...and I'm quite sure I'm in the wrong song. What I want for Christmas, apart from Elijah Wood (is is freaky to fancy a Hobbit?) is a Tigermilking in that there London Village, the which I'm sure Il Biondino Mark is working on if he knows what's good for him. New Year will do, but I feel the need to dance like a loon, and South Wales is not the place for it, unless the dancefloor is made of coal. My Powerpuff Girls advent calendar has been broached, the goose is apparently getting fat, and the Festive 50 is upon us again. However, it may well be a bit too chirpy for those of us who are perpetually lovelorn ie. seemingly most of the contributing list, soppy buggers that you (we) are. Lurkers may all be happily married and wildly in love, but I somehow doubt it. Anyway, even lucky sods like Mr Apps and Ms Fruitloop must have somber moments, when contemplating the vagaries of the universe simply cannot be done to the accompaniment of pretty music about happy things. So, then, howsabout letting me know your top three Moping About Relationships albums? A Misery Loves Company (not the musical. Or the piece by Philip Glass, for that matter) chart may be compiled if I can be bothered. For starters, here's my current run-down: 3. Reading, Writing and Arithmetic - The Sundays: "I never should have said/ that the books that you read/ were all I loved you for" is exactly the kind of thing I find myself regretting. Vitriol is satisfying in the coolth of the moment. But. 2. Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot - Sparklehorse: "I want my records back/ and that motorcycle gas-tank I spraypainted black". And because I got my dad to buy it for my birthday a couple of years ago and had to dictate the title letter by letter several times. 1. The Good Will Out - Embrace: Ooh, I can just hear the stones, pointy sticks and other missiles coming my way. If you disregard the attempts to rock out shouty-style, it makes half a gorgeously gloomy album. I stand by what I've said previously about French horns. And just because. Please reply chez moi, as littering lists with lists is neither big nor clever. Anyway, aren't most pop songs (most artworks, full stop?) either about getting it on or whinging about not getting off? Even the standard 'hello trees, hello sky, you're lovely' (copyright The Field Mice) song is a c/overt variation on "I wandered lonely as a cloud That floats on high o'er hill and vale; I saw some nice flowers and pleasant shrubs And thought if I wrote a poem about them I'd get a snog. Was I right?" Faced with a painful choice between devoting your precious time to artistic or romantic endeavour? Why not combine the two? I'm just saying, see. Working for the joy of giving? No thanks. But the company I'm temping for produces CDs for Beggar's Banquet (and Mute, Wiija, Setanta, blah blah, blah blah), which means that records by Hefner, Gorky's Zygotic Mynci, The Fall, Avalanches, Badly Drawn Boy etc. are made here IN THIS VERY BUILDING. Also Fields of the Nephilim. Cor. Exciting, eh? Oh, what idleness and a customer database can engender. * * * When cars on a dark motorway start weaving and dancing in time to the music on the stereo, you've either had a bit too much to drink or are experiencing a moment of great serendipity. Liz D :x +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ +---+ 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 +-+ +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+