May 2000 - Sinister - missprint.org

Sinister: NME always was crap anyway
by Mr Smiley 17 May '00

17 May '00

Hullo, Jesus, selling out? Next you'll be telling me Stuart's on the front cover of the NME... oh bugger he is. And what the hell was that article about? I'm talking about the interview with Stuart here, by the way. It's obvious that the writer didn't like the music (he admitted this himself) and was just looking for an excuse to lay in to the band. And I think complaining that they don't do interviews is a stupid thing to do if you're then going to give them a right slagging. I mean, if I were Stuart I'd be well pissed off. So he phones up an NME journalist to discuss some things, one of these things being why they don't do much promo stuff, and the journalist goes away to write a bitchy article about them. It's hardly going to make the band think "oh goody, we really enjoy being called 'elitist without in anyway (sic) being special... perverse without being radical...self-conscious without being righteous', let's do more interviews. For the record, I never buy NME because it's crap. But I was fooled today by the big piccie of Stu on the front. I won't be fooled again, it's just confirmed my view that the NME has gotten lost somewhere around it's own small intestine. They seem obsessed with political stuff like Primal Scream (supposedly) and ADF... well fair enough, but bands that don't sing about their politics have a place too. God, I don't want to go shopping for a music paper and find out I've inadvertently bought a thinly disguised copy of Marxism Today. Oh yeah, and as for the supposed flood of sinister messages we're supposed to be getting... well I get about 1 digest a day, which is bang on fine as far as I'm concerned. And anyway, I don't think it's that unlikely that sinister will be a bit busy, what with the immanent release of a new EP and a new album (not to mention Geometrid). I'm sure once B&S disappear for another couple of years then the list will quieten down a bit anyway. I'm not being nasty, of course people should think before they write, it's just that I thought it was a bit obvious why lots of people were writing. Sorry Honey! [Checks watch] Hmmm. Not quite 15 minutes. [Goes off to make a cup of tea]...[returns] right that's about a quarter of an hour. Click! Platonic hugs, Mike ICQ: 73775341 Email - smiley(a)rebelmonkey.freeserve.co.uk The Black Den - http://www.rebelmonkey.freeserve.co.uk +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Advice for exam takers
by honey＠missprint.org 17 May '00

17 May '00

The latest entry for the band diary, again from Stuart, dedicated to all those taking exams right now. This will appear on the band WWW site soon I guess, when Mick recovers from the stunning defeat of Russia and Latvia by those clowns from Denmark in the Eurovision Song Contest. Apologies to anyone from Denmark on the list :) Honey x ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Diary Of A Band (17/5) Belle and Sebastian frontman Stuart Murdoch remembers his years at Glasgow University You'll be needing advice on how to get through your exams probably. I'm the worst person to ask. I failed the same exam four times before I finally packed it in. The results got progressively worse! How could it be! The first time I had a real go, and thought I'd passed it. I'd never failed an exam before! Higher Ordinary Physics it was. I failed it. I had the summer all planned out, but that really fucked it. I went to work anyway, my third year at Butlins in Ayr. I figured I'd come back a month before the exam and stay in deserted halls to get peace, really knuckle down, discover again the 'artistry' of Physics. Yeah right. I bought some records. I bought some clothes. I lived in a sleepy basement. I went to watch Orange Walks!! Actually, that last bit was a lie, but you get the picture. I did popmobility. I signed on, and walked by elaborate routes to do it. I made up alternate popmobility tapes and fantasised about me and the ladies in synch to New Order. My friends came back from their holidays and laughed at me. I think the examiner must have had a chuckle too, because I wrote a lot of pish in the exam. I don't know why I'm telling you this. I mean, I hope you can avoid doing the same, but I know there's no way of avoiding your own fuck-ups. So I went back and repeated the year. I was definitely in denial. I even did all the labs again. I'm surprised the staff were as pleasant as they were to me. I pretended I was a lab technician, to avoid embarrassment. I went to all the lectures. Partly because I was paying for it. Mostly because in the year that had now engulfed me, there was a girl in the class. She had a wee brown splodge on her temple. She hid it under her bob. I watched the splodge all year. She watched the blackboard, and passed. I know, because she wasn't at the resit. How could someone who looked like that be good at Physics. It wasn't fair. By the time the resit came around again, all I could think of during the exam was the four records I was going to buy after the exam. My friend Lewis said that I would have been better just going in and writing a playlist. Later on, on a bog wall in the reading room, I saw written 'Fold your hands child, you walk like a peasant' It struck me as smart and mysterious. I was suddenly alive to the possibility that there were people around who, if they wanted, could bring the country weeping to its knees with a line of poetry. I set out to find them. Footnote Great and classic albums from Summer 1987 Sonic Youth 'Sister', The Go-Betweens 'Talullah', The Fall 'Bend Sinister' Stuart Murdoch +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: C-O-N-T- ENT it's coming back it's coming back
by Jennifer Phillips-Bacher 17 May '00

17 May '00

Sinister, I salute you! What a load of fun you've all been these last few weeks, eh? Now I remember why I joined the list in the first place: to talk about breakfast! I mean, the band of course. Silly. Two things: Firstly, does anyone know who we can thank for 'Legal Man'? There are no song-writing credits to be found on the cd, it's all a big mystery. A mystery wrapped in a conundrum shrouded in...oh, however that goes. Any information to the usual address, thanks. In regards to the extended dickslap, I'll take it, yessum. The non-extended (retracted?) version is totally dancetastic, it could go on for many more minutes and I'd be quite happy. The always-factfilled and delicious Scott wrote: I can actually see "Dick Slap" extended rather easily. It basically is three distinct parts ("Weathershow"/Jean-Jacques Perrey chug; Motown/Philly Soul bit; plaintive, piano-led bit) Yes! at the beginning of the song, I fully expect I.C. to chime in with some nonsense about birds and trees and stuff. Oh wait, Weathershow is the one Gentle Waves song I like, isn't it? Oh yeah. Oops. Sorry, Bel. Secondly, thanks to those who have described the video for 'Legal Man'. As I was reading all about it, one of the attorneys who works at this here law firm came into my library office to request use of the 3-hole punch. In my tired and caffeinated state, I imagined him, let's call him Bruce Braun, for that is his christian name, dancing like a soul boy. Well, at least it amused me momentarily. Then he broke my revelry by cursing loudly. The hole-punch is old and dull--in order to punch holes in anything more than 5 pages, one really must jump up and down, putting all body weight on the wrists and palms just to make it work. His exact words were "Piece of S---!". Eek! Thanks to Scott for posting the Vanity Fair piece. I think my favorite part is: "Worshiping in the House of Unattainable Loveliness, they make pristine melodies using trumpets, strings, even recorders, and sing about beautiful young track stars, homesickness, and "Judy" who dreams about horses. " What?? Even recorders! Why I never! Thanks for reading. I owe you one. I remain, Jennifer Phillips-Bacher xo ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: a piece about them now that they've made it
by Scott Plagenhoef 17 May '00

17 May '00

hello people: Poor Sarah! -- plunked into the back of Bel's video and bumped from the cover of the single in favor of Adrienne Payne. She's the Martha Wash of B&S. Brandt wrote: For the life of me I don't know how they could expand this song for the 12" (anyone have a running time on the 12" version) Well, apparently Matador has delayed the vinyl release -- supposedly it will be out next week. Maybe someone else knows for sure. The CD version is 4:05 and the entire CDS is just over 9 minutes, so that 20-minute chart limit is almost certainly not an issue. I can actually see "Dick Slap" extended rather easily. It basically is three distinct parts ("Weathershow"/Jean-Jacques Perrey chug; Motown/Philly Soul bit; plaintive, piano-led bit) each of which tops out at a maximum of two minutes. The last one might easily be dropped for the 12´´ and the other two could be expanded rather easily as they are both short -- or there could be extra bits that aren't on the CDS. All pointless speculation, of course. Anyway, I'm there will be loads of press for the band over the next few months -- and not all of it needs repeating here -- but, due to the bizarre locale and the overall hilarity of the feature, here is a little bit on the band that appears in the current US version of Vanity Fair. (Tom Cruise, with very greasy-looking hair, is on the cover; Struan and Isobel have wee pictures of them on the inside) Anyway, laugh riot starts here: (from pg. 236) TEA AND HARMONY Belle and Sebastian Bears Its Soul While U.K. lad bands such as Oasis and Blur feud on the pages of glossy magazines, Belle and Sebastian, the seven-member Glasgow band, is making music for the world's more sensitive souls. Founded four years ago by 30-year-old choirboy Stuart Murdoch, Belle and Sebastian prefers perfroming in churches to big arenas. The band is perplexed when it comes to the media ("Is this a ladies' bridal magazine?" one member asks V.F.) and they are so modest they can't bear to have their pictures taken. Worshiping in the House of Unattainable Loveliness, they make pristine melodies using trumpets, strings, even recorders, and sing about beautiful young track stars, homesickness, and "Judy" who dreams about horses. To Belle and Sebastian fans-"twentysomethings who work with computers," as trumpet player Mick Cooke describes themthe group's oblique lyrics, even when they verge on nonsense, express pain and elation exquisitely. But with their fourth album, FYHCYWLAP, confused, free-floating sexuality has given way to a more 70s soulfulness, and the band's twee image may be starting to crumble. As cellist Isobel Campbell puts it, "I think people have this fantasy that we get together and drink tea and eat cake." So, the New York/LA cultural establishment has its say. In the same issue they also tackle the debate about which Affleck brother is currently "in." (Hint: It's not Casey!) bye. scott. +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: legal man vid
by Katrina House 17 May '00

17 May '00

hiya, in response to carsmile steve's email re the vid and to pre-empt (sp?) more questions: * roseanne is the other maisonette, she's also on the front of the single sleeve with adrienne, stevie's girlfriend * chris + mick are onstage, there's one shot of the band where you can *just* see them all * stevie dreads is the magician (snake charmer) .. he normally drives the band's equipment around when they're on tour i hope someone will show the video for 'the wrong girl' now ... i saw it for the first time last night and it's brilliant - well done lance!!! norman blake plays stevie's dad and it's basically a mini-version of stevie's life and his luck with girls. i'm off to lurk again. cheers, katrina. banchory merchandising ltd. e-mail: shop(a)banchory.net po box 25074 glasgow g2 6yl scotland http://www.banchory.net +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: One more thing
by clb112 17 May '00

17 May '00

Talking of "dull", "unoriginal" etc, will there ever be a B&S review which doesn't use the phrase "gentle disposition" ??? Caroline xxx P.s. There's lots of geese babies about !!! As Yorksters will know (hello to you all, by the way). Thing is, we know what they grow into... +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Win Win Win
by clb112 17 May '00

17 May '00

Okay, I'm sure most of you have read it, but for those of you who haven't or don't want to waste £1.15 on a pile of shite... STEVEN WELLS SAYS: "Belle and Sebastian aren't 'performers', they're not a 'rock band', they're not 'pop stars' - they're a bunch of individuals who get together to make music and the music should speak for itself". This is "dull" - if this is the case "Why bother being in a band in the first place ?". I SAYS: Erm, maybe I'm just being "naive", but isn't it a GOOD thing ? Why bother being in a band if its NOT about the music. You could join a circus or the Socialist Worker Party instead. (Actually, join the Socialist Party of Great Britain (SPGB) instead - its better). STEVEN WELLS SAYS: B&S are distant and detached. I SAYS: So fucking what - they make good music. We don't want public idols to copy and read about in "Hello" magazine, we want fucking music to listen to. And anyway, aren't their lyrics anything but detached and distant ? (Hefner, of course, are the kings of lyricy...is that a word ?) Contrast, say, with emotionally-empty, formulaic, limp, impersonal, wishy-washy wanky Travis/Embrace/Oasis etc lyrics. STEVEN WELLS SAYS: B&S have a "conservative ideology" and are "disenaged" with politics. They're hampering the revolution (okay, so these last are not his EXACT words). I SAYS: Erm, we don't want people to tell us what to think (we think for ourselves thankyou), we want fucking music to listen to. Okay, so music CAN be politicised, but it doesn't HAVE to be, and there are plenty of other ways to make political points. Stop your pseudo-sociological gobshite - we'll buy "The Spectator" or something if that's what we want. STEVEN WELLS SAYS: B&S - "Stop the pouting". I SAYS: People should pout MORE. ********************************* Well, THAT'S B&S content. The coffee made me do it this time. If anyone can mail me a relevant Hefner song quote they'll win my spare copy of "The Hefner Soul". Lots and lots of LOVE to you all, Caroline xxx +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Swells
by Nick.Dastoor＠guardian.co.uk 17 May '00

17 May '00

Hello. I saw the 'Legal Man' video on MTV last night too. This was the first time I'd heard the song properly so I was concentrating on that more than the visuals. Steve's description is far better than I could manage. I never understand what's going on in videos and adverts until I've seen them a dozen times or someone else spells it out to me. So, the straight-laced suit is persuaded to let his hair down and shake his booty? Isn't that the hoariest pop promo trick in the book? Either that or ladies in bikinis. To me, the whole thing seemed a bit of a mess. Lots of things thrown in, lots of people in a room but no real directorial vision. Still, it was better than that godawful one for 'This Is Just A Modern Rock Song.' And Isobel does look a picture, despite the scowls. So does Stuart, in a funny kind of way. Up on the stage in his suit, guitar and winning smile, he reminded me of nothing so much as Michael J. Fox at the school dance in 'Back To The Future'. I'd love to see him do Teen Wolf. Sorry for being a pompous old grump in my last two posts, by the way. It won't happen again. And sorry for sending the second one three times. I didn't mean to. It was an Act of God. >His main thesis here is that the kids are finding "new and radical ways" to >fight against the "McFuture" Phew, that Steven Wells! So the future's Scottish? I wish someone had told me. Trying to argue with Steven Wells is like pissing in the wind all over Julie Burchill. Or something. I mean you could say to him "Hang on a minute - you recently stood up for the bloody BLUETONES in an interview, and B&S's songs are a damn sight more political than theirs." But what's the point? He *knows* his role is just to wind people up, and in the midst of the banalities that surround him in the NME, at least he's distinctive, if a bit repetitive after however many years. He's pretty weedy outside of the written word though. I heard him on a radio discussion show once and his combative style just sounded tired. He had that 'oh you're probably right but it's not part of my act to be even-handed' edge to his voice. I spoke to Joe Egg on the phone last night and tried to make him tell me who would be on stage at 2000 Tubby Teenagers. But he would only say that it 'would be quite special' and maybe 'even more special'. Bah. Nick "Peddling inarticulate self-satisfaction since 1973" xxx +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Legal Man thoughts message #437
by Brandt Fundak 17 May '00

17 May '00

I don't want to bore anyone, but I bought Legal Man yesterday, and I thought I would share my initial thoughts on it with you all. Legal Man-Keith Watson was high on this song but I have yet to be convinced. I think I need it to grow on me. But I am sure it will. Judy is a Dick Slap-I still don't know what a dick slap is, but this songs makes me want to dance. Not a good thing if you happen to be listening while at work. For the life of me I don't know how they could expand this song for the 12" (anyone have a running time on the 12" version) but I doubt it would be enough for me to throw down the extra cash. Winter Wooksie-Your average pop song. But I have a thing for pop songs, so of course I love this track. All in all I think the Legal Man EP is a good appetizer for the LP coming out in three weeks. Thanks for your time. Brandt ===== "Selma, Jub Jub is fantastic! He's everywhere you want to be!" --Troy McClure __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Send instant messages & get email alerts with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com/ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: steven wells, nME and a bollocks article
by Paul Arathoon 17 May '00

17 May '00

So, There it was Stuart on the NME's front cover. I buy it. I read the interview. I get angry. In 1500 words Steven Wells does the following. Insults the band for a number of reasons: Apparantly the fact that B&S want to make music rather than stand on a soapbox means they should have stayed in their bedroom. I tkae issue with this because I don't always want politicisation and furthermore I don't think their music would actually suit a hardcore political stance (unsurprisingly). He accuses the band of "peddling inarticulate self-satisfaction". hello, has he bothered to listen to any of the songs at all...He actually later admits that he never has liked the music. so why did he do the interview? His main thesis here is that the kids are finding "new and radical ways" to fight against the "McFuture" and that all B&S do is write songs. I take it Mr Wells is referring to the recently discovered new way of showing frustration. the street protest. Apparantly, the fact that B&S have private jokes that no one else understands also irks him. He attacks for the fans for, well basically for loving and believing in a band. Oh and for being inarticulate, deranged etc. Hey he even namechecks The Sinister List. "B&S are also self-concious which is intellectual laziness combined with snobbish elitism....." He doesn't think that maybe they are just a bit shy and introspective. Apparantly B&S aren't as good as ADF, Manics or Oasis becuase B&S' "self-conscious ideology is not in conflict with their showbiz reality". whatever the fuck that means. And I wouldn't say that any of the above bands are self-concious. In any way. read the article for yourself. It pissed me off. Maybe I am not detached enough. maybe I love B&S too much to be objective but I know crap desparate journalism when i see it. Paul p.s nice photo of Katrina though ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the undead Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo(a)missprint.org. WWW: http://www.missprint.org/sinister +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "tech-heads and students" +-+ +-+ "the cardie wearing biscuit nibbling belle & sebastian list" +-+ +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

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