It occurs to me that it has been almost nine months since I last posted, which is a far cry from my one a week postings of 2000/2001. Sorry ... I am waaaay out of the Sinist*r loop. So ... prepare yourself for "Lawrence ... the wilderness years". I think the last time I posted, I'd just got back from my honeymoon in Hawaii. Which was lovely thank you. Thus far married life is good, although a little weird getting used to at first. I never really realised how cranky and stubborn I was, until I began living with someone equally cranky and stubborn. So then it was just work, and stuff ....... The most interesting thing which has happened is that I am now the company director of an indie record label! For the last year or so, me and two other guys have been talking about setting up an indie in the spirit of early Flying Nun, Elephant 6 and Postcard Records. So may I present ... "Lil' Chief Records" http://www.lilchiefrecords.com No releases as yet, but the debut album by The Brunettes, "Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks" should be out pretty soon. <shameless plug> Plus we'll have a PayPal shopping cart if anyone overseas is interested in buying copies of the rather fine album. </shameless plug> I'm the non-musical guy of the trio, the other two being Jonathan Brunette and Scott Mannion, who is also a Sinist*r listee. Don't know if there are any hardcore Peel devotees, but John Peel played a Brunettes sing some months ago on his show, shortly after coming home from New Zealand ... Speaking of which, I'm kinda amused with people mentioning The Datsuns and The D4 in recent posts. I really don't see the appeal, and can think of about half a dozen New Zealand bands who are so much better than either of those two, that would kill for that sort of exposure. (sigh). The Datsuns were the sort of local band who would usually put me off going to a live show here, because I'd know it would be full of greasy-haired guys with black jeans. Since I last posted, of course, Belle & Sebastian released an album. I reall y love it, and listen to it almost every day. But it took some getting used to, and part of me just wishes they'd taken the best songs from the last two EPs, paired them up with the "songs" from "Storytelling" and released a proper album. A few weeks ago I played "Fuck This Shit" at my church, and no one was any the wiser. I was sad about Jeepster ... I wonder how much longer Jeepster will go on for now ... but think Rough Trade will be a nice new home for B&S. I'm also hoping Jeepster will cash in on the bands' departure by released some sort of radio sessions album. Which reminds me, Niko .....would *love* those new Peel Sessions on CD! The other vaguely Sinist*r related thing was that listee Niko stayed with me and missus for a few days some months ago. it was lovely to meet another real live listee, and show him the sights of my rather boring city. Speaking of boring ... I should go. I really just wanted to say "hi" and "I'm still here", but wanted to disguise it in the form of something people might like to read. Take care everyone .... Lawrence xxx PS - another shameless plug .... I've just started an Orange Juice mailing list, for anyone interested in 80's Scottish pop. It only has a handful of members right now, but I'd love a few more, if there are any fans of Orange Juice, Edwyn Collins, Associates, Josef K etc. It's here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/rip_it_up/ Or you can send a blank email message to: rip_it_up-subscribe@yahoogroups.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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+