Feeling Sinister" in 1996. At first it was mainly Stuart Murdochs voice which attracted attention. Tender, sometimes almost whispering, he sounded like a cross between Nick Drake and Colin Blunstone. But it also had intricate melodies and acoustic arranging to slowly fall in love with. And the lyrics of course, the songs having titles like "Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying" and "Judy And The Dream Of Horses". "Nobody writes them like they used to/ So it might as well be me" Murdoch sings and he is right. It took a while before the pure beauty of Belle & Sebastian was appreciated in Great Britain, but even though the press are still muttering about the lack of interviews, they are almost universally cherished. And now September 7, the day their third album "The Boy With The Arab Strap" is released. The band is playing the Shepherd's Bush Empire in London tonight. The venue, with a capacity of 3000, had sold out within a day, even without an advertisement. An announcement on the Internet was sufficient to cause a run on the tickets, even though the public hadn's heard a single note from the new album. "The Boy With The Arab Strap" is a little musical miracle. Murdoch's arrangements are even more refined. He gives ample space to cello, violin, trumpet and, how sweet, recorder. And he has a sense of humor; you can't keep from laughing when a bagpipe suddenly appears at the end of "Sleep The Clock Around", a paean to lazying about. No sign of a bagpipe in London though. When the group takes the stage, an hour late and full of nerves, and begins with a cautious "Simple Things" it becomes clear that Belle & Sebastian have no trouble reproducing their refined sound live. Stuart Murdoch and his crew don't make an effort to impress. The sound is whisperingly soft and the songs caress the listener like a spring breeze. Celloist Isobel Campbell, in school uniform, gets the change to lisp her own song "Is It Wicked Not To Care?" and Stevie Jackson gets to sing two songs too, including the hilaric "Seymour Stein". Seymour Stein is the man from record company Sire, who has launched Madonna's career and gave the Smiths a recording contract in the States. He wanted to sign Belle & Sebastian too and invited the band to dinner in Scotland. "Promises of fame, promises of fortune" Jackson sings, who couldn't attend the dinner because he had to go to his dishwashing job that night. The band didn't sign with Sire, but with Matador. "Have a nice flight home/ It's a good day for flying" are the parting words to Stein. Stuart Murdoch sings the rest of the songs in an almost apologizing way. It's as if he wants to say: well, I'm doing my thing here but I can imagine you're bored senseless. It's with relief that he hides himself behind the keyboards to do their price number: "The Boy With The Arab Strap". In the pub next to the venue the fans had had a chance to study the lyrics to the album which they were finally able to buy that day. It doesn't get clear who that Boy With The Arab Strap is. Is it Aidan Moffat after all, the singer from the Scottish band Arab Strap, with whom celloist Isobel Campbell has sung. Only writer Murdoch knows the answer, but he keeps silent. He does mutter something about "the other band" in the introduction of the song. A gig by a band of which you don't know the faces (like the Residents) can be a disappointment. But Belle & Sebastian keep the mystery that shrouds them intact, even on stage. Fans get enough material tonight to bother each other with on the Internet: why did they start that late, why no encore, and what was the meaning of tonight's closer, a cover of France Gall's "Poupee De Cire, Poupee De Son"? Gijsbert Kamer / De Volkskrant 25-9-1998

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Sinister: no more room
by hugh.friel＠mail.which.net 27 Sep '98

27 Sep '98

no more room for all this mail, must...unsubscribe. +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list please mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". For list archives and searching, list rules, FAQ, poor jokes etc, see http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +---+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" +---+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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