Blimey, it's over a year since I posted and I hope I never have to say *that* again. However it is somewhat fitting that I should post now that LIFFYPOO (bet the Dirty Vicar's done a poo in the Liffey in his time) has come out as in my last post here: http://www.mail-archive.com/sinister@missprint.org/msg01261.html I was banging on about the bit in Stuart's diary where he describes the process of writing what became The Blues Are Still Blue which is one of my favouritest tracks on the album. I am so glad it is going to be the next single. Hmm, no. 8 in the album charts - is this a best placing for the band? I am at work so the Guinness book of Hit Singles and Albums (in one handy volume) is not to hand. Incidentally, Another Sunny Day is the first song in ages to actually make me cry when I heard the lyrics, especially the last verse. I love Sukie in the Graveyard - I think I might play it at the work Stick it On night. I think the album's biggest surprise is Song for Sunshine. It reminds me of Summer the First Time by Bobby Goldsboro. It's quite ambitious and certainly doesn't sound like a song from 2006. I hope everyone enjoyed the Hammersmith gig. It certainly seems to have gone down well with Mr Walton, my fellow TV quiz-fiend of old. My absence was in no small part due to my self-imposed exile from the big city on account of the fact that I am BUYING A FLAT and so am doing anything and everything to save money. The fact that I no longer seem to have the wherewithal to actually get my ass in gear and buy a ticket for a big gig before they actually sell out might have something to do with it too. The frugal thing does seem to have taken hold of me in a big way. Sunday eve it actually extended to abstaining from alcohol, which those of you who know me will know was an enormous wrench. The weird thing was when I woke up this morning to go work I found that I actually felt *worse* than usual. Let that be a lesson to me. Or something. Is it possible to be 'worried sick'? It is a phrase I had previously associated only with anxious parents waiting in bed or behind the front door for errant offspring to appear, with the well rehearsed line of "You said you'd be back at X A/Pm I/we were worried sick". That said, the hassles involved in the home ownership malarkey do seem to have me feel like I have just run several marathons and it isn't helped by the fact that my landlady seems intent on changing the locks and dumping all my belongings on the garden path. Well, ok, maybe not, but "when are you going?" noises, of varying degrees of subtlety, have taken the place of proper conversation in recent weeks. Apparently she "needs the space" (like, why all of a sudden? Surely she needs the money more....). I did manage to smuggle a microwave in past her yesterday lunch time though, escaping her attention but not that of her eight year old as she told me that evening that he had seen me "carrying some sort of appliance"...snarf. Two independent people have recommended the Bel/Lanegan collaboration to me now, although one worryingly prefixed his praise by "I don't like Belle and Sebastian, but..." which hardly augurs well. Primavera Sound (Barcelona, 1-3 June) line up is announced 21st Feb - that's next week, people! Flat or no flat, I'm going to that! Wonder if I'll bump into Arantxa again....? Work beckons Mark. Mark Hester Editor, Blackwell Energy Research Blackwell Publishing Ltd 9600 Garsington Road Oxford OX4 2DQ Tel: 01865 476218 E-mail: mark.hester@oxon.blackwellpublishing.com <mailto:mark.hester@oxon.blackwellpublishing.com> Web: http://www.oilandenergytrends.com/ <http://www.oilandenergytrends.com/> +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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. 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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+