January 2002 - Sinister - missprint.org

Sinister: Stuart Murdoch interview
by idleberry 20 Mar '02

20 Mar '02

Belle and Sebastian: Scots of the arch antics Forget Travis: Belle and Sebastian are your real sensitive indie band - they just aren't quite as famous. As Stuart Murdoch tells Fiona Sturges, it wasn't all about the limelight 30 November 2001 When Belle and Sebastian released their first album, Tigermilk, in 1996, Travis were still trawling London's toilet venues, Coldplay were at university and Starsailor didn't exist. Since then, sad, sensitive bands have become hard to avoid. Yet Belle and Sebastian, who are probably the saddest and most sensitive of them all, have yet to reach the dizzying commercial heights of their peers. I meet Stuart Murdoch, the band's singer and chief songwriter, fresh off the plane from Japan, where they've been on tour. When I say "fresh", I mean just that. Tidily dressed in a black polo neck, he looks unfeasibly alert. He's full of stories from Japan � about how he stood in the street during an earth tremor, watching people go about their business as if nothing was happening, and how, with true Japanese hospitality, the band were treated like kings. He's a serious-minded and circumspect individual � he doesn't laugh much � but he's still good company. When I ask if he feels Belle and Sebastian have anything in common with Travis and Coldplay, he replies: "Well, we all have a crack at a tune." He pauses for a while, then continues: "I feel very lucky; I'm quite happy with my group. In fact right at this minute I've never been happier and I think we'll give them all a run for their money now. We'll give anybody a run for their money with the way we're playing." You have to admire his optimism. The fact is that Belle and Sebastian have always been better, avoiding the empty emoting and formal rock structures of Travis in favour of a more subtle and pastoral sound. Songs such as "Fox in the Snow" and "The Boy with the Arab Strap" set flutes and shimmering strings alongside Murdoch's fragile vocals and splashes of acoustic guitar. The band, who come from Glasgow, have eight members, none of whom is called Belle or Sebastian. When they go on tour, the numbers can reach 13 with the extra fiddlers and flautists. Murdoch is brimming with confidence about their live performances: "Playing live's been a bit of a pain in the past. I know we've sounded awful. But we're very organised now. We're learning all the time, but it's going like a dream." Still, it seems the recording process hasn't become any easier. Murdoch says he came "close to a nervous breakdown" last year while trying to finish their fourth album, Fold Your Hands Child, You Walk Like a Peasant. The recording of their latest single, "I'm Waking up to Us" � a fabulously embittered song about a dissolving relationship � didn't exactly go off without a hitch either. They hired Mike Hurst, whose previous credits include Petula Clark and Cat Stevens, as producer. "He's a great guy but he didn't deliver the finished product," Murdoch explains. "We had to work very hard afterwards to polish it up. We really need a catalyst, someone who can harness the creative chaos of the group. I suppose we're dreaming of a George Martin figure, but it's not going to happen." If Belle and Sebastian were ever to reach the levels of fame that Travis have achieved, you wonder whether they would cope. In their early days, the band were pathologically publicity-shy. For a long time they wouldn't have their photographs taken, going so far as to stick pictures of their friends on their albums' sleeves, instead of their own. Murdoch avoided giving interviews, leaving the talking to other members of the band. "We didn't quite push away the limelight, as that suggests we weren't looking for it in the first place," he states. "But we weren't interested in that side of things either. There were other things to be getting on with. The band was developing, and for a lot of the time we were in a real mess." Does he feel like an outsider? "Yes � but then it's very easy to be on the outside where British music is concerned. If you're just yourself and you don't bow to the demands of the press and the music industry, then you're bound to be seen as an outsider." They're certainly a hard-working lot. They've made four albums in five years, as well as a handful of EPs, and there are any number of Belle and Sebastian side-projects � the Gentle Waves, Snow Patrol and V-Twin, to name just a few. The band were also the brains behind the Bowlie Weekender, the springtime festival held at Pontin's Holiday Camp in Camber Sands, which later spawned All Tomorrow's Parties. More recently, there's their somewhat controversial contribution to Todd Solondz's latest film, Storytelling. At the mention of Solondz, Murdoch becomes visibly irritated. "To tell you the truth, it almost isn't worth it, what we did. We had lots of ideas, and Todd used very little at the end. I know he was having a really hard time finishing the film, but it was very disappointing for us. I'd really think hard about getting involved in something like that again." Murdoch's musical aspirations arrived late in life. Whereas most musicians spend their adolescence listening to John Peel in their bedrooms, Murdoch preferred being outdoors and, for a while, harboured dreams of being a runner. In the end, he says, he just wasn't good enough. After school, he tried a variety of jobs: as a caretaker, a farm-hand and � this one's hard to imagine � a barman at Butlins. He didn't even start writing songs until he was 23. Murdoch and Stuart David, the band's bass-player, met on a youth opportunity scheme. "It was something the Tories cooked up to get you off the unemployed list," recalls Murdoch. "We were learning to be musical engineers or something like that." The pair then moved on to do a media business course at Glasgow's Stow college, set up by the part-time producer Alan Rankine. Every year he helped a group of students to make a record, usually a single, and put it out on the college label, Electric Honey. On recognising Murdoch and David's talent, he made an exception and allowed them to make a whole album. "We had to do it quickly," Murdoch remembers. "In three months we had to get a full band together and make a proper record. We ended up recording it in just a few days. Obviously, we had luck on our side." That record was Tigermilk. A thousand copies were released at the time � original copies now change hands for up to �400 � though, two years ago, because of popular demand, the record was re-released. It was with "3.. 6.. 9.. Seconds of Light", the third in a trio of EPs released in 1997, that Belle and Sebastian finally troubled the charts, albeit at No 31. Greater success came with their 1998 album The Boy with the Arab Strap, which reached No 12. Just last year they played on Top of the Pops and performed a show at the Albert Hall. Those are landmark events in the lives of most bands, although Murdoch, as usual, is underwhelmed. Then, of course, there was the notorious Brit award. Belle and Sebastian bagged the best newcomer prize in 1998, to the outrage of the other nominees. Rumour has it that Pete Waterman, the man behind Steps, called for a re-count. "I didn't pay much attention," says Murdoch. "I certainly didn't know what a big deal it was until after we had got it. But I remember, we were recording in the studio the day after. All these television crews were coming in and out � the BBC, ITV, the lot. After we'd finished in the studio we bought a newspaper. Suddenly we were front-page news in the tabloids � one of them said "Scots Band Cheat At Brits" or something like that. At first we were really angry but later we saw the funny side." Then he adds, with a sly smile: "Let's face it, it's probably the first and last time we'll ever be on the front page of a newspaper." 'I'm Waking up to Us' is out now on Jeepster. Belle and Sebastian appear tonight on 'Later... with Jools Holland' at 11.35pm (BBC 2). The band play Queen Margaret Union, Glasgow University, on 20 December and Mandela Hall, Belfast, on 21 December http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/music/interviews/story.jsp?story=107508 ===== http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/corduroysmoke and the world did get covered in a thick haze of corduroy smoke. And it felt good. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! GeoCities - quick and easy web site hosting, just $8.95/month. http://geocities.yahoo.com/ps/info1 +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the 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 +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: le pastie de la bougainvillaea
by michelle ruiz 05 Feb '02

05 Feb '02

and how are we feeling today A computer at our uni labs had a wallpaper on it that said 'Experience it yourself! DUBAI' The picture was very pretty but I didn't know where Dubai was. So like a good girl I decided to research it. So for those who were unaware like myself... I give you ~DUBAI~ - 2nd largest city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), not the capital -is also known as 'the city of merchants' - their currency is the dirham -temps can range from 10.5 C/50 F to 48 C/118 F -they have a beautiful red flowering tree there called the bougainvillaea. (no, I can't say it either.) - their version of the gondola is called an Abra. - they have amazing modern architecture that is modeled after Bedouin tents.(I've seen pictures and oh it's nice) - a dessert specialty they have is called Mehalabiya, which is pudding topped with pistachios and rose water. (sounds divine to me) - Dubai Zoo has the world's only captive colony of breeding Socotra Cormorants (Save the Cormorant!) So there you have it. Won't your friends be so impressed at your new knowledge! I hope so. And tell them I say hi. Yes, Chicago is covered in snow right now. People are making a big commotion over it. I don't see why, it's Winter-it snows. I keep thinking of that nick cave song where he sounds like he's about to have a heart attack saying 'we're under fifteen feet of pure white snow!!!!!!' or something like that. Really nick, calm down. I sort of missed the snow. Nature can change the scenery of the entire city in one night, which is pretty amazing when you look at the big powdered sugary picture. Everything seems quiet, too, when it's covered in snow. Something busy can be hushed by snow. Snow is good. (except of course if you're a caucasian rapper.) experience it yourself xx michelle xx http://www.dubaicityguide.com __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Great stuff seeking new owners in Yahoo! Auctions! http://auctions.yahoo.com +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the 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 +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: my amazingly strange life
by Dirty Vicar 31 Jan '02

31 Jan '02

Last weekend I went to the soi-disant Southern Capital of this fine country to hang out with friends and indulge my secret boardgaming vice. Imagine my surprise, therefore, when I went to the the Students Union bar there only to find it full of bellowing gamers fighting to place bids in an auction. But perhaps you would have too, if you had been there and seen what was on offer, for this seemed to be some kind of slave auction type thing, and being auctioned as a job lot were three lovely ladies, ready, able & willing to be your slaves for a day. It was like falling through a dimensional portal into some kind of sideways universe of extreme weirdness. Amusingly, as the bidding went higher, the ladies got more excited and jumped up and down, driving bidding ever higher. I cursed the luck that made me leave my chequebook in the Vicarage. Meanwhile, I notice that popular band Belle & Sebastian are playing concerts in the United Kingdom, and in Sweden and Denmark. I'm contemplating flying over to see them but it wasn't very long ago at all that I saw them last. And they are playing a bit too close to the fab All Tomorrow's Parties festival, and I'm not really going to fly away for musical things three times this year. Certainly not to the stinky non Euro zone united kingdom, they'll get enough of my money at Glarsters and Bowlie, they're not getting me over to see B&S again this year. So there's nothing for it - B&S are coming to Dublin to play the Ambassador. The Dirty Vicar commands it. I've enjoyed a great many of your posts. I especially liked Kyla Schuller's post about her great uncle. It made me think about my old relatives, about being old, and about the likelihood of one day being very old and ill and stuff. A great uncle of mine died last year, and before hand I went to visit him in hospital with my Dad. I hadn't seen him for years and was never really that close to him, but he seemed happy enough to see me. It must be strange being very old and ill, suddenly relatives you haven't seen in years start showing up. I bet that's when you know you're in trouble, or maybe it never really registers like that because you're so whacked on medication and stuff. I'm sorry if my ramblings on this topic have brought back unhappy memories for anyone who has lost someone in those kind of circumstances. I also loved Kyla's image of her great uncle seeing nuclear explosions lighting up the sky. And Gneissy's post was very gneiss. I heart symbol Gneissy. I notice people have started talking about George W. Bush again. It's funny Ms Playforth mentioning Yoga and Pilates. I am currently K*N*A*C*K*E*R*E*D as a result of my yoga class of earlier this evening. So I think it's time for tubby bye byes. I think I had a lot of other fascinating things to say, but I forget them all, so I'm going to post this now and go to bed. yawn DV +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the 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 +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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None
by Stewie-Louie Ratatouille 31 Jan '02

31 Jan '02

Having spent two otherwise useless hours reading posts, I feel inspired to become an active producer in the community (I will NOT be a lurker, I will NOT be a lurker). I have constructed this to be a kind of autobiographical meta-post (or, a self-indulgent post about posts) complete with academic chapter titles. Virtual Abjection: Me/Not Me Conflicts in Cyber Culture(s) Those of you who look to see who these messages come from may have guessed that my given name is not Stewie but probably Stewart. Though the name pretty much boxed me into a life of geeky academics, it has never caused any real trouble; that is, until now. Perhaps due to the fact that I have never heard the name Stewart used to identify someone besides myself, I am now filled with joyous expectation that someone has or is about to acknowledge me whenever I see Stewart, Stew or Stewie (Stew Dawg also works). So I was on a bit of an emotional roller coaster these past two hours as the name was mentioned quite often - producing expectation - yet never in reference to me - producing disappointment. I guess I should have expected this as the one thing we all have in common is a band with not one but two Stuarts (though I don't think they spell it right). Does this ever happen to people called Rachel? The Radical Body in Motion Mad props to Cay Cola-Cube for the Emma Goldman Signature. You've reminded me to get my own. Nation-state-ness as Performance: Utopian/Democratic Rhetoric, Distopian/Fascist Desire (This is a response to Mike's right-on rant.) When I was in the process of getting onto this list, I, like a good listee, read about the crush thing. My first thought was - I shit you not - "This is great!! I'll meet someone from Scotland, England or some other non-U.S.A. country and get married and, in addition to having the love I have always dreamed of, I will become a citizen of someplace besides this place." I don't want to make some sort of whinny argument about it, but if sides are being drawn in accordance to national boundaries (which, interestingly enough, are all but irrelevant to the corporations that are the biggest global terrorists) then I think I am in the wrong spot. Not that Afghanistan, Pakistan, the Philippines, Iraq or any other poor nation Bush is trying to annihilate seems better (or that Scotland, England etc. are totally innocent) it just really pisses me off that this blood thirsty cow boy takes his (highly questionable) election as a mandate to speak for everyone and does so like we all agree. Please don't think we do and please, someone, marry me soon. Anyone from Sweden? I'm a great kisser and I have a Volvo and an Ikea ... uh ... catalog ... uh ... somewhere ... Well, now I'm all flustered which should make class interesting. Take care and if you can't be good, be good at it. Stewart [Amour Fou is always illegal, whether it's disguised as a marriage or a boyscout troop--always drunk, whether on the wine of its own secretions or the smoke of its own polymorphous virtues. It is not the derangement of the senses but rather their apotheosis--not the result of freedom but rather its precondition. - Hakim Bey] _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the 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 +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: recording birdsong, and other stories.
by Michael Grant 31 Jan '02

31 Jan '02

------------------------- careless talk costs lives ------------------------- i got myself a copy last week, and although this topic is a tad old now, i thought id just say what i think of it. it is very pretty. and the writing is on the whole quite good. it does focus on the music most of the time. BUT it is very self-referential. you cant quite read it as a mucis magazine. you're constantly reminded that 'this is careless talk costs lives. its written by everett true. i live in brighton. i know famous music types. we hate the nme.' it doesnt exactly spoil my enjoyment of the articles, but id rather it concentrated on being a good music magazine (which is it) rather than how crap the rest of the industry is, and how much better they think they are than it. ------------------ recording birdsong ------------------ i was listening to IWUTU the other day and when the bit with the birds singing in ILMC came up, i had the mental image of stuart murdoch sitting on a branch ('Up A Tree', if you will!) with a dictaphone trying to record the birds himself. dont know why i thought of it, but it does seem like something i can imagine b&s doing. very twee. :o) ------- UK tour ------- yipee! :oD i've never been to the usher hall before. does anyone know if it's good? i have a couple of friends who went to see travis there in december, and they said it wasnt the best. but they were sitting up the back with all the ol' folk. i have ordered standing tickets, so it should be ok. i am a bit annoyed though. i didnt think they'd be playing uk dates, so i was wanting to make a holiday out of it and go see them play abroad. i like the idea of a few days in stockholm. but now i have no reason to justify spending more money i dont have. YAY! to b&s. BOO! to no holiday. this will be the fourth time ill have seen them in the space of a year (barrowlands in june(x2), qmu in dec), and i feel a bit greedy. there's people who wont have seen them at all, and that makes me feel bad. sorry. :o( -------------- london village -------------- i am travelling down to london village on the first weekend in march to visit a friend of mine. does anyone in that neck of the woods have any suggestions of things to do, places to visit, record shops to plunder? id be very appreciatave of any suggestions. also, if anyone would like to meet up for a beverage or two, id be happy to oblige. :o) i should be down from sat.02/03 til the monday or tuesday. ------- america ------- nobody (so far) seems to have taken particular offence to my comments. that pleases me. i meant no offence by it. well, not to any of you, that is. http://www.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,3604,642108,00.html is a very good comment on the speech, if anyone is still interested. on my final (honest!) point on this topic, id just like to say this whole 'not with us is against us' thing seems very mcarthy-esque. if anyone even questions the actions of america in this 'war', you're shouted down as that automatically commits you to being anti-american, un-democratic, condoning of sept.11th. etc. it wouldnt surprise me if the americans started rounding up anyone they deem 'un-american' and put them on trial, or even better, putting them in cages exposed to the elements, starving them off their senses, and denying them the right to a trial at all. in fact..... http://www.whitehouse.org/initiatives/patriot/index.asp _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the 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 +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: seven sevens are forty nine
by Kieran Devaney 31 Jan '02

31 Jan '02

Dear Sinister, Last nights rain prompted a hundred lonely poets in a hundred lonely garrets to tap out the rain buffeted and lashed against the window on their laptops, and then delete it too trite, and though the rain seemed so fitting, so apt for last night, they felt it such an overused device, a cliché something that had been overplayed by Hollywood and cheap novelists for decades. And that was half the problem time, in all its guises was conspiring against them, for how could they compete with the generations of literature, with the words that had come before them? They wanted to create a new classicism; with all the baroque splendour of those cracked, leather bound tomes, of faded velvet and smoky-slick pavements, the streetlights reflected in the rain, but all that seemed so distant, seemed to belong to other people. Whats the point in nicotine stained net curtains if you can afford new ones? Whats the point in playing the warped vinyl when the CD sounds better, when laptops are more convenient than scratchy fountain pen? The poets wondered if their second hand suits and squalid bed sits really made them poets at all, or at least how often they slipped into playing he part of suffering artist, sneaking looks in mirrors as they passed, setting their gaze wistfully out of rain streaked windows, minds blank, laptops humming. How much of life becomes this filmic affectation, they ponder, how much do we live in the third person singular? And then they write because its raining, at night, when one should be writing and then read it all back, sigh and shut the laptop down without saving. _____________________________________________________________________ Doing work experience, at some particularly grotty local newspaper (The Express and Star, serving West Bromwich mainly), a couple of years ago, taught me a lot I think, less about journalism than I would have liked but a lot about office politics and stuff like that, and this I found much more interesting and entertaining than the drab, bland stories that went into the paper. I was even allowed to write a couple of such bland stories myself; and I learned that local journalism is much less about literary flair or creativity, but more with adapting whatever facts you have into the uniform style of the paper, which happened to be featureless dull-mongering. Im sure all journalism isnt like this, but not where I was. Not on a vaguely conservative local rag anyway. I dont think the staff really took to me either, there were two other boys doing work experience that same week, one of them was the nephew of one of the reporters, and the other was a tall, ebullient sycophant who the staff all took to immediately. I was silently but speedily labelled as the sullen boy who tried to put jokes in his articles and didnt look you in the eyes when you spoke to him. I was taken to the youth coroners court, which was as grim as it sounds. I hated it, but as I say, I did learn a lot, something about myself as well, which I thought was important. One of the things I was told to do when I arrived on the first day was to answer the phone if it rang and say Hello, reporters fair enough you might think, and I was told how to transfer the calls to the other phones, since I probably wouldnt be able to answer any of the inquiries put to me. Im not very good on phones at the best of times really, and the system for transferring calls didnt really function properly when I did it it did when others tried it, but not for me. I swear that phone bore some irrational grudge against me; I just couldnt work it properly at all. I came to dread its ring, because I couldnt help whoever was calling, and I couldnt put them into contact with someone who could it was a lose/lose situation what I tended to do was answer, listen to the callers question and say something along the lines of: Im not really sure about that one Ill put you through to someone who should be able to help and then Id desperately try to key in the transfer call code which would inevitably fail, and the caller would be cut off. Im not sure how the phone system worked exactly, but it seemed as though whenever a call was made to reporters it would be sent through to a random phone so the person I had just cut off would, assuming an innocent glitch in the line, ring again and be connected to someone who actually worked for the paper, and could answer their query. That was my system for five long days. On the Friday, the last day of work experience, the hated phone rang, and after wishing spontaneous combustion on it and giving it my most evil of stares (which, to be fair, isnt that evil), I picked it up, answering: Hello, reporters with as much of an air of casual familiarity as I could muster the bloke on the other end must have swallowed this routine, because without pausing he launched into this spiel about who he was and that he had a story which might be newsworthy and he gave me a quick summary of the story and then asked: So do you think this has a chance of getting into the paper? There was a pause. I didnt know what to do; I couldnt just say, Im not sure Ill put you through to someone who should be able to help no. I was in too deep, saying that would have made me sound completely inept, hed just told me all the facts and after my confident hello and the fact that Id just let him talk for more than a minute without interrupting all conspired to mean that transferring the call would have bordered on rude really. And besides, I knew the story was newsworthy anyway, even a cursory glance over some of the crap I had seen written during the week told me that. The gist was that this guy was the music teacher at some struggling, what Alistair Campbell would have called bog standard comprehensive in West Bromwich; but instead of being the usual tale of poor funding and woe, the schools orchestra had actually just won a national music competition (admittedly a very low key one, but that isnt the point), and the prize entailed a trip to play in a larger competition in Brazil somewhere. Brilliant. This is the stuff that local newspapers lap up; they love it a classic 'rags to riches' story, sort of. The failing comp gaining something approximating glory this would probably be worthy of a full page spread, perhaps the paper could send a photographer over to take snapshots of the grinning ensemble in front of the crumbling façade of the ramshackle school buildings, a true triumph of ambition over adversity working class heroes. Fantastic. This all swept across my mind in that pause. Hello? he said Sorry I said Yes, I definitely think thats newsworthy could you give me a few more details? Now I may not be a particularly effective or committed reporter, but if theres one thing I am good at, its bullshit because you see, I had no real intention of writing up this blokes story. This wasnt out of cruelty, or any particular malice towards him, in fact I quite admired his sincerity and enthusiasm but it just wasnt possible. As I say, it was too late to transfer the call to someone else, it was also the last day on a work experience placement that I had hated from the start, and being the last half of the last day I probably wouldnt have had time to type up such an article anyway. Plus I dont think media coverage of this type of thing really glorifies the success of the schools at all, if anything it cheapens it. There was no way I was ever going to write his article, and as such, no way it would ever make the paper. With this in mind I listened attentively to the man as he rattled on about how they had won, what they had played and so on, and I played my part excellently though with massive pangs of guilt, asking questions where appropriate, even asking him to repeat or spell difficult things, so that it appeared as though I was making notes. By the end I felt quite awful, but it was much too late to do anything. I had no notes to work from, and I couldnt very well ask him to repeat the whole thing, we must have been on the phone for a good fifteen minutes it was a good job none of the staff paid me any heed otherwise I could have been in big trouble. Then at the end he again asked: So do you think thisll make the paper then? and I replied, guilt stricken: Well yeah, I definitely think so Ill write the story up, but obviously its not up to me if it goes in or not so I cant guarantee anything, but I cant see why it wouldnt. all the time playing the part of the slick reporter that the innocent guy on the other end of the phone thought I was, and hating myself for it. We thanked each other and hung up. I looked over at the clock, there was about three quarters of an hour left of my work experience not enough time to write up such a long story and get it checked by one of the staff (which I had to do before sending it) and everything I told myself. It just wouldnt be possible. Three quarters of an hour later I said some rather indifferent goodbyes to the reporters, and to the two other work experience boys, and went off to catch the metro back into town. Im still quite wary of phones to this day, and I do often wonder what happened to the teacher and his orchestra, maybe he phoned up the paper again a couple of days later, or a different paper even, and got his story. My get out clause probably removed any chances of him harbouring me ill will, because when he saw that the story wasnt in the paper, he would almost certainly have blamed the editors for not including it, rather than the reporter (who incidentally he neglected to ask the name of, and wasnt offered it). I certainly think that incident revealed a part of my character that I usually keep concealed, my capacity to spoil things that other people value to lie callously and keep a straight face while doing it, all to save myself embarrassment, for convenience. _____________________________________________________________________ Sinister is becoming a kind of tawdry autobiography for me at the moment. This isnt necessarily a good thing, but writing things like that down is cathartic I think. Ive told people that story before, and mostly they just laugh and it is funny, in a way, but very sad too. Anyway, on a more Belle and Sebastian related note, I neglected to either tape or listen to the live broadcast thingy a week or so ago (Im behind I know, but Ive been without internet over the weekend), so if anyone would be kind enough to do me a copy of the recording Id be much obliged email me off list if youd like to do that. Ill send you something lovely in return if you like you can suggest a theme and Ill make you a mixtape on said theme so if you wanted, for example, the theme of large animals Id probably have stuff like Japancakes Elephants, something by T-Rex, maybe The Flaming Lips This Here Giraffe, stuff like that. See? Ive really thought this through. Also, I just bought tickets for the London show I think Ill allow myself an exclamation mark for that. Yay! Cheers - Kieran p.s. Jesse, if youre reading this, I havent spoken to you in ages, so if you want to, feel free to email. Id mail you, but I dont think I have your address. _________________________________________________________________ MSN Photos is the easiest way to share and print your photos: http://photos.msn.com/support/worldwide.aspx +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the 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 +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Aunt Sadie's - BIG DAY OUT! (a sinister journey)
by Alan Whyte 31 Jan '02

31 Jan '02

Dear old Aunt Sadie (bless her) was traveling through paisley on her way to partick, to go shopping (she'd saved her pennies from making bacon scented candles). She got a taxxi into town and gave the driver a good tip. She was eating apples, though she liked oranges too, but the juice ran onto her lovely mittens. Glancing into the mirror, she thought about her appearance. Sadie was a vain girl. She liked pigtails a lot, but thought brown was a mistake, but might make people giggle. Despite being lovely it was the wrong shade, there was another brown she loved more. "You look lovely Dahling", the driver commented as he dropped her off. "Well it's gneissy you to say so" replied Sadie "I like your taxi by the way" she added, returning the compliment. The driver fancied her, but feared she may be the wrong girl for him, a bit of a workmaid, and so he gave a polite carsmile, before driving off. She arrived in town and idly picked berries and sweet tulips, before heading to the pet store. She looked at a turtle, a toad and a cute wiezzel, however Sadie was adventurous, what she really wanted was a lion. She loved all animals, but she had a passion for sheep today, though it could also have been a bear week. However, being the twee Godmother, her favourite creatures where foxes. She still liked her little black fox and the pinefox that lived with her. However, she also adored a certain pet ryan. At this point, some random thoughts came into her head. She thought about going into space. However being 82 years old the velocity would be too much, and the G's would probably kill her. Sadie sighed. "I could never be a spacekid", she thought. She wondered if there were shops in space. "Jetmarte - a Wallmart on the moon!" she exclaimed. This made her giggle :O> She left the pet store and went into a shop selling blankets. There was a lovely patchwork quilt, a paisley pattern she presumed, she liked it a great deal. Sadie then glanced at the price tag... "£250!, i'm not rich. or. am . i?" she pondered. Despite this Sadie was still tempted, because it looked really comfie. She left soon after that and headed into the sweetie shop. She bought some nice honey, as well as hobnobs, cola cubes, fruitloops, crackers, cornflakes and bread to make toast for breakfast. Sadie loved toast and marmite and all things sweet. As Sadie ate, she walked into the bakers. There were two, and both were nice. She bought a pie or two (one apple) and some pancakes. However, the baker shouted at her "OI! Ken Chu read?", which startled the dear old lady. Bewildered, she looked up at a sign saying "NO EATING IN THE BAKERY", which she thought was llwedicrous, but he was a bit of a maddie, so she didn't take any chances. He was petulant though, and Sadie wanted to give him a phatlip. She ran outside and still shaken, removed a half bottle of Smirnoff from her handbag, cause she's infamously a bit of a vodkabird. She mixed it with a few pop's and afterward needed the toilet. However, she quickly found one as there were lots of loo's around. Luckily enough she only needed a wee, and not a PooOOOooo as she'd expected. As she walked over there was a baby outside in a pram. Being a lovely old dear, she couldn't help but look into the pram and say "pookie-boo". This made the baby giggle. On the way home and after a lovely day, she listened to the Beatles, which helped her to relax. She put on her old favourites, "blue jay way" and "Lucy in the sky with diamonds." Danke for reading, (it's been a while) Alan xxx _________________________________________________________________ Chat with friends online, try MSN Messenger: http://messenger.msn.com +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the 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 +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: for those of y'all that wear fanny packs
by toadie291＠attbi.com 31 Jan '02

31 Jan '02

greetings and salutations from a very very snowy chicagoish. amazing. saturday and sunday it was 60 degrees. yesterday we got 11 inches of snow in 4 hours. i dont want to start any blasphemous rumours but i think that gods got a sick sense of humour and when i die i expect to find him laughing. he ehee. so here i sit catching up on emails i have been neglecting for weeks. archel mentioned in her post earlier that she was doing yogalates :o) i can relate. i alternate. one day with tai chi. one day yoga, one day pilates, one day the firefighters workout. good stuff. i do feel better though, esp with the tai chi. its very relaxing and uptight high strung people such as myself need such things. :o) ive spent the morning thus far downloading songs. god bless dsl :o) how will i spend the rest of the day? i may attempt to drive somewhere in colin...he is my car. i called him colin cuz hes green. duh! ah yes, how are y'all doing? to dirty vicar, sorry your cd wasnt all you hoped and/or thought it may be. i guess candle in the wind remixed and performed by kate bush just isnt everyones cup o' tea. amazing though it is :o) elise, you havent written back :o( you dont love me anymore. you dont bring me flowers anymore either, perhaps ill write a song about it today. ray ill write to you today. jim i hope you are toadie in madison...im sure youre just fine somehow :o) sean i hope your new abode is punk rock. adam hello, why cant i print things in OS? help me! enough of my shouts out :o) sorry bout that. i forgot where i was for a moment and imagined i was on TRL. dare i to dream? i was surprised pleasently the other day....i found out i have 4 list crushes! wow! i have had crushes on most people on the list what with you being so eloquent and the like. but me, i just babble. :o) aww thanks to my crushers...erm, that sounds sort of off-putting when phrased like that. hmm. ah well. my boss just called and i am to try to go to work because her boss is giving her a hard time for not being at work. wish me luck. oh yeah, dahling i hope all has worked out with you :o) love and cornpops to you all rachel ~stine **im not really a rachel of course, but i sometimes feel as though i am the only non-rachel on the list :o) ta +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the 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 +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: One day my lo-fi-duffle-coated prince will come...
by Christina McDermott 31 Jan '02

31 Jan '02

See this? :D This is the symbol for me grinning from ear to ear like a total idiot. I'm happy you see. In fact, I think I'm the happiest little cola-cube this side of the M1. I don't know how long this is going to last before some big foot comes stomping down on my five minutes of joy...but for now I'm so happy, I've been jumping up and down around my kitchen and singing along to bad songs on the radio and generally making my flatmates start to believe that I've finally lost what little is left of my sanity. So why the all the happiness? Especially when my last post was so pessimistic...well..let me start from the beginning. Last night there was a (very) mini-Sinister meet-up in my flat to wave James "Dancing-Hatchback" off before he went to Poland which involved Ben Apps and the aformentioned Hatchback invading my room with a bottle of vodka, a bottle of lemonade and two limes which is always a good thing in my opinion. And I have to say it was utterly lovely. Mr. Apps impressed me greatly with his drinks making abilities and made us all gag on overdoses of saccharine everytime the words "Rachel" and "Fruitloop" were mentioned, and sighing with big puppy-dog eyes looking whistfully into the future waiting for her to come to London. Me and Hatchabck giggled and listened to Broadcast and generally did what two kids who haven't seen each other in ages tend to do which involved getting all excited about little things, talking VERY FAST INDEED, wondering if Belle and Sebastian were going to play Edinburgh and planning our adventures for the weekend of the "Great Brighton Meet-up." Bless Hatchback, he was so excited about going to Poland, even though he couldn't really speak the language and didn't even know the name of the currency. However, it wasn't so funny when he laughed at me because I didn't know that you had to catch a ferry to go to Poland and your coach didn't just drive across the ocean. After Mr. "I'm a supervisor at work now and therefore older and wiser (no honest) than you two wee scallywags and so I'm not going to sit around and get drunk but go home and read a training manual instead" Apps returned to his little palace known as "The Bappsy Trotwood" (Thank you Ken Chu!)me and Hatchback sat around drinking yummy Tia Maria, listening to John Peel and forming out own little theory about life and Sinister. The thing about life, (well, maybe our lives anyway) is there are times when you're in a certain place, or doing a certain thing...say like going to high school when you're fifteen every single day, or being stuck in the same old boring job for what may seem like years on end and it feels like you're going to be there forever. Time passes, but at the same time remains static because you know that in order to achieve anything else or do anything exotic or exciting you're going to have to do this one thing first, no matter how unpleasant it may be. So you go to school and do the same old thing, but you daydream about how you want your life to be. In my case, it was always getting out of Manchester and coming to live in London, having my own flat, writing for a newspaper, having lots of friends who cared about me and how I felt and were always there to go out or come round for a cup of tea, having an enviable CD collection and my own kettle and toaster (no honest). I always wanted what I've got now. And now I've got it, it's not that it's an anti-climax, because it's all just as lovely as I always imagined it to be. It's just...that there are times when it all doens't seem real. Every morning I wake up and just for a few seconds expect to be back in my blue bedroom in Manchester. But I'm not. I'm in London, and in Camden no less...the place I always wanted to run away to so I could live in The Good Mixer and seduce Menswear when I was twelve. So, sometimes my twelve year old self takes over and lets the nineteen year old self have a rest. Just this twelve year old is finally allowed to do all the things that she couldn't do before and she just goes slightly crazy and gets too drunk and dances a lot and giggles madly with her other reverted-back-to-the-age-of-twelve friends, like the Boy in the Tree. That's another example. He's just got a new flat and so calls me up on my mobile twenty times a day to let me hear the sound of his refridgerator that he's just got working, or the sound of him jumping on the bed. Or maybe just him running around the rooms like a maniac banging on the walls of every room which is his version of "a guided tour" to prove that he too has finally got what he's always wanted and can't believe it either. So maybe that's like Sinister. Some of us daydream about how we want our lives to be...and some of us have finally got what we wanted when we were wee, but can't believe it so run around like kids getting drunk and giggling and generally having the best time that a bunch of kids can have. That's our theory. And it made sense at the time. But maybe that was just the Tia Maria. So, lots of hugs, peanut butter toast and cups of tea later, I found all the bits and pieces that Hatchback couldn't find or just couldn't remember that he'd brought with him and Apple Lollipop in mouth and practically bursting from over-excitement, he bounded down the road to Poland and to his own little adventure...whilst I went to Uni and learnt about Montesquieu. Which is always fun. And then I went to check my email and lo and behold what did I see? BELLE AND SEBASTIAN TICKETS ON SALE!!! IN BOTH OF THE TOWNS WHERE I LIVE!!! (London and Manchester) YIPPEE!!! So, I've bought my Manchester ticket with money that I don't really have and will be buying my London ticket when money I've rightfully earned comes into my bank account tomorrow. So, the beaming grin on my face at the moment is providing light and heat for most of my corridor and I'm really quite happy now. So, before I leave, a few more things to say. a) Idleberry said something about how heroines should not just love sex, but love guitars and record players and have adventures with them. I thought that was wonderful. I don't have a guitar, but I have my clarinet which makes a wonderful noise when you blow it too hard and my record player is possibly the most beautiful thing I own and will ever own and it comes with it's own suitcase too so I can have adventures with it. You never know, maybe I will one day...(when it's bloody fixed because SOMEONE mentioning no names :) played 80s Fan on it too many times). b) Will Salt...you are a very wonderful and very brave person. If I ever meet you I will lend you my make-up and my size 10 1960s dresses so long as your shoulders fit into them and then proceed to give your pigtailed self a massive great hug. c)Amy Longcore said:- "My friend Christopher called me up and said, "amy, we are relatively attractive, Smart and outgoing people. Why are we such social misfits in the dating Department?" I still can't answer you, Christopher, dear. But I sure can Relate to the roots of the questioning. i'm just a misunderstood cherubic hermit anyway. no one will ever find me." I hear you there sweety. Don't worry, someday our lo-fi-duffle-coated-floppy-haired princes will come. Until then, it's back to drooling over magazines and old pictures. *sigh* Is that everything? It better be...I have lecture in half an hour. Love and sparkles as always, Cay Cola-Cube xXx "If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your Revolution..." -Emma Goldman +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the 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 +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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Sinister: Creeque Alley (slight return)
by Mark Casarotto 31 Jan '02

31 Jan '02

With apologies to the obvious... Chris and Stevie were getting kind of peevy Cos the sounds they made werent all they could be Bel and Richie, studyin in the city Tryin to get a music degree In the Grosvenor Struan Murdoch sat Black pud & tattie scones, yes, Ill be having that Mick Cooke and Belfast Bobby sat there getting slobby In Glasgow, you know where its at And no-ones getting fat except wee Bels ass. Bel said Stevie, you know that we can all see That you play guitar so beautifully Stevie said cheers Bel, and you play cello so well And I love that song called Family Twee Bel, Stevie and Struan Murdoch sat (at the 13th Note) vegan casserole and mung beans, yes, wed like that Mick Cooke and Belfast Bobby rockin in the lobby In Glasgow, you know where its at And no-ones getting fat except wee Bels ass. When Sarah was a fresher, she was a little treasure But she saw the light of R!O!C!K! one day Standin on the Byres Road, wishing that it hadnt snowed She took the Hyndland bus all the way When Stevie met Sarah he really couldnt bare her Asked Struan to form a band, and that was Rhode Island Mick Cooke and Belfast Bobby, buskin for a hobby Rock stardom they were aimin at And no-ones getting fat except wee Bels ass. Rhoda, Lisa, Hurley, got to knock off early Make sure the church is shiny and clean Start a thing with Isobel, break it off, go to hell Get it on with Monica Queen Bob and Richard play with the V-Twin Stevie, Stu and Sarah laying down their twee thing Mick Cooke and Belfast Bobby samplin Sly and Robbie In Glasgow you know where its at And everyones gettin fat except wee Bels ass. Chaotic live shows, Stu Ds Looper explodes And Isobels not well in the States The band needs a new feel, I guess well have to use Neil At least hes competent on the bass The papers are starting to slag us Pete Watermans insults are just beginning to rag us The price of touring Brazil's a cost we just can't fulfil It's more than we can really incur But whatever happens next at least we got our good old Sinister :-) (proper lyrics can be found at http://www.mathematik.uni-ulm.de/paul/lyrics/mamasandpapas/creequ~1.html) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Everything you'll ever need on one web page from News and Sport to Email and Music Charts http://uk.my.yahoo.com +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the 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 +-+ "sinsietr is a bit freaky" - stuart david, looper +-+ +-+ "legion of bedroom saddo devotees" "peculiarly deranged fanbase" +-+ +-+ "pasty-faced vegan geeks... and we LOST!" - NME April 2000 +-+ +-+ "frighteningly named Sinister List organisation" - NME May 2000 +-+ +-+ "sick posse of f**ked in the head psycho-fans" - NME June 2001 +-+ +-+ Nee, nee mun pish, chan pai dee kwa +-+ +-+ Snipp snapp snut, sa var sagan slut! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+

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