In a message dated 98-02-12 15:08:01 EST, you write:
<< "Alone Together" by Johnny Ray Huston
San Francisco Bay Guardian Feb 11-17 1998
>>
Hey Tara,
thanx for transcribing that puppy. it was a good read.
cheers,
clem lane
nrbqlover(a)aol.com
n.p. Pavement-live in Sacramento 8/95
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heee heee...those photos are soooooo cute! Look at wee little TAG! How
unthreatening he looks! Although.......if you look closely, you can see two
shadows.....is what were seeing the shadow of the actual demon that possess
our very own Tag? The evil spirit that dwells inside....caught on film?
Cooooool.
Andy's photos are by far the cutest tho....what fine breeding
material!....(beth ducks as a bottle flies over international water aimed
straight for her wee heed. *crack!!!!*)
ow.
beth
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"Alone Together" by Johnny Ray Huston
San Francisco Bay Guardian Feb 11-17 1998
Faced with the plight of Eleanor Rigby, the Beatles basically said,
"Poor gal, what a pity". But when Stuart Murdoch sings about similar
solitary souls on the title track of Belle and Sebastian's If You're
Feeling Sinister, he understands their predicament - he's lived it. The
success of Murdoch's band illustrates a classic rock and roll irony:
misfit popularity. As the indie herd celebrates Belle and Sebastian,
and writers endorse them in this week's Village Voise Pazz and Jop
Critics' Poll, it's worth trying to convey why they're special. Because
they definitely are.
When I first played "IYFS" last summer, it didn't meet my expectations.
I'd read and heard that Murdoch sang smart love songs about guys and
girls, so I figured I'd relate to his lyrics. But the first thing that
struck me was Belle and Sebastian's restraint. I was too busy likening
the melody of "Seeing Other People" to the Peanuts theme to learn a
lesson from the song's actual theme: the gap between what people say/do
and think/feel in a romantic dilemma.
Luckily, when a friend lent me the CD a month ago, my comparison-crazed
rock-critic mind shut up and allowed me to listen. This time around, I
felt the songs immediately and connected them with myself and a few guys
I know --
guys who walk their own difficult path instead of chasing the
commercial-sexual rainbow of lifestyle options (from drag-queen
femininity to gym-queen masculinity) offered by the gay community.
Still, is B&S's only audience were homo-misfits, they'd be mighty
obscure; one of Murdoch's gifts is an ability to connect his particular
experience with that of other people. Or, as he puts it in "The Boy
Done Wrong Again," "All I wanted was to sing the saddest song/And if you
would sing along, I would be happy now."
Even that couplet doesn't do B&S justice; their songs don't languish in
melancholy so much as face the hard but worthwhile job of living your
own life. The most moving song on IYFS might be "Fox In The Snow," in
which Murdoch observes a few living things during a snowfall. There's a
metaphorical "starving" fox who might not be able to survive the cold.
There's a girl who tries in vain to "tell someone all the truth" before
turning to books for solace. There's a boy so consumed by futile travel
that he doesn't notice the world around him. And finally, there's
another boy, whom Murdoch tells to "make the most of" the snow: "Second
just to being born/Second to dying too/What else would you do?"
Each character in "Fox in the Snow" reminds me of someone, and not in
the generic pop sense. Murdoch creates complex characters with simple
words. The album-closing "Judy And the Dream of Horses" describes a
teen female rebel who "did it with a boy" before giving herself "to
books and learning" and "being number one." The twist of the song is
Judy's identity, and it shouldn't be too surprising to anyone who
notices Murdoch's close empathy for and identification with women:
"The best looking boys are taken...... (quotes until 'If you're ever
feeling blue then write another song about your dream of horses, call it
Judy and the dream...')"
I don't think I've ever heard harder-won nonsense harmony than the one
Murdoch puts at the end of those words; it's the sound of real, personal
happiness.
Murdoch's worldly-wise choirboy voice fits his songs, which contemplate
faith without embracing holier-then-thou Christian grace or
fire-breathing satanic zealotry. He and his bandmates don't do
interviews, but they're too independent to be indie-rockers -- they
prefer playing churches to bars. Likewise, Murdoch may have an acoustic
guitar and mention Bob Dylan in a lyric, but he's not a folkie -- if
he's the next Dylan, he's one who turns "don't look back" into advice
for young boys being cruised in parks at night. Ultimately, B&S evoke
contrasts, not comparisons, with the greats. Instead of adding more
unnecessary noise to popular music, they add scope.
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last month there was a old documentary film about bob dylan playing in
new york called "don't look back". i'm pretty sure that is where the line
came from. i wish i had seen it. it's supposed to be good. keara d.
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> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 11 Feb 1998 08:49:19 -0600 (CST)
> From: Schaffenberger <kschaffe(a)trinity.edu>
> Subject: Re: Sinister: Bands Of Old
> until I paused to reconsider...only to realize that it is not James Dean
> I see. It is LUKE PERRY, aka Dylan McKay of the popular American
> television series Beverly Hills, 90210. When I hear "It's not your money
> that they're after, biy, it's you..." I remember those first Dylan
> episodes when Brenda and Kelly were both crushie on Mr. McKay. In
> particular, I think of the episode in which Brenda dyed her hair blonde
> to attract his attention. Of course, this was long before anyone knew of
> Dylan's wealth, hence, Brenda and Kelly weren't after his wallet, they
> were just after his elusive persona.
Yeah, but Luke Perry is a big bomb in every film he has ever made.
I keep seeing Bob Dylan everytime I hear those lyrics which is completely
bizarre since I'm guessing his acting is no better than his singing...if he
was to ever star in a film.
Here's my bizarre theory 'coz I want to go into a bizarre tagent. It's 4
in the morning and, well....
The drugs could have made him paranoid hence why they're singing "don't
look back" and he has made a score, (because he;'s in the park and you
know that the park is the best place to buy drugs since kids like to do
hits in between games) but some hoodlums decide they want to run after him
and take him down, yet Bob doesn't know why or what to do. Does he get
rid of the money and distract them while he tries to get away? No, because
they want to beat the shit out of him personally for making that MTV
unplugged album. If he looks back, then it would be like the biblical
story where the girl turns into a pillar of salt. And then he will go
blowing in the wind. And the answer my friend, is blowing in the wind.
thanks for letting me get that off my chest.
yours,
Suzanne
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so where is everybody?
don't tell me the sudden burst of poetry (including my brief contribution)
scared them all off.
and just when i'd got used to nearly 100 messages a day.
but nevermind.
(and the best-opening-to-a-novel strand seems to have come to an end as
well: my only contribution to general chatter over so soon.
sigh.
well, ttfn,
espadrille
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Tara Widmer wrote....
>>And does anyone still remember who sang "Breakfast At Tiffany's"?
>>Into the "Where Are They Now?" file, so young!
>That would be Deep Blue Something (or more appropriately Deep Brown
>Something, har har) and they are relegated to the "Where are they now?"
>history bin with good reason. They were crap.
They were indeed. Dennis Pennis introduced their appearance on Top of the Pops
with "When they hear the phrase 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' most people think of
the old film starring Audrey Hepburn. After hearing this band, they still
will." Made me laugh anyway.
More B&S moments:
* When the Isobel gets heckled by her own band during her spoken word bit at
the end of the R1 session version of 'I Could Be Dreaming' and she gets all
uppety and demands "What did you say? What are you saying to me?" Sounds like
the whole thing could kick off quite nastily.
* 'We Rule The School': Just the way Stuart Murdoch sounds like he's carrying
the weight of our whole world on his slender shoulders.
This questions for Stuart Murdoch thing - no one seems to have been posting
serious questions. Are we all afraid of sounding like pseuds or getting
flippant answers? I know I am.
Nick
nickdastoor(a)yahoo.com
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Peter 'Windy' Miller saw fit to regale us with the following:
>Hopkins in "Q"
>Bloated drunken turnip.
>Glad I'm not the
>Only one to be
>slightly overweight.
>Artist from Blackburn
>Even fatter.
Then he say:
>I wouldn't normally abuse the list by defending Rod's honour, but
I'm trying
>to send a big huge message, so I've got time on my hands.
Here for Thursday are some haikus for you all:
Constipated Pete
Strains to send big huge 'message'.
No luck: full of shit
Cloth ears P. Miller
Loves chirpy Jockney Rod, and
Hawkwind. Is he deaf?
Miller loves Isaac
Hayes because he makes Pete feel
Good about balding.
Hope you like them ;-)
Tim
PS thanks koogy and star
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I think Rod Stewart absolutely *does* deserve our respect our at
least our admiration. At the start he was Godlybrilliant and the way
he's ended up now is .... well listen
Most everyone who was ever anything in music then is a sad balding
rocker now but so what? Do we think we'd have been (or will be) any
different. In fact I think it sows that at least the mans human. Its
sort of poiniant in happysadnostalgia kind of way....
Also I need your help settling a long running dispute... Quicy or
Coulumbo. Does Q's crusading attract or repel you? Do you love our
hate the C Mans bumbling sctick? Can you trust a coroner who plays
that muck poker? Or a detective that never washed? Do you find (as
one not unattractive female accomplice of mine does) Quincy 'a bit of
a shagmuffin'? Do we care? Are ther anyfans of the lawyer guy who was
in Vanishing Points series thi nger (what was his name?)
Oh by the way we can't be nice to each other all the time. Sometimes
list feels like its being presided overe by the secret pleasantness
police. Can we not allow people a bit of passion?You know someone is
your freind when you can disagree with them and slag them off without
them getting upstet
yeah.
bye,bye
neil H
-------------------------------------------------
" despite myself at times
well i have felt
not in the mood for any of this..."
-------------------------------------------------
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Jason Donovan?????????
Piss off!!!!!!!
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