hello sinister. well. i bought it. i unwrapped it my car, the soothing sounds of 'i know where the summer goes' preparing me for newness. i appreciated the lovely cover, the lovely cd art. i put it in, lit my cigarette, put the car in reverse. and then i suddenly could not move. i couldn't. was there some sort of accident? i thought. is someone next to me listening to some awful rabble drowning out my band? no. it was just 'step into my office, baby.' at top volume. i almost dropped my cigarette on my leg. *** so. i don't like it. at all. we begin with 'belle and sebastian SING BROADWAY!!!!!' and then neatly lead into stuart murdoch's playdate with big john shaft and prince. piazza provides one gleaming moment of hope, only to collapse into a series of songs i suspect i already heard once in the waiting room at the dentist's office. yes, 'lord anthony' is nice, another tiny shred intact among the tatters. but then it just all goes to hell again. as for all the talk about 'if you find yourself caught in love,' i have two words for this song (and maybe for the album): boxed wine. 'roy walker.' right. 'stay loose' offers a weird the clash-the faint thing with hints of 'and your bird can sing.' which, when wrapping up a whole that really reminded me of pet sounds, was disconcerting for me. i think this may be the weirdest thing i've ever heard. and i don't know if it will grow on me. people have said i am being too harsh, and perhaps i am. i realize all bands must grow and change in order to maintain interest and creative genius, etc. but still. this near-total reinvention adds up to a really loud sound missing all the charm belle and sebastian used to swim in. i always liked the band for sounding twee without really being twee lyrically; i liked the happy flutes and strings and effeminate male vocals singing about dying, killing people, etc. not that those things were an extenion of what i like to do, of course, but the wierd, dark, near-creepy lyrics made the songs perfect, i think. now, we have sunbeams. prayers. lots and lots of happy love. and while those things may have their place, i'd like to hear them done well if i must listen to them, with some discretion. saccharine sentimentality has no place in my stereo, at least. so here, i will say, with much sorrow, i think isobel's solo album is BETTER than dcw. . .. ..... *weeps* xo.lou. ===== www.somewhereinbetween.net __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.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! +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+