May 2000 - Sinister - missprint.org

Sinister: mythical cheesy snacks
by The Fragrant World Of Princess Honey 03 May '00

03 May '00

Not speaking as list mummy you understand but as Honey, listee... I don't what all the fuss about selling out is about. If I was a "pop" band and sold out Wembley Arena I'd be very pleased and tell my gran, if she was still alive. Am I missing some intricate ethical point about leaving some seats unoccupied so that older people or small children could have them or something? What's interesting about Sinister again just now (and as you all know, Sinister is really a mass public experiment, a microcosm of society: you are all in a bowl under a microscope and I get paid by the goverment to do this) is that on the "sell-out" topic we seem to have had one or maybe two mails about Top Of The Pops or something, saying "not that I'm saying they're *really* selling out.." and then a barrage of other mails saying "they're not selling out!!". Oo it's like 1999, or 1997 all over again. And then others saying "well I don't really agree about the selling out thing because I'm not sure it means much but in 1997..", indicating disappointment that the band aren't doing what they "did" "before". If you make a pop band in your own image, and interpret their every move as clever subversive shenanigans, you might consider that it might be because they aren't very good or comfortable or trusting with cameras and journalists and things or just think it's a bit stupid; and when they get a bit happier, or feel they need to say something, or feel it might be fun to do a Beatles-style conference because after all they'd only be watching TV in Glasgow if they didn't, or, indeed, make a strategic error, break all the microphones before they start, swallow a cheesy snack the wrong way and end up having an embarrassing coughing fit that makes the front of "Smash Hits", you might want to try and reassess why you liked LPs 1 and 2 so much. You might find it was because of the music, and/or in various measures because you had a feeling the people behind the music were interesting, or nice, or pleasantly odd, or kind, or a bit like you, or not like you but more like the kind of people you'd like to talk to in a train station for a bit. Or you might find it was because you thought they were media terrorists, subverters of mass content, clever manipulators of the global structures that surround us, in which case you might not like them much after album nos. 3 or 4. If I started to feel that way I might start to ask if my own personal myth about what the band were trying to do was actually my own personal myth, particular if I missed the myths (try saying that when you've drunk a shandy) I had when I were 16. It's just that they probably won't be able to live up to those ideas maybe? Particularly if they're mine and not actually theirs? They might've just been a particularly nice set of people in Glasgow who bumbled along mostly like the rest of us, but had the lucky gift of mostly being a bit happier together than they were apart, a certain lightness of touch to all things public, and a certain finesse at handling the somewhat murkier world of people who like to represent or shrink-wrap their kind of creativity. And then they decided they might try and shrink-wrap it too for a bit even though it was a bit of an odd thing to do, but so other people could hear it, seeing some seemed to like it. And they found a business who saw the opportunity to make some cash and at the same time listen to something they quite liked, a business that was smaller than some of the others and so more or less promised to let them do it how they wanted, because that's how they'd keep them, and mostly they did. So they thought it might be something to do for a bit. And hey, it was fun. And if they did a single that wasn't like the other singles, and was shorter and you couldn't hear the last minute of the final song without buying two versions, yes you might pause and wonder why and look at them askance for a minute or two. But you could ask them why they did that, I guess. Of course if you don't think their songs are as good as they were before, that's a different point. Honey x P.S. list anti-crush, yes Denise, but a few kinder people than me convinced me it might be a bad idea :) I'll start taking private votes again. But don't come running to me when you've got 10 hate votes and you don't know WHY and it makes you CRY! +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

1 0

Sinister: In the days when you were hopeless before, I just liked you more
by Nick.Dastoor＠guardian.co.uk 03 May '00

03 May '00

It was a bit clumsy, but I used to prefer it when that's how the line went. Anyway, I think we're all getting a bit teary. Mass hysteria caused by excesive snooker. 33 frames indeed. It's madness! Once, on one of the crappy TV outtakes shows, they showed a clip of a local news reporter doing a Vox Pop on some people sunbathing in the park: Interviewer: "Excuse me sir, if I said 'malignant melanoma" to you, would what you know what I meant?" Man in Park: "Err yes, I'm a epidemiologist specialising in skin cancer" For some reason I was reminded of this by all the "Hey that duke guy's got no idea what he's talking about" This is not to say that the duke is better qualified than anyone else to talk about such things* but some of you youngsters have NO IDEA how many years this man has spent pondering what it means to be P!O!P! Like he says, check back in the archives. Or don't. My own feeling is that the key members of the band were never satisfied with the way the early records (so beloved of the duke) sounded. I think there's a incontinuity between the indie purity of their design ethic/image and their musical ambition. See I think they always wanted to transcend the folksy arrangements and lyrical concerns of the first two albums. Weren't they really unhappy with the way songs like 'Get me away from here, I'm dying' got recorded? They wanted a bigger, Stax-y sound didn't they? And look at how they go out of the way to choose diverse, never-indie records when they're invited onto radio shows. Wasn't it some time ago that Stuart was quoted as saying that in the past he'd write the words first (or little acoustic strums), whereas lately he'd been trying to writing 'proper songs'? None of this invalidates what the duke says, and his friend is right to say somewhere in his reappraisal of some (probably dodgy-as-hell) indie-dance collective from 1990 that artists aren't the best judges of their own work ( http://www.tangents.co.uk/tangents/popular/sfs.html) I don't know, I've heard rumours of their dissatisfaction with the way both TWATTYBUS and FISHYLAP turned out too. Miserable sods. As for the charts, some people in the US might not appreciate that the charts here are very different to the ones in your country. They are exlusively based on singles sales, and themodern single-buying market consists largely of a)young kids b)indie/rock obsessives who want every bonus track c)DJs and other people up with dance music. Thus it's a weird place, and not a yardstick of what the nation's tastes are. Whoever had that bet with their mate sounds like he's onto a winner to me - I have no doubt that 'Legal Man' will enter the charts very high but this doesn't mean that Steps fans have been won over. Conversely, if, as seems likely, it drops like a stone two weeks later, this doesn't mean that no one who heard it on the radio or TOTP has been won over by it. But they'll probably want to buy an album and be annoyed to find the track isn't going to be on one. This 'no-singles off albums' policy is very cool and everything, but I know for a fact it pisses off/bewilders most casual music fans. I'm just saying. As for the Legal Man 12"/CD single rip off, my best guess is that it's been done to make the CD single eligible for the charts. If the extendeddickslap is too long it might push the total over the 20 minute maximum (I think that's right) that the chart rules allow for singles. I guess they reckoned they could afford to lose the 12" sales. If this isn't the reason then they really are being scummy. I think I'll learn to cope with a shorter Dick Slap. Nick xx * thankfully, formal certificates in pop music appreciation have not yet attained widespread recognition. Just as well, as I failed to complete the 'hobby' section of my DofE bronze award scheme. 'Pop Music Appreciation' sounded a great wheeze, but on the back of the info card it suggested tracing the development of the UK skiffle band scene and I was bewildered. +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

1 0

Sinister: beheading the bored and the boring ones but not the band
by Glen 03 May '00

03 May '00

Hey yo That thing with that girl... you don't want to hear about it. (No joke, you actually don't) All this talk of B&S selling out is making me sick, if they do (which they won't) they'll be going against everything they stood for back in the day. "Another Century Of Fakers" comes to mind. Anyway I was supposed to write a creative essay (ie story) for before Christmas and I'm thinking I need to start it. I was going to copy the story off "Lazy Line Painter Jane", but I decided against it. If anyone has any creative ideas mail me. I had a dream last night that Belle And Sebastian REALLY DID sell out, so much so that Isobel and Sarah appeared on the front cover of Maxim, and all the 13 year old boys who buy it were putting pictures of the twee ones on their walls. Then everyone on Sinister came and killed the band, beheaded Stuart M and put his head on a big spike and paraded it through London. Obviously this will never happen. We hope... Glen +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

1 0

Sinister: Chim-Chim-CherooOOOooooOOoo
by Peter Miller 03 May '00

03 May '00

Hello, my name is Luka, I live on the second floor. You must all think I was born yesterday. No way has anyone heard the new B&S album a month before the release date! You must think I'm stupid or somefink. I don't want "Winter Wooskie". As far as I'm concenered, they can stick "Winter Wooskie" up their arses. But I haven't got a record player, so that's me buggered. What's it called when you stop being humble? I think that's what happened to some of B&S. It's like a Smiths song - I just liked you more. Hands up who remembers Derek Jarman? I'm not much of a one for his films, but I could sit and listen to him talk for hours. Once he was talking about the budget he had to make a Pet Shop Boys video and how he thought to himself "Blimey, I could make a feature film for that money". The news that Isobel was directing the "Legal Man" video made me think of that, I don't know why. I hope the video's as dodgy as the promotional postcard I got the other day. It looks like some ladies are going to kill a young gentleman. It's on Disques Jeepster International! French is so sexy. Nice to hear from Duke and Tim again. Things have certainly changed, because I agree with most of what Duke said. By the way Duke, I don't normally do interviews, but my lawyers have advised me to state that any resemblence to persons living, dead or from Sidmouth is entirley coincidental. Actually, the affectionate pen portrait you refer to was inspired by the thought of Keith "giving it some chimney". Are The Visitors really going to release an album? Sell-outs. love, Peter +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

1 0

Sinister: It's Funny ...
by vradelis stelios 03 May '00

03 May '00

Yeah ... It's funny how things make sense when you're lonely. Anyway ... i've been in Paris for a while. Anyone from Paris here? Paris is such a cool place to walk around with your headphones, listening to music, looking at people, places ... I'm not french. I don't even speak it that well ... but french is sooo beautiful. Absolutely twee. *Twee and proud* "She has the same disease as you and me looking for a love unseen .." Shine On, BlueBoy. __________________________________________________ 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 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

1 0

Re: Sinister: girls ARE scary. Boys are scary too.
by Toby Blake 03 May '00

03 May '00

Katy said: > Scary girls, all of 'em. I mean, who else would enjoy going out and > listening to 'trance' music every night, pulling a minimum of 7 > highly-gelled blokes, buying new covers for their mobile phones and > bringing their laptops to school? Only scary girls. Christ Almighty. Is this what school is like these days? Back in my day, you only got slagged off about your trainers. These days it seems you have to be wary of laptop and mobile phone conformance too? And that's before any mention of highly-gelled anything or trance. Back in my day you had tunes you could hum, such as early Fall and My Bloody Valentine, etc. Youngsters these days, tsk. Toby, 27 going on 87 +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

1 0

Sinister: B&S Go Betweens
by Peter Brown 03 May '00

03 May '00

I can't believe all this brouhaha over B&S trying to be more popular. It's all about the music and whether they are more or less popular as a result is of no great concern to me, although I wish them all the best. If Legal Man makes them more successful all the better for them. If the music has changed I think it's up to whether you like it or not, and attributing intentions towards them of selling is unfair and probably unfounded. Popular should not equal bad. Steps off soapbox. By the way in Australia a B&S ball is a where country ladies and gents get pissed in a large shed and sleep with at least one person in a car or under a haystack somewhere, and wake up the next morning with many regrets. Oh and thanks to the gentleman who has been sending mails about the Go Betweens to the list. Being a 30 something Sydney boy it brings back many fond memories of seeing them live in the 80s. Actually last year Grant and Robert played a gig in Sydney, and both seemed to be well and truly soused, but played wonderfully to an appreciative crowd, and even signed my albums after the show(how naff of me to bring them). Oh and Robert looked absolutely fetching in a canary coloured suit although he looks much better in dresses. And Amanda plays in a band in Sydney called Love Me (I think she still does). And Linda is the musical correspondent to the Tracee Hutshison radio show on 2BL 7pm-10pm in Sydney - this just means those two are good chums basically. +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

1 0

Sinister: Girls are scary, boys are scary...
by Mr Smiley 03 May '00

03 May '00

... but nobody is more scary than maniacs. I've been having maniac incidents this week you see. Like today, I was walking home from school and there were three scary looking men standing around looking shifty. As I walked rapidly past, one of them asked me if I had a light, to which I replied the negative and hurried on. This, in itself, is not too scary, I understand. But the reason I was in such a hurry to put quite a bit of distance between myself and these men is that one of them, not the one looking for a light, was holding what I can only describe as.... a big, fuck off knife. It was like a machete. And he was just brandishing it in broad daylight on a busy street at lunchtime. Obviously as maniacs go they weren't very good, because real maniacs make the effort to conceal any 8 inch blades they have about them. And then the other day I was walking down my street and this yoof was going the other way, and as we passed he spat. Imagine a Dickensian London scene where there's a guy in a top hat and a worker from the workhouse spits at his feet as he walks past. Except that I wasn't wearing a top hat and I know this yoof and he is absolutely loaded. He is a maniac, because he nutted a friend of mine without any good reason. But I find it quite funny that he likes to swagger around pretending he's from da ghetto, wearing his sports gear bought from Oxfam for the tough ghetto look. And driving around in his car with some bangin choons on occasionally stopping to nut people. He's not from the ghetto though, I know where he lives. He's from a plush leafy middle class suburban estate. Cheery bye, Mike 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 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

1 0

Sinister: raindrops keep falling on my head...
by Strawberrywindow＠aol.com 03 May '00

03 May '00

***************** 1st time boast ***************** hello everyone i'm a newbie...let me be honest...i have no idea who belle & sebastian are...i have been directed here by a friend who said that this is a good place to come if you are travelling abroad & looking for gullible folk willing to let a stranger stay with them...ok ok ok ... i'm kidding...he also said it was a good place to pick up girls as well... ********************************** that joke isn't funny anymore ********************************** no..no..really i have no idea who belle & sebastian are...are they a folk band...? ... i am intrigued...i quite like listening to cat stevens...and the new seekers...i'm sure i could get into them... ************************************ ok..ok...ok...in all seriousness ************************************ ok...i'll put my sensible head on now...i have heard of belle & sebastian...i'm just messing...i read with great admiration "the dukes" post...he more or less said everything that had to be said...i liked seeing the reference points..."love" ... oh yes...and "felt" ... most definitely...if i may humbly add the "mbv" thumbs up from b&s on "le pastie de la bourgeoisie"...but let me add as McCarthy once said" its a dirty world out there" ... anybody who has signed a record deal will know that the moment you sign...you have technically sold out...the moment the ink is dry you become a commodity...its a credit to jeepster that they have respected b&s principles for so long...because at the end of the day the job of any record company worth their salt is to make sure that their artists sell records and are heard by as many people as possible... the days when a band used to put out 4 & 5 track 12 "s & cds are long gone...b&s were perhaps one of the last...but i'm sort of glad...because i would be interested to see where they chart...with nothing but snide comments from the press and minimal play on the radio...i would be interested...i fully expect them to go crashing into the top 20 ( i would say top 10 but its a fact that if woolworths don't stock your record you have no chance of hitting the top 10! ) ...and the following week to go crashing out... because thats the sign of a band with a huge and loyal following...everyone who's going to buy it will buy it the day that it comes out... ****************************************************************************** ****************** i thought that if you had an acoustic guitar it meant that you were a protest singer! ****************************************************************************** ****************** i just had a funny thought...whenever i think about acoustic guitars...i think of that scene from "animal house"...with this hippy looking guy playing guitar surrounded by loads of doe eyed girls...john belushi (bluto) stops...looks at him with disgust...grabs his guitar and proceeds to smash it to pieces...then hands him back what's left of it ... and says with all sincerity....sorry...then he walks off...its a random moment of film genius...i love it... ****************** say goodbye... ****************** well kids its time to go...i'm off to look at the world through my strawberry tinted window...you could do much worse you know...i'm also attempting to soundtrack my life up until now...in just 90mins...its not easy i can tell you...+ i have this feeling that once i finish it all of a sudden i will drop dead!...which is an odd thought 'cos i've got space for one more song...i have decided its a straight choice between "raindrops keep falling on my head" & "south american getaway" both bacharach compositions both from the film "butch cassidy & the sundance kid"...i guess i shall spin a coin...i don't like to pick favourites... love and peace ... reynard the fox... x ****************************************************************************** *************** +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

1 0

Sinister: Date: Wed, 3 May 2000 12:41:25 +0100
by Williams Adam (Mr A) 03 May '00

03 May '00

What with all this polling malarkey going on for the finest B&S song yet committed to plastic, are there any that you can't stand? I mean, we're all fans and our loyalty shouldn't be called into question, but we also all like to think of ourselves as discerning souls, so there must be a few that (gasp!) we're not overawed by, yeah? Even the greatest songwriters will have the good/average works outweighing the real gold, with a couple of stinkers in to make life fair for inferior talents. Just thought I'd throw the idea in the mix for opinions. Personally, I find Fox in the Snow mildly emetic, but there ya go. Anyone else have one they have to skip, even if it means putting your coffee down and getting up of the floor to do so? > > > Anyhoo, can't let my Sinister cherry-popping be a wholly negative trip can I? So time to be good boy. This whole biz about coaches and romantic encounters: hmmm, not too sure. Maybe it's because these journeys over grey motorways through ever-reaching corridors of street-lit drizzle such soul-numbing endeavours we need to do something, anything to detach ourselves from their reality. This may take the form of random flirting, it may take the form of alcohol. Which may lead to random flirting. You see where I'm going here? I'm trying to solve the list's half-fear of the opposite sex. Get more drinking practice chaps and chapesses, but be careful. And only if you're old enough, natch. Don't want to encourage any illegality now do I? Alcopops are probably a good way to wean yourself into the giddy swirl. When I were a lad we had to rely on two litre bottles of warm cider in a nearby cemetery. You kids today don't know you're born... That's not much of an answer to how to get yourself talking to that girl/guy who 's in the seat next to you, I know, but it's better than nothing. Shells are boring places to dwell inside for too long. There are worse things in life than life itself. If you don't believe me, listen to a Bis record. Be slinky. a. +----------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +----------------------------------------------------------------------+

1 0