The online magazine allstar (http://www.allstarmag.com) named IYFS as it's #3 album of the year behind Radiohead and Spiritualized, which is pretty good company. The review follows, it's very flattering, almost rapturous. This band is so splendid, their mixture of erudite string/ horn arrangements, sensitively sung vocals, rolling grooves, rockist rhythm guitars, and carousel organs is delicious. These Scottish folks' cross- pollinated, lush sound savvily recalls the creme de la creme of erudite pop history -- so many things at once you don't know where to begin. It's hard to resist playing the back of the bus fanboy game of What if: What if in the '60s the Kinks had collaborated with Lou Reed, produced by Burt Bacharach? Or in the '70s, if Nick Drake had cut a few sides with Roxy Music, with Jack Nitzsche producing? Or in the '80s, if Felt had recorded with the June Brides and Feelies, John Cale in the control booth? Belle and Sebastian sound like all of these things, sort of. Do people really think they sound like the Smiths? That group is so histrionic and self- important. B&S (not the names of anyone in the band) are too smart to care whether meat is murder or not. They want to know how it's cooked. There's lots of bands that sound good, especially in 1997. You've got Movietone, Stereolab, Yo La Tengo, Richard Davies, Home, Mogwai, the High Llamas, Fuck, Smog, Broadcast, the Elephant 6 collective, the Lilys -- everyone sounds good, the pop life is a party where everyhting goes right... except maybe in the words department. The conversation, the lyrics are a bit lacking in general. But Belle and Sebastian's words are the tops, the dandy-ish extreme. They're like Oscar Wilde showing up for supper. There's not only a bite to their humor that recalls Mark E. Smith, a pathos that reminds one of Eitzel, and a dainty way with words that hints at Nick Drake, but an ironic edge that's as sharp as the Monochrome Set, and as full of life as the Kinks: "Could I write a requiem for you when you're dead?/ 'She had the moves, she had the speed, it went to her head'/ She never needed anything to get her round the track/ But when she's on her back/ She had the knowledge/ To get her into college" -- from "The Stars of Track and Field." Bravo, bravo. I'm holding my breath until the Matador record is released. -Mike McGonigal ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . This message was brought to you by the Sinister mailing list. . To send to the list please mail "sinister@majordomo.net". . For subscribing, unsubscribing and other list information please see . http://www.majordomo.net/sinister . For questions about how the list works mail owner-sinister@majordomo.net . We're all happy bunnies humming happy bunny tunes. Aren't we? -----------------------------------------------------------------------