Just as a public service announcement I'd like to clarify that I am
not Laurel Violet.
I'm listening to GIPWTD (awaiting backronym) - I thought it's quite
good. I particularly enjoy "Enter Sylvia Plath" as it reminded me of
a particular dirty dream.
I've been meaning to write ever since Sinister returned. Actually,
I've been meaning to write to you for ages. One time, talking to an
old Sinisterine (old as in old friend, not age-wise - well, to be fair
we're all getting on a bit) I'm pretty sure I boldly claimed that I
would write one post a day, and won't stop, until everybody starts to
write again.
But it seems everybody is back, and I have not yet written a single
thing - which saved me a job, but also exposes the fact that I hadn't
made the effort to get in touch even more.
That is not to say that I do not think of you though, which happens
more often than one expects: Every time I ride a bus (very often), or
when I listen to TWATTYBUS or FISHYCLAP or the red one with the boring
acronym and the blue one with the breast (quite often), or when I go
to primrose hill (not frequent) or Scotland (long overdue) or flying
to US on adventures with woefully inadequate planning (those were the
days).
I even went to the LAST EVER ALL TOMORROW'S PARTIES (which later
turned out to be only the SECOND LAST EVER, and now turned out not to
be even that - but that's another thing altogether) at Camber Sands.
What memories of that place, eh?
It was pretty weird, actually. Being an ADULT - as much as I pretend
not to be one. We brought wine that wasn't the cheapest on offer, and
actually made food using that kitchen and went to bed at a respectable
time, in my own chalet - come of think of it, it was pretty shit, to
be honest, so I'm glad that that was the last ever one (except it
fucking even wasn't the last ever one at all, or the second last ever,
but that's another thing altogether).
What else do I remember? Falling asleep upstairs at the garage.
Falling asleep and getting ejected from Tron. Falling asleep on 5
different night buses after Tigermilking at Bar Oporto. Most of those
times, I was probably dreaming of you.
I have lots more to write, but this is already long. I will write
again soon, I promise, and you should too.
Ken
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
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To send to the list mail sinister(a)missprint.org. To unsubscribe
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+-+ "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! +-+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Dear Sinister,
I am just in the door after transversing the transbay tube from
Berkeley back to San Francisco.
Belle and Sebastian played a blinder - We got on stage for Boy with
the Arab Strap, but alas brunch and mimosa's kept me from being up to
be on stage for the whole show.
I was sad and happy at the same time, I teared up during "dirty dream"
and 90% of the tears were of happiness - thinking about where I was
when I first heard that song, how B&S was my first ever concert way
way back in Dublin when Stuart smashed his guitar. Thinking about how
their albums moved with me through sad times and happy times and now
much happier times. Basically thinking how everyone of those artists
on stage meant a lot to me, and seeing them playing in the greek
theater with Venus and Jupiter shining on them ( i checked - they were
the real stars we could see)
I also now am thinking how those mimosas and subsequent $12 glasses of
wine at the venue are going to hold me in bad stead for my 7am meeting
tomorrow. But alas, that is hours away, and all I can think about is
the fact that they ended with La Pastie
Love
Jonathan
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+---+ 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! +-+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
Brief, I promise. Firstly my thanks to El Duke for a fine words of
Stuart's book which makes me feel that it wasn't necessarily just me on
happy pills thinking it was quite good. If *you* won a copy, please let
us all know.
Secondly my apologies to Robert who stands in for everyone on the digest
who received it too late to enter the competition. I am sorry! I forget
how this thing works. By way of pathetic apology there's some sort of
related competition doodah at:
https://www.waterstones.com/blog/in-the-all-night-cafe-stuart-david
and a link to a playlist of songs that Stuart M gave Stuart D one day
(pre-B&S) on a cassette when he was ill. Here's that playlist. The last
song still never fails to makes me glow attractively.
Salad Days - Young Marble Giants
Veils of Colour - The Blue Aeroplanes
Hours of Darkness Have Changed My Mind - Felt
Ballad of The Times - Everything But The Girl
Almost Prayed - The Weather Prophets
Oomingmak - Cocteau Twins
Sorry For Laughing - Josef K
Brighter - The Railway Children
Outdoor Miner - Wire
Afterglow - The Servants
High Expectation - Stereolab
Savage Sea - The Pop Group
Streets of Your Town - The Go Betweens
City Sickness - Tindersticks
Honey
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+---+ 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! +-+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
I was fortunate enough to have a copy of Stuart David's book waiting for
me on the doorstep the other day. Needless to say it immediately went to
the top of 'to-read' pile. Needless to say too, having polished it off
last night, I thoroughly enjoyed every last moment of it. It connected
with me in a number of ways, not least in being a vivid portrayal of
being on the dole in the West of Scotland in the early '90s, looking for
ways to avoid the attentions of the DSS and effectively using benefits
as an arts subsidy - bloody scroungers the lot of us ;) I think anyone
of a certain age will certainly find that evocative. Certainly for me
too the whole notion of everything taking place in Glasgow helped
connect with me - does knowing the places make it feel more real? Maybe.
I think anyone who knows/knew Glasgow in the '80s and '90s will find the
book as a comfortable friend, and anyone who's yet to experience the
city will certainly want to visit it, even if only to see if the sun
really does shine as rarely as Stuart suggests (in my experience, yes it
does).
I guess the real reason any B&S fan will want to read the book though is
to discover lots of juicy stories, and if that's the case then I think
they'll be pleasantly disappointed. By that I mean there are no
revelations, at least for anyone who's a long-time Sinister dweller, but
that's okay. Rather it kind of cements in place what you already knew,
or felt you knew, or knew you felt. And that's a good thing.
If the book does challenge anything, it's in the way that Stuart David's
own notions of how to be in a band and how to 'make it' in the music
industry are challenged and shaped by meeting Stuart M - and in itself
it feels like this is a document that kind of lays out the blueprint for
how an 'indie' scene could/would be established in the nineties and
beyond. The sense of having a clear vision and being pretty
uncompromising in chasing that vision, regardless of what 'experts'
might think you should do. That tension between assuredness and shyness
that Belle & Sebastian records certainly seemed to embody comes over
well, I think.
There is a charming warmth that pervades the book, and the characters
are sympathetically drawn. The ones you think you know feel like you
think they ought to, and the ones you don't feel like one' s you at
least kind of do. It helps that Stuart is a Proper Writer too. He'd
make that previous sentence of mine make sense.
I think the Tigermilk launch party is absolutely the right time to end
the story because you do sense that because this is Stuart David's
story, it is inevitably just about to head off in other directions. Not
that it's about to get messy or anything, but you know the rest of the
story is going to be more about the history of a Pop Group, and I know
some people love those kinds of things, but personally I find them a wee
bit dull.
Finally, maybe it's just me, but I couldn't help but hear the two
Stuart's voices reading the text to me in my head. That's a good thing
too.
It's officially released (do books have release days like records?) the
day the day after my birthday and even though I have this proof copy
I'll happily spend some of my birthday money on a copy of the hardback.
You should to*. I think you'll enjoy it.
The Duke
*it doesn't have to be birthday money
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+---+ 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! +-+
+-------------------------------------------------------------------------+
