********************************************************************* INK POLAROID This is my friend and I standing in Sheffield Station Im the shorter one, wearing jeans and a yellow t-shirt hes much taller, also wearing jeans and a black hole hooded top (as in Courtney Loves old band, not the things in space), I cant stand hole, incidentally, he knows this but we dont talk about it much, Ive often wondered, and Im sure he has too, quite how were able to tolerate each others wildly different musical tastes (actually theyre not all that different in the grand scheme of things, but in the rarefied world of indie theyre miles apart). We both look a bit bored and annoyed I suppose, this is partly because weve been waiting for people to arrive for ages theyre very late, we were told on the phone that theyd be here in twenty minutes time, but that was over an hour ago, and while I think we both appreciate that British Rail minutes are just that little bit longer than regular ones, we didnt expect it to take quite this long at all. We arent speaking much, having pretty much exhausted topics of conversation weve been together nearly all day and by now we just want our friends to arrive and bring new things to talk about, and so that we can leave too. Rush hour is just taking hold, you cant see outside because the camera is facing the wrong way, but if you could then youd notice that the roads are full of rushing headlights tearing up the rain-slick roads - but all around us hundreds of people are flowing back and forwards, getting on trains and getting off trains all sorts of people, schoolchildren, business people, families, alone, in groups, in couples I always think its fascinating to see people just going about their business like this, hearing tiny snippets of their conversations, little fragmentary windows into their lives. I like the ones that look purposeful best I think, perhaps because they have that real dynamism that I sort of lack complete conviction of course they probably dont and Im just projecting, but its nice to think that maybe somebody does. Anyway I also look a bit annoyed, or perhaps a bit puzzled is more accurate because Ive just turned to my friend and told him that I could spend hours in stations just watching people, because its really interesting just seeing them to-ing and fro-ing, basically what I just told you up there and he replied I dont know, they all seem pretty boring. Just like that. And so Im standing there next to him thinking that maybe we dont have so much in common after all. ********************************************************************* I realise that is somewhat after the fact, more than a week late even, but my dog ate the first copy, then the computer crashed and then I had a dental appointment Miss. Honest. An update on my last post now, as promised. After mulling things over for a wee while Im afraid I opted for the cowardly option and said nothing. I even ran home for the whole of last week, but now that Im back things seem to have calmed down a bit, so I suppose its ok. My apologies if you were gunning for me grassing him up, and I know a couple of people sort of were, but to be honest I dont think, even if he wouldve been chucked out it wouldve made all that much difference, they all seem to be about as bad as each other and the small respite that would have afforded as they reeled from his departure would, I fear, have been short lived and would not have merited the hassle and guilt that telling on him would inevitably have brought on. Or thats how Im justifying it to myself anyway, the rest of you are entirely free to make up your own minds. In better news, whilst at home for the week I managed to catch The Delgados live who were pleasant in a straightforward, workmanlike fashion I dont think gigs like that are going to win them any new fans, but if you like the songs, and fortunately for the most part I do, then you probably wont be disappointed. Its a bit disheartening, though, to hear bands play like that, renditions which are as close to the records as possible, it must get very boring playing like that, and itd be nice to hear a bit of improvisation (not in the serious, eyes shut jazzer way, though thatd be nice in itself, but more in the loosening up and having fun way). Which is sort of what Pram, the other band that I saw that week did and, ok, Pram arent nearly as lush as The Delgados, in fact some of their records are pretty out of tune (but far better for it, I think) and theyve been known to put in some fairly shambolic live performances in the past, but I think theyve gotten the balance of pretty and fragile about right now, and the new material sounded excellent too. I dunno if theyre touring properly, I think they did another date in London, but if they are and you get the chance, then Id heartily recommend seeing them. The support acts were fantastic too, though one veered towards that dangerous musical philosophy that says that putting a breakbeat over anything is automatically funny, not the best territory to be on really, though he operated it pretty well the other on the other hand brought to mind Muslimgauze, if hed been concerned with the fate of people living in long defunct seaside towns rather than the Middle East. Brilliant. I do have more things to say, but Ill leave them for another time, I should really get to bed now. Love, - Kieran _________________________________________________________________ MSN Messenger - fast, easy and FREE! http://messenger.msn.co.uk +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ Brought to you by the Sinister mailing list +---+ To send to the list mail sinister@missprint.org. To unsubscribe send "unsubscribe sinister" or "unsubscribe sinister-digest" to majordomo@missprint.org. 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