Important in what way? No band is ever going to change the way the music industry works, and frankly I don't see why they should.
no, but you might see why they should WANT to, yes? From a Political point of view...
Fair enough, I can see that if a band don't like the way they're treated by the music business (which I guess is quite common), then they'll want to change things so that they and others get a better deal. If they decide that they don't want to do acres of interviews in the press, that's fine by me. However, I don't think that that actually matters to us, the fans; other than wanting the best for them as people, we have nothing to gain from them getting political as far as the music is concerned. I disagree with Chumbawamba's politics, but that doesn't alter the fact that Tubthumping is a great party song.
The important thing about music, the ONLY important thing for > > me, is what it sounds like.
well see my post about 'selling out to majors' for part of my views on this one. It's just i think in amazingly different terms to you, and i think that when you talk about art, you're NOT talking about just the way it sounds, or looks, you're inevitably going to be thinking about a host of different factors, simply by the fact that your life is not amazingly simplistic.
I think I just didn't explain myself well on this one. I agree entirely that music brings more to your head than just sound waves; personally I can't hear Simon & Garfunkel's "Cecilia" without thinking about driving down the A1 from Edinburgh to Berwick, through the most beautiful countryside, on a lovely sunny day in January, on the way home from a korfball tournament. That thought increases my pleasure when I hear the song. But it only increases my pleasure when I hear the song, not every time I see a reference to the band or whatever; and I think that as much as anything it was the sheer perfection of that moment which has stuck with me, and part of that perfection was the music. That's why I said that the music was the most important thing - it changes my mood by reminding me of a pleasant experience, which it itself was an integral part of, it doesn't make me think of two blokes with dodgy haircuts.
Personally I would rather hear more variety, but not just variety for the sake of it; I want variety so that I can find more music that I can love, music that moves me.
but you won't be moved by it so much if you hear it on the 'populist' radio because it's no longer difficult to find. I maintain that part of the beauty of the musics that 'we' like is the relative obscurity, the fact that actually we probably have to work pretty hard to get it, find it, whatever. If it's easy we often just don't bother. I don't mean this to sound snobbish or whatever, it's just more to do with the thrill of the expedition than the discovery itself. (and i'm generalising of course!)
I disagree on this one. The fact that Spice Girls albums are easier to get hold of than Felt albums doesn't make them worse (although obviously the actual music does ;-}). While in the short term, actually getting my hands on, say, the new B&S EP is something I look forward to for ages, and the anticipation increases the eventual pleasure, in the same way as finding a copy of something you've been looking for for ages does, in the long term I would hope that I'll get something more out of the music than that. If the best thing about some music is the time you spent without it, it doesn't say much for the music :-)
I'm on the lookout for similar music in the hope that it may have the same effect on me.
ah, but this is what i found so special about B&S, the very fact that i'd kind of given up hoping that such music WOULD affect me in this way. I maintain that although the sonic qualities have a lot to do with it, the thing that makes me feel this way is actually indefinable.
This is all getting very philosophical (not neccessarily a bad thing). It's true that what I love about B&S is the way they make me feel, and just because somebody else came along with delicate music they might not have an effect on me; similarly somebody completely different might make me all gooey inside, say a punk or techno band. But if I had never heard B&S's music, I wouldn't love them; so it must be doing something. While their musical genre isn't the definition of everythng I like, it's a good starting point...
hear all the material; but it does mean making things that are released as widely available as possible, and releasing as much as possible (including Tigermilk), and maybe even (shock horror) doing a decent number of gigs, including supporting other bands.
i like the idea of off-shoot things though, like the limited Nurse With Wound/Stereolab single for example. I think it's important that bands don't treat all their releases in the same way.
Rarities are all well and good - cover versions are particularly well suited to becoming desired but not essential possessions. It's just that if a band leave their own material essentially unavailable to the mass public, it seems like they think it's not good enough; in which case why bother at all? It bears analogy with "Director's Cut"s of movies; they may have extra scenes put back into them, but there's normally a very good reason that those scenes were left out in the first place.
As for 'supporting' other bands, well they did do the dates with Tindersticks.
And more of the same would go down very well... But also I think it's important to try to reach out to people who aren't used to their type of music, whereas Tindersticks are fairly similar. I've seen the Wannadies support the Lightning Seeds, and even poet Murray Lachlan Young supporting My Life Story; although it is risky, and they may well go down like lead balloons occasionally, most music fans are open to new things and if, say, 1 per cent of the people each night love them and become fans, some good will have been done. B&S supporting Oasis anyone?
I'm out there proclaiming the greatness and magic of Belle & Sebastian as much as the next person, but i think that 'selling out' would be to start giving concessions to the media and record company bosses, not spreading the word and getting people to buy their records.
But can a band get to Number 1 without selling out? And perhaps more importantly, can a band get to Number 1 without being accused (not least by their fans) of selling out? I sincerely hope that the answer is yes, but I have my doubts. btw before I go can I just congratulate anyone who's still reading this? Stuart G P.S. Love the new footer... ----------------------------------------------------------------------- . 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? -----------------------------------------------------------------------