April 1999 - Sinister - missprint.org

Sinister: B&S - Q Article - April 1999
by Katrina House 13 Apr '99

13 Apr '99

hello, i don't think this has been sent yet, enjoy! :) ************************************************************************ Forget Jarvis Cocker waggling a derogatory arse at Michael Jackson or Chumbawamba emptying an icebucket over John Prescott, the Brits Upset 1999 was by far the most ludicrous. Miles away from the cocaine-encrusted celebrations at London Arena on February 16, the mild-mannered janitor of a Glasgow church - accustomed to polishing floors and setting out tables and chairs for pensioners' coffee mornings - was the author of an incident that would have The Sun up in arms within a week. Following the news that, four years into their existence, Belle & Sebastian had scooped the Best Newcomer Award - as voted for by the listeners of Radio 1 and accepted by bemused drummer Richard Colburn and trumpeter Mick Cooke - the band's songwriter/frontman Stuart Murdoch phoned his mum and then quietly broke out the champagne. As he has done throughout Belle & Sebastian's rise to prominence, the 30-year-old part-time ecclesiastical caretaker refused all requests for an interview. Meanwhile, in London, Pete Waterman alleged that vote-rigging had swindled his pop charges Steps out of their rightful award. Two days later, The Sun demanded a phone poll recount, deemed unnecessary by Radio 1 and the BPI. This faintly ridiculous affair added another surreal twist to the history of the Scottish octet. Media-shy and purposefully obtuse, the band have only been photographed on a handful of occasions. Furthermore, the bulk of their interviews are now conducted by their drummer or, for the purposes of European phone interviews, their manager impersonating their drummer. For the uninitiated, Belle & Sebastian offer a gossamer, hushed acoustic folk that at times echoes Nick Drake as captured on a four-track in a Kelvingrove bedroom. Fronted by the peculiarly Anglo-vowelled Murdoch, the songwriter's skewed lyrical observations regularly examine some form of pervy puritanism (sample line: "She was into S&M and Bible studies"). To generalise even more grossly, Belle & Sebastian followers are the bookish, boo-to-a-goose type last spotted in 1989 before "baggy" led the independent charge over the commercial horizon, leaving those with a fondness for duffle coats, lightly strummed guitars or twee lyrical conceits in their wake. As a result, B&S seemed destined for a life of Top 10 independent chart status while rarely troubling the "proper" rundown. But then, in September last year, the band's third album, The Boy With The Arab Strap, entered the chart at Number 12, only one position behind the aggressively marketed Hole. To date, it has chalked up 60,000 sales. And following the controversial Brit Award, even those who'd dismissed Belle & Sebastian as fey, awkward, underachieving, pretentious bastards were forced to sit up and take notice. On a sunny, pre-spring Monday afternoon in Glasgow, the B&S contingent democratically elected to receive Q - drummer Colburn (tea) and pixie-like keyboardist Chris Geddes (surprisingly rock Jack Daniels and coke) - sit in the basement of an organic café/bar around the corner from CaVa Studios where the group are recording their fourth album. While the former shares church lodgings and janitorial duties with Murdoch ("Especially at the moment, it helps you maintain some level of sanity"), the latter first encountered Murdoch at a string of Glasgow parties where the uniquely attired songwriter could often be found haranguing revellers with blunt look-at-me tactics. "He was always trying to play people his songs," Geddes recalls, "and having folk go, Look Stuart, just shut up. It was like, Get away you mad guy in silver trousers." As reluctant as he may now be to step into the spotlight, four years ago Stuart Murdoch was desperate for attention. While one apocryphal version of his pre-B&S past has him stopping potential band members in the street, it is known that he would regularly hitch south to London to drop tapes off at Broadcasting House for John Peel. Having become involved in Beatbox, a music workshop for the unemployed, he hooked up with bassist Stuart David ("Quite contemporary compared to us," jokes Geddes. "He's got a computer and a puffa jacket^Å") and the two began recording Murdoch's songs under the name Rhode Island. They answered a small ad placed by Alan Rankine, former Associates guitarist-turned-lecturer on Glasgow's Stow College music industry course. Rankine was searching for bands willing to become guinea pigs for the college's annual project - which involved students in every aspect of a record's release, from sound engineering to press and promotion. While previous years had yielded singles, when Rhode Island - now renamed Belle & Sebastian and expanded to a seven-piece - were selected, they used their five-day studio session to record an entire album, Tigermilk. Only 1,000 vinyl copies were pressed (now changing hands for up to £200), but the record created enough of a stir to prompt A&R excitement amongst the major labels. Instead, Belle & Sebastian signed to minuscule London-based label Jeepster, founded by former EMI publicist Mark Jones. The label boss recalls the first time he saw Murdoch play in a bedroom at a Glasgow party: "He just came in wearing a vest, a pair of shorts and Doc Martens, put his foot up on one of those white traffic bollards and started playing these incredible songs." Still, the band affected a half-arsed attitude towards Jones's initial advances. "It was really funny the first few times he came up," Colburn admits. "He sat there getting paranoid 'cause none of us would say a word." "They were unimpressed by anything I tried to say or offer them," Jones marvels. "Half the band would just bugger off and Stevie (Jackson, guitarist) would sit there playing with a teabag, dunking it on a plate for a half an hour. But I thought there was something completely magical about them. For three months afterwards, I still couldn't even really talk to Stuart because I was just so in awe of him." Q asks Murdoch's bandmates to sum up their colleagues in a sentence: cellist Isobel Campbell is deemed "totally fantastic^Å really talented"; trumpeter Mick Cooke "makes less mistakes musically than all the rest of us put together^Å and more mistakes personally"; violinist and "novelty instrumentalist" Sarah Martin is "the most indie out of us all"; and of Stevie Jackson we learn that "White Lines is his favourite tune". Yet they stall and stumble over their words in attempting to nail their frontman in a soundbite. "He's just^Å a guy who happens to be a really good songwriter," Geddes mumbles. "I wouldn't put up with anyone else phoning the house at the hours he does, but you let him get away with it because it's him." Becoming anxious that Belle & Sebastian were being increasingly viewed as a one-man operation, insiders claim that Stuart Murdoch tried to nip his burgeoning cult of personality in the bud. Of course, his subsequent refusal to do any interviews whatsoever has had the opposite effect, bathing the frontman in a more enigmatic light. "It's definitely been made a bigger deal out of than it should've been," reasons Geddes. "He'd done a few interviews, wasn't happy with the way they put the band across, so he decided not to do them. I don't see anything abnormal about that." "I think it was a lot to do with him being misquoted and stuff," Colburn offers. "He just wasn't happy with being interviewed and then reading it all jumbled up." (Q subsequently offers Murdoch an opportunity to tape any form of interview he might agree to, in an effort to assure him that he wouldn't be misquoted. He declines, relaying a message via his press officer that "he really doesn't like talking about himself".) Belle & Sebastian's attitude to promotional photographs of themselves has been weirder still. To date, these have included: album covers featuring shots of friends, one breast-feeding a toy tiger; a group painting with the supposed band members (more of their friends) posing in the background; cellist Campbell with her face obscured by a surgical mask and a re-enactment of The Last Supper featuring a smattering of B&S members and - hey - their pals. "We just want pictures to look good," Geddes insists, "and basically most snapshots of eight-piece bands look awful. I don't see why there's a problem. There are photos of everyone in the band. It's not like we're like (hides head under jacket). It's just not wanting to have too many crap-looking pictures. The Daily Mail took a photo of all of us backstage after a gig and we're just sat around looking awful." The consequent lack of a band identity gives the group's constituents plenty of room for manoeuvre. Less a band, more a confederation of independent states, most have other musical projects on the go. Stuart David's short stories-with-samplers project, Looper, is already attracting attention, while Isobel Campbell plays a major role on The Gentle Waves' debut album, The Green Fields Of Foreverland. Stevie Jackson helps out The Secret Goldfish. Colburn assists Camera Obscura. Colburn and Campbell played on Snow Patrol's Songs For Polar Bears and Chris Geddes, Murdoch and Campbell are on the first Arab Strap album. Geddes is in the dancey V-Twin and DJs as Twin Tub. And that's probably just the tip of the iceberg. So far it's Belle & Sebastian who have captured the public's imagination. Record buyers want to know about them, so isn't there a responsibility to communicate with the public, even via the press? "I disagree," argues Geddes. "If people have a right to demand anything of you, it's that you make good records. If you go out of your way to be a media pop star, then you will get to a point where people can legitimately say, Well this is the sphere you operate in, you do have these obligations. But, I mean, all we've ever set ourselves up as was a bunch of people making records and as far as I'm concerned, that's the only responsibility we've got^Å" oday, Belle & Sebastian are doing a bad impression of a "difficult" band. Rather than mystique-mongering, Colburn describes the artful troupe as basically comprising "six blokes and two birds". They're keen to explode certain other myths about themselves, including that they snubbed the offer of a support slot from Radiohead ("It was in South East Asia and we couldn't get the backing because we're on such a small label"), that when performing live they play ridiculously quietly to test the patience of the audience ("There's folk playing recorders and the cello^Å we're not AC/DC or The Who") and that they turned down Top Of The Pops for This Is Just A Modern Rock Song ("Top Of The Pops is definitely one of the few collective ambitions the band has^Å the record just didn't go in the charts high enough"). Even the suggestion that two members turning up at the Brits seemed like not-a-very-Belle-&-Sebastian-thing-to-do is roundly rebuffed by Colburn: "It would've been a fairly obvious thing not to go because of The Verve refusing and stuff. You get invited to a party, so you go." As regards Pete Waterman's vote-rigging allegations, Chris Geddes is keen to point out that B&S fans are highly Web-literate (their site averages 200,000 hits per week). "We've got 60,000 fans or something," he states, "and out of them, it's understandable that 10,000 bothered to vote. OK, Steps have got a fan club of half a million, but they couldn't be bothered to vote." For the record, then, the keyboardist did personally vote in The Sun's phone poll recount. "The whole thing was hilarious," he grins. "In the space of three days, we'd become household names without leaving the flat^Å" While that sentence alone seems to sum up Belle & Sebastian and everything might appear rosy in their world, an uncomfortable atmosphere descends when Q accompanies the pair back to CaVa Studios. Stuart Murdoch, it transpires, is working in the basement studio below our very feet. Ever-diplomatic, Colburn shrugs in explanation, "It'd be great to hang out, but y'know, the rest of the band are downstairs and stuff^Å" Hiding, effectively. Perhaps, in retreating further into the shadows, Stuart Murdoch is complicating matters for himself, with what appears to be a mediaphobia. Moreover, if Belle & Sebastian's profile and sales increase, it seems unlikely that anyone close to him will dare question his strategy. "Say if Paul Simon or Bob Dylan or one of those type of people turned up on your doorstep," Jeepster's Mark Jones offers, drawing mighty parallels. "You'd kind of have to think, You're absolutely amazing^Å you can do whatever you want." ************************************************************************ Q BackIssues are available either by calling the back issues line on 01858 435341 or write to them at Tower House, Sovereign Park, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, LE16 9EF, U.K. cheers, Katrina. -- ************************************************************************ jeepster recordings ltd. - mailto:a-and-r@jeepster.co.uk http://www.jeepster.co.uk/ ***we are moving on april 1st 1999!*** new postal address is po box 14153, london, sw11 4xu, u.k. tel: 0171 924 2324, fax: 0171 924 6161 +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "nambling pambling rice pudding & crochet holiday camp +-+ +-+ gangwanking whimsy-thon" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: shall we shag now or shall we shag at bowlie?
by jessica 13 Apr '99

13 Apr '99

hi listies, i've no doubt that this lack of sinister messages means you are all discussing amongst yourselves ways to get me to bowlie. because it would mean a serious lack of fun and excitement were i not there, not to mention a noticeable dent in the sinister celebrity quotient. so get back to thinking. if you needed encouragement, i've now got a photo on the sinister photo page. can i enter the bowlie photo contest even if i don't go, by sending a photo of myself in a vest? i'm onto a winner here, i think. as a matter of fact, if you would like to see a photo of me in the process of removing my vest, go here: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Styx/3733 yes kids, you have already won. wholesome, jessicaxo * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * someone had spied on us, i suppose, as we sat beside the canal and ate the sandwiches, drinking not even orangeade or coca-cola but hot milk out of a thermos. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * t i n y s t a r @ w o r l d y . c o m (it's lovely being a girl) +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "nambling pambling rice pudding & crochet holiday camp +-+ +-+ gangwanking whimsy-thon" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Jeepster News ... (B&S releated of course!)
by Katrina House 13 Apr '99

13 Apr '99

hello, here is the news: ***The Gentle Waves*** the album "The Green Fields of Foreverland" will be released on CD in the U.S. on May 4th through Jeepster/Never Records and is distributed by Proper Distribution. we've already had a review at Spin Online, if you want to check it out the URL is: http://www.spin.com/noise/news/art-19990409-new1/ Isobel has asked us to let you know the following regarding the gig @ The Mitchell Theatre in Glasgow on Saturday April 10th ... "i would like to apologise for the strange positioning of the cinema screen at last nights concert. the "technical" manager's interpretation of front of stage (centre in fact) was very different from our own. stuart and i tried everything to penetrate some district council consciousness but failed miserably. it was saturday afterall? as for lighting and bar staff, well, i suppose it's just municipal tradition." we haven't heard any reports back from anyone with regards to the gig, but apparently the council weren't particularly helpful in setting up the gig. :( But here's the review from the London gig which is in this weeks NME: "Easter Sunday and we're in the church of the poison mind. Presiding over services is Isobel Campbell, Belle & Sebastian's blondely angelic cellist. Pretty much everyone in the Gentle Waves congregation is also in B&S , which makes for a cosy atmosphere. They trade brass and strings, while Isobel trills softly-sung tales of woodland creatures, starry nights and existential misery. To illustrate the point, we are also treated to two grainy, tres French short films by Francois Trauffaut which mediate on the way youth's innocence is lost in the face of cruel, unimaginative reality. This is Campbell's muse, and although it reeks of coffee-house pretension, these fey affections are twisted into such incredibly winning, meltingly lush melodies that you can't help but succumb. Rather like Belle & Sebastian, actually. Appropriately black of jumper and timid of demeanour, Campbell leads her unmerry band through the delicately orchestrated lullabies that make her Gentle Waves record such an understated treasure. There's the slender metronomic chant of "Hangman In The Shadow", the folky pastoralism of "Evensong", the Carpenters sweep of "Dirty Snow For The Broken Ground". The sombre tone is lifted only briefly by "Weatherhosw", when a bearded man gives the vibraphone a vigorous frisking. Sadly, Campbell's thorny nursery rhymes are too fragile to make much impact beyond the B&S fraternity; they seem meant to be listened to once and then sealed in rose-scented boxes. But deep in the hearts of the quietly glum, no doubt they will be worshipped forever. - April Long (c) NME, April 1999." ***Belle & Sebastian*** are in rehearsals for their Bowlie and Dublin appearances, the next release will be "Tigermilk", which contrary to other information has NOT yet been allocated a release date, but needless to say it will be in the summer sometime! again, we'll let you know when we have more info blah blah blah ... wee Chris has another DJ'ing venture this weekend @ "The Hip-Trip" which is at Alaska in Bath Lane, Glasgow on Sunday 18th April from about 11.00pm onwards. it's lovely! :) ***Looper*** have just returned from a successful promo tour in Belgium + Amsterdam where they did a session for the National Radio station VPRO. they're in rehearsals at the moment putting a together a "live" band for their Bowlie appearance, so if you've got tickets it'll be a first! ************************************************************************ quick plug for non-Jeepster band sodastream ... :) to coincide with their Bowlie appearance, they also play the following gigs around the country: *friday 16th april - london, poetry cafe, headlining, onstage @ 9.30pm, entry is £3 on the door (thanks to wicked stevie trousers!) *saturday 17th april - glasgow, nice n' sleazy's, supporting salako, onstage @ 10.00pm, entry is £3.50 on the door (thanks to mr stuart lee murdoch!) *sunday 18th april - hull, adelphi, headlining with Fonda 500 in support, onstage approximately 9.30pm, entry is £3.00 on the door (thanks to those rascally boys Salako!) *wednesday 21st april - leicester, the factory, headlining with l'augmentation in support) onstage approximately 9.30pm, entry is £3.00 on the door (thanks to the lovely Nigel @ Pickled Egg!) *thursday 22nd april - sheffield, supporting the delgados at their bowlie warm-up, details tbc (thanks to the Delgados!) *saturday 24th april - camber sands, bowlie weekender indie fest *friday 30th april - london, rough trade talbot road w11, instore appearance, time tbc (thanks to nigel + delia @ rough trade) plus on their way back to melbourne they're stopping off in perth and playing south-west and perth dates from 5th - 9th may :) check out the bands website at http://listen.to/sodastream/ ************************************************************************ alrighty, that's it for now! speak to you all again soon :) cheers, Katrina. -- ************************************************************************ jeepster recordings ltd. - mailto:a-and-r@jeepster.co.uk http://www.jeepster.co.uk/ ***we are moving on april 1st 1999!*** new postal address is po box 14153, london, sw11 4xu, u.k. tel: 0171 924 2324, fax: 0171 924 6161 +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "nambling pambling rice pudding & crochet holiday camp +-+ +-+ gangwanking whimsy-thon" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Tube truffles-not bus love
by Magpie Jay 13 Apr '99

13 Apr '99

Adventures on the buses of London? No not buses son, Im afraid its far more serious than that, tubes. And while it wasnt a blooming romance or even romantically angled, it was surely noteworthy on the courage to face facial zoners front, hence my paws rest in your boxes. It was a work colleagues leaving do, so she naturally bought me a box of Milk tray (!). Later I sat with my tube buddy Bangtail Burns on the Bakerloo line, trundling home, cellophane veiled choccies on my lap.Now wee burns has a penchant for foodstuffs, especially of the sweet variety, and, well, basically she wouldnt leave me alone. Oooooh Johnny, please can I have a choccie? she whined. No, Im saving them for a (an unspecified) special occasion I replied, to a miffed bangtail. She continued to pester and harang my lap for another three stops, as the traditionally zoning and youre not there, really youre not, I cant see you fellow commuters smiled from the corners of their mouths at her drooling desparation. Not seeing why I should continue to suffer the humiliation in public, I tell Burns her choccie gobs fate rests on the opinion of a stranger. I turn to the spocky looking Mac clad chap to my right and illicited an opinion as to whether I should open the chocolate box. I seeenk, you should geeeeve zeeee ladeeee vun he said (being French and all), I shook on the deal with him, binding burns to just one choc, as I tear open the wrapping. Naturally I offer our spotty frog fiend a choc, and he greedily gobbles, still reluctant to admit defeat by Tracey, I stand up and walk down the carriage offering choccies to all the strange tube folk who spied on our debate. Bizarrely very few accepted, some looked at me like I was some kind of tube looper, others blankly refused and waved me away. Its not as if I even could have had a chance to poison the chocolates, they saw me unwrap them and devour some myself, so even when strangers offer kindness on public transport it is frowned upon. Thankfully, one couple accepted an orange truffle and hazelnut swirl each, and my trip wasnt redundant, Tracey managed to gob a few handfuls too. So there you have it, not quite tube love, but a slight conquering of commutercamelism. In terms of tube love, I never can return those alluring stares from strangers, I just shy away, and spend the rest of the journey admiring their reflections in the window to avoid eye contact. On the crazy commuter front, i also heard a fantastic new word last weekend, it describes those annoying people (especially on Oxford Street) who get in your way on the path/sidewalk walking in random directions while staring into space, forcing you to gutter step some.The word is 'Meanderthol' and it is my gift to you all. A Bowlieless Jay http://members.tripod.com/john_kerswell/star.html ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "nambling pambling rice pudding & crochet holiday camp +-+ +-+ gangwanking whimsy-thon" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Very Gentle Waves
by Chris Jones 13 Apr '99

13 Apr '99

chris.jones(a)saqnet.co.uk http://www.saqnet.co.uk/users/saxtead/chris.htm I have just bought 'The Green Fields...' and I'm listening to it now. So far it's impressed, although I agree that it is slightly disappointing not to have a few more Evensong's or Weathershow's. Is it just me, or does Isobel get quieter and quieter throughout the album? It is very beautiful though, and it's much better than the reviews claim. When is Tigermilk due for UK release? Will it be a 'regular' price, because I saw a copy advertised in the NME for £18.99 or something like that? Chris Jones. +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "nambling pambling rice pudding & crochet holiday camp +-+ +-+ gangwanking whimsy-thon" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: What's up,doc?
by Arantxa Sanz 13 Apr '99

13 Apr '99

Wah, Sinister,dear,are you ill? You look a bit inactive lately,is it a plain ,dull flu or is it the nervousness because Camber Sands is around the corner? I can understand you perfectly,as when I was eight ,the night before going to a summer camp at the top of the mountains (like Heidi!) I couldn't sleep at all,had no dinner and my mummy was very worried about the state I was in just before the only days in the year while I wasn't going to be under her eye. We are one thousand,or nearly.In Spain during the 60's,those wonder years when Massiel snatched Eurovision from astonished Sir Cliff's pure hands and nobody could wear legally a bikini at our sunny seaside,when some fortunate tourist made some magic number,like 20 millions or so, to visit our country he was received when landing by all the local and not so local authorities lavishing all sort of attentions on his honor,like traditional food and wine,traditional dances,and handed him some badge which proclaimed proudly : TURISTA NUMERO 20.000.000.It is just a suggestion that when arriving at Camber's reception,maybe the big ones in the list headed by Mummy Honey could perform some similar ceremony if the fortunate 1000th sinisterite acquiesces in it. About the 'I dont know how it started but it was out there' topic on school uniforms, mine was a pleated ,navy blue pinafore and white shirt or poloneck.I agree with Mary Elia,( I believe it was you),it was bloody hot in June to wear a wolly pinafore and if sitting by the window we resembled chicken in an oven.I remember some friend saying not long ago she couldn't bother about navy blue clothes because they will always mean for her stupid rules to follow when you are a kid and society ,represented by education,tries to tame you. I nodded ,but suddenly I realised I love navy blue and spent my whole childhood moaning about the uniform.They have tamed me,who will take out the wild part of me? Not carrying any navy blue clothes to the Bowlie,promise Arantxa +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "nambling pambling rice pudding & crochet holiday camp +-+ +-+ gangwanking whimsy-thon" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Anti bus love- tube truffles
by Magpie Jay 13 Apr '99

13 Apr '99

Adventures on the buses of London? No not buses son, Im afraid its far more serious than that, tubes. And while it wasnt a blooming romance or even romantically angled, it was surely noteworthy on the courage to face facial zoners front, hence my paws rest in your boxes. It was a work colleagues leaving do, so she naturally bought me a box of Milk tray (!). Later I sat with my tube buddy Bangtail Burns on the Bakerloo line, trundling home, cellophane veiled choccies on my lap. Now wee burns has a penchant for foodstuffs, especially of the sweet variety, and, well, basically she wouldnt leave me alone. Oooooh Johnny, please can I have a choccie? she whined. No, Im saving them for a (an unspecified) special occasion I replied, to a miffed bangtail. She continued to pester and harang my lap for another three stops, as the traditionally zoning and youre not there, really youre not, I cant see you fellow commuters smiled from the corners of their mouths at her drooling desparation. Not seeing why I should continue to suffer the humiliation in public, I tell Burns her choccie gobs fate rests on the opinion of a stranger. I turn to the spocky looking Mac clad chap to my right and illicited an opinion as to whether I should open the chocolate box. I seeenk, you should geeeeve zeeee ladeeee vun he said (being French and all), I shook on the deal with him, binding burns to just one choc, as I tear open the wrapping. Naturally I offer our spotty frog fiend a choc, and he greedily gobbles, still reluctant to admit defeat by Tracey, I stand up and walk down the carriage offering choccies to all the strange tube folk who spied on our debate. Bizarrely very few accepted, some looked at me like I was some kind of tube looper, others blankly refused and waved me away. Its not as if I even could have had a chance to poison the chocolates, they saw me unwrap them and devour some myself, so even when strangers offer kindness on public transport it is frowned upon. Thankfully, one couple accepted an orange truffle and hazelnut swirl each, and my trip wasnt redundant, Tracey managed to gob a few handfuls too. So there you have it, not quite tube love, but a slight conquering of commutercamelism. In terms of tube love, I never can return those alluring stares from strangers, I just shy away, and spend the rest of the journey admiring their reflections in the window to avoid eye contact. On the crazy commuter front, i also heard a fantastic new word last weekend, it describes those annoying people (especially on Oxford Street) who get in your way on the path/sidewalk walking in random directions while staring into space, forcing you to gutter step some. The word is 'Meanderthol' and it is my gift to you all. Jay http://members.tripod.com/john_kerswell/star.html ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "nambling pambling rice pudding & crochet holiday camp +-+ +-+ gangwanking whimsy-thon" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Just a Quickie Before I Go...
by PJMiller 13 Apr '99

13 Apr '99

...to say HAPPY THAI NEW YEAR to all the Thais on the list. I realise that I'm exposing myself to the kind of rage caused by the Jack Kerouac's birthday scandal, but I can't think of anything else to say. Have we had anymore Glasgow picnic stories yet? If not, why not? Were Isobel's mum and dad in the audience at the Gerbil Weetabix concert? Sister Disco +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "nambling pambling rice pudding & crochet holiday camp +-+ +-+ gangwanking whimsy-thon" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Roseeeeeeetah!
by weejay 13 Apr '99

13 Apr '99

Yeah, I'm back, not that I've been away really, but I was a bit down and didn't post or use the computer for that matter much at all. I see that we have nearly reached 1000 subscribers - 13 to go as I write this. Does anyone think we should have some sort of prize for that 1000th person? But only if we all promise not to cheat, yeah? Anyway, I've got a reason to post now, even if it is a tad off- topic. Last night I went to see Rosita at the Joiners' Arms (our friendly local toilet venue) and they were just, oooh, amazingly good. Oh, I don't suppose most of you know, but Rosita = Emmy- Kate & Marie from Kenickie plus 3 others. At the end of the set I tried to find my friends but they'd all dissapeared and after searching for them for 30 mins or so I walked home, covered in glitter, through southampton's roughest area on my own in the dark. Later I bumped into two of said freinds and they said that the band had been shit, that they'd been heckling them, and that they'd left halfway through to go to a nightclub without me. Well, we had a terrible row of course, I mean it was like a religious experience for me, the best gig I've been to since august last year and my 'friends' behaving in such a way, well, it just really got to me. What should I do, oh sinisterines? Remember, these are people who also taunt me with "thing a thong about your dweam of hortheth" which they find terribly amusing. Better find some new friends I suppose. james. Blue Glow is now at http://diskant.future.easyspace.com/blueglow/ (This network is as sick as a dog. If you can't get through try maleslut(a)chickmail.com instead) +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "nambling pambling rice pudding & crochet holiday camp +-+ +-+ gangwanking whimsy-thon" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: The Gentle Waves
by Katrina House 13 Apr '99

13 Apr '99

hello, just thought you might all be interested ... the following news story is currently up on the SPIN.com website: http://www.spin.com/noise/news/art-19990409-new1/ The Gentle Waves: Second Wave of Belle and Sebastian Solo Projects Belle and Sebastian's vocalist Isobel Campbell is preparing to release The Green Fields of Foreverland, the debut disc from her solo project, the Gentle Waves. B&S bassist Stuart David's side project, Looper, released their nutty but critically acclaimed disc Up A Tree this March on Sub Pop. Campbell's sound is less experimental, boasting a Nick Drake/Joni Mitchell influenced, retro folk-pop sound, not dissimilar from "Is It Wicked Not to Care?" from The Boy with the Arab Strap. Those who crave a larger helping of such a thing, should look for it on May 4 from B&S's U.K. label, Jeepster. cheers, Katrina. -- ************************************************************************ jeepster recordings ltd. - mailto:a-and-r@jeepster.co.uk http://www.jeepster.co.uk/ ***we are moving on april 1st 1999!*** new postal address is po box 14153, london, sw11 4xu, u.k. tel: 0171 924 2324, fax: 0171 924 6161 +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the reborn Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail "sinister(a)majordomo.net". To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to "majordomo(a)majordomo.net". WWW: http://www.majordomo.net/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "nambling pambling rice pudding & crochet holiday camp +-+ +-+ gangwanking whimsy-thon" +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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