Hello folks, well, firstly ***JONATHAN DAVID*** I have it! It arrived on Monday morning, only one week after it's official release. Ummm ... it's genius, in fact, I'd go so far as to say that as an a-side, it is the best 'single' (as in, perfect 3 minute pop song) the band have ever released. Even if it does sound a lot like The Zombies, especially the "visions of love ...". (NB: Sounding a lot like the Zombies is no bad thing in Lawrence's books) "Loneliness ..." sounds pretty much as I expected, and "Carriage Clock", whist not setting this boy's world alight musically, is one of Stuart Murdoch's best very lyrics, and tells the story of how I "almost" quit a particularly hated job. (In the end I avoided confrontation by just not ever showing up again, and not returning their "where's Lawrence?" calls) I am *assuming* the new single will be "I Love My Car", on the basis that they've been playing it live, and that it wasn't played on the Peel Session the other week. err .... Neil Robertson. Any chance that that particular session will be released commercially on CD at any point? For the folks who live overseas, and for whom, with a 56k modem, "streaming audio" doesn't really stream. A compilation of BBC sessions would be a lovely stop gap, to replace those 8th generation tapes which sounded like they were recorded with a handheld mic through a toilet wall? Make an old man happy will you ...... ***THE LILAC TIME*** Fans of fey acoustic pop should look no further than the soon to be released Lilac Time best of. Entitled "The Lilac Time Compendium - The Fontana Trinity", this is a 2 CD compilation, disc one being a "best of" from the band's first three albums, and disc two containing virtually every b-side from the period. For those not in the know, The Lilac Time are a great folk-pop band who have made five albums, and are helmed by Stephen and Nick Duffy. This is a band who named their band after a Nick Drake lyric in 1986, a full 10 years before he was an essential name drop for any dull up-and-coming indie guitar band looking for credibility. Buy it, all of you. The world needs more Lilac Time CDs being played in people's front rooms on summer afternoons with the windows open. and now ..... (and sorry, everyone else) *** "NIK-O, NIK-O, LAMA SABACHTHANI" *** (trans: "NIK OVENDEN, NIK OVENDEN, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME?") Has your e-mail address changed? Or are you avoiding me? Or have you cast me aside like some wanton harlot, satiated and cast aside like so much spent chaff? (or, if you're reading this, can you e-mail me please? cheers ....) ***A CASE TO BE MADE FOR MAGNUM P.I. AS THE BEST TV SHOW EVER MADE*** (alongside "The Prisoner" and "Blake's 7") One of our TV channels here has started rescreening "Magnum P.I." during the day, so I have been taping it and watching it every night. It is such a great show. I should point out here, too, that I am NOT SAYING THIS FOR ANY IRONIC OR "COOL" REASON. I genuinely believe this is the pinnacle of TV. Bear with me. I believe that Magnum P.I. was the first "self aware", or "post-modern" mainstream TV show. With Thomas Magnum's monologue, plus the sometimes Sienfeld like lack-of-plot storylines (like the time he was trapped under a plane and spent THE ENTIRE SHOW talking to a fly) I believe Magnum is an unrecognised classic. A Pantheon amongst the fibrelite pre-fabs of 80's TV. Well, *I* like it, anyway. (and I haven't been able to convince anyone else with this argument either.) ***THE BEST OF BELLE AND SEBASTIAN*** I made a 20 track compilation CD for a girl at work who I think *may* have the potential to become a B&S fan. it was a tough call, but in the end I settled for the following. Slow Graffiti Le Pastie De La Bourgeisie Women's Realm Dog On Wheels Dirty Dream Number Two Jonathan David Expectations Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying Lazy Line Painter Jane I Fought In A War Legal Man She's Losing It Seeing Other People Waiting For The Moon To Rise Sleep The Clock Around The Loneliness Of A Middle Distance Runner The State I Am In The Boy With The Arab Strap The Stars Of Track And Field There's Too Much Love I think there is a good variety here, although sadly I had to miss out "Modern Rock Song", "The Model", "A Century Of Fakers" and "If You're Feeling Sinister" for time constraints.I think it's a great compilation, and *hopefully* it'll make her go out and buy some albums. But you didn't need to hear all that, did you? Well ... I've gone on far too long. Better go and watch Magnum ..... Lawrence Mikkelsen +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+